Aug 10 and 11 – Flight to Johannesburg

Our trip to Johannesburg took us from Basel to Istanbul to Johannesburg, South Africa.  Basel from the air.

We were able to get some views of the Swiss Alps as we flew over.  It is late in the year so there wasn’t a lot of snow on the mountains. 

Sunset from the plane. 

No idea what city this is but it is beautiful from the air.

We had a hike from the arrival gate in Istanbul to our departure gate.  Along the way we passed a coffee and tea shop with lots of Turkish pastries.  We stopped and picked up a few baklava for the plane.  We very much enjoy Turkish baklava.  It seems to be the best in the world.

Making Turkish Coffee

We are flying Turkish Air to Johannesburg.  We experienced a first on this flight…an inflight chef complete with white jacket and chef’s hat.  The food was excellent but we think the chef mainly just does the plating.  There isn’t really a kitchen on board.

We arrived in good time in Johannesburg and made it through customs with no problem.  The luggage came off quickly so we were out of the airport in short order.  We were met by our transfer and were at our hotel about 45 minutes later. 

We are staying at the African Pride hotel in a lovely neighborhood with lots of restaurants.  Our room has a large tub, complete with rubber duckie.  

Tara, who is joining us on this trip, arrived late and came knocking on our door about 9:30pm…about 10 minutes after we had gone to bed.  We visited for a bit before doing a final lights out.