There was an interesting situation that I had never experienced. Upon takeoff from Dakar we were informed that there would be some unusual noises for a while as the landing gear had heated up and they had to lower the gear until everything cooled off. There was quite a racket for a few minutes but all was well and we proceeded to Johannisberg or JoBerg as the Africans refer to the city.
It was a treat when we arrived at JoBerg and had a chance to stretch our legs with a walk where we could get our legs working again. We had been confined to the airplane for a bit over 18 hours. We got through customs successfully, retrieved our luggage and rechecked in for the domestic leg to Capetown. We had time to have a drink in the terminal restaurant before heading to security and the departure gate. Security was a bit more lax than in the US as Doug had a bottle of wine from the previous flight and it sailed through the inspection. One other interesting occurrence was that they served metal knives with the airline meals - don't see that In the US.
We arrived in Capetown around 11 PM and were greeted by Hilda’s brother Hugo his wife Anel and their son Naude (pronounced No-D-A). After loading the rental van and Hugo's car with all our luggage and then were whisked to our apartment in Stellenbosch where Larry, Ronnie, Ben and Doug were to stay. Ronnie was designated the den mother for the three boys. Patty, Jennifer, Jumper and Hilda stayed at Hugo's home. We had a nice apartment with two bedrooms and two baths although only one had a shower so we all took turns in the mornings.
Our first night in Africa deserved a celebration so the 11 of us walked to a local tavern and had a few drinks and got to know our new South African family before trotting off to bed for a good nights sleep in a real bed.
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