Getting to South Africa

Total travel time: 28 hours, consisting of a 7.5 hour flight to London (Heathrow), an 8.5-hour stopover, and then a 12-hour flight to Cape Town, South Africa.

The first flight was tough; the plane was packed, and we flew through the night. I don't sleep well, or at all, in those situations. I watched a National Film Board documentary called Project Grizzly.

Turns out that an 8 hour layover in London is plenty of time to take the "tube" (subway) from Heathrow to downtown London. That's what I did, and it was very nice. Had lunch in an English pub, walked around "London's Eye", saw Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, and a few other sights. I was intrigued by the Wellcome Collection, but didn't think I had enough time to do it justice. I'll go there some other time.

Lunch (calm down... I had food too.)

London's Eye

Thankfully, the second flight (London->Cape Town) was only half-full, and everyone had an empty seat beside them. I was able to lay down for this over-night leg of the journey. That helped a lot. First I watched Mission Impossible (not bad), and then Rise of the Planet of the Apes (mediocre). Notice the trend... the more sleep deprived, the worse the movie seemed.

I arrived on time, and was greeted at the airport by the groundskeeper, Igsaan. During the 30-minute drive from the airport, I got up to speed on AIMS and some local info.

• We drove past some shanty towns. Very interesting to see.
• I learned that about one person is killed by a shark every year.
• Don't go on the trains at night, and don't go out alone after 10pm.