I made it to Brazil!

My heart in my throat, the day arrived. Deryn and I arrived at OR Tambo with time to spare... luckily!

I get to the check in counter and the nice lady asks me for my Yellow Fever vaccination certificate. "What certificate?"

It seems that my travel agent had omitted that valuable little piece of information. I cannot allow you to board your flight without it.... Oh goodness! What do I do? I think the clerk saw the absolute terror and disappointment on my face and so she sent me down to the clinic where I was duly vaccinated against Yellow Fever.

The staff at the clinic were all so professional, warm and friendly.

 I have two seats to myself although the plane was quite full.

Sitting and waiting on the runway, I notice lots of planes lining up behind us. Goodness me! But lots of planes fly out from OR Tambo... I really wasn't thinking very clearly... I could not believe that I was actually on my way to Brazil. I could only describe the racing of the A330's engines (all eight of them!!) as slow and quiet in comparison to my heart. Oh man! I will never find takeoff as even vaguely pleasant. It makes me dizzy! lol 

"We are expecting some turbulence along the way. Our expected time of flight is 10 hours and 46 minutes. Overcast and cloudy in Sao Paulo. Sit back, relax and enjoy our hospitality"

"ARE WE NEARLY THERE?  Nah, not even at cruising level yet.

Got my first taste of Brazilian Portuguese... they do all the announcements in both English and BP. Goodness me, how am I ever going to understand? lol

I look around me. The cabin crew in their blue. The SAA logo on the wingtip which is directly in line with me... and somehow, for the first time in a long time, I am Proudly South African.

"I am really nervous and my mouth is dry, may I have sparkling water please?"

"Ma'am, why don't you take an extra bottle of water, stretch across the seats and don't even think that you are flying"

Yes dear!

We eat a really delicious meal and then it is lights out and shutters down. Well, so much for reading my book. The hours flew past... pardon the pun!

I had previously watched an episode of Aircrash Investigation where a plane overshot the runway and landed up on the highway in Sao Paulo... but this was a perfect landing.

I honestly felt like I had been here before...

I got to practice some "obrigado's" during my search for the shuttle to the hotel.. It really was a unique experience not being able to understand just about anything. Oh and where is this lovely warm Brazilian weather? I was freezing!!

Lovely hotel, good night's rest and off on the second leg of my journey in the morning.