Welcome to The Great Petaluma Desert

The Airport

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Johannesburg International is quite something else these days!! They have been altering - renovating - enlarging this airport for several years now, and every time I go there it looks different! (And I have to visit it quite frequently!) There are notices all over the Arrivals Hall: "Check your terminal. Make sure you are waiting at the right terminal!" Well, that's what I did, several times. Lufthansa: Terminal 2. You see, up to now we only had one terminal for International Arrivals, with one door where every visitor had to come through!

I was pretty nervous. There I was waiting for that guy Jerry whom I didn't even know. He had sounded nice enough in his e-mails, but how could I be sure… So I was waiting. And waiting. And scanning every male that came through the door. Maybe he lost his hat? Lot's of interesting people (haven't looked at so many guys in one hour in a long time!), but no hat and no Jerry! It is normal to take up to an hour or sometimes even longer, from the time of touch down until they finally come out. So I kept on waiting some more. The fact that Jerry arrived at terminal 1 and after a while proceeded to wait at terminal 3 did not exactly help! Eventually the guy at the transfer desk took pity on me and sent out that paging message. Phew, at last!!
By the time we finally met I was a nervous wreck!! Welcome to South Africa, Jerry!! I hope your journey goes a bit smoother from here on!

Maddy