I flew back to Cape Town from Livingstone via Johannesburg. I checked back into the Road Lodge opposite the airport and the next evening arrived at the terminal for my Virgin Atlantic flight to London. I initially made sure that I got all the VAT money back for the goods that I had purchased. The VAT there is 14%. The VAT office is on the 2nd floor of the departures building, to the left under the escalators.
At the boarding gate they announced that there was a minor delay so I continued doing last minute shopping in the duty free shops. Then they announced that the delay was going to be some time so everyone was starting to get a bit restless. Finally, Virgin Atlantic said that the flight was being cancelled due to a technical problem. They didn't tell us what the problem was at the time but we found out later on the next flight back that the technical problem was with a part that monitors fuel consumption and lets the cockpit know.
After another hour of confusion and chaos, without any information being given by the ground staff, we were hoarded onto 5 coaches which transported all 300 of us to a 4 star hotel in downtown Cape Town called The Southern Sun. We all had to line up before reception and it took a good half an hour to be given a room, but by 1am everyone was in their rooms. My room was large and luxurious and the bed was very big and comfortable, with a down duvet and pillows. The next day, the complimentary breakfast was a lavish spread of all kinds of buffet food from fruit, to cheese, to salmon, to full English breakfast, cereals, juices, etc. You could have exploded just on the breakfast. Lunch was a nice buffet of chicken, beef, and seafood, with salads, and desserts.
There had developed a Dunkirk spirit amongst the passengers with everyone chatting away and having small banter. It was very impressive to see that everyone, including children and the elderly were so well behaved and patient throughout.
Shit Happens
The transfer to the airport was at 5pm so there was time to visit the V&A Waterfront for a quick wander. I got the free airport shuttle to the waterfront and was trying to find the Diamond Museum but in the meantime ended up talking to a lone luscious Lebanese lady sitting on the steps, who turned out to be an Emirates airhostess. After a couple of minutes, from above and behind me came a spray of liquids and solids which hit my shirt, my head and the back of my neck. The Lebanese girl also had the stuff on the front of her shirt. We were both taken aback and I wondered who had thrown stuff at us. I looked at my shirt and noticed bird shit. I managed to get some tissue paper from my pocket and wipe the shit off my head and neck and my shirt. I also gave some to the girl to remove the filth from her shirt. So, a rather shitty ending to my chat-up.
Back to the Airport
I saw the Diamond Museum and rushed back to the hotel, only to have to wait an extra hour for the transfer to the airport. It was all chaotic as usual and back at the airport the line at the check-in desk was moving as fast as a tortoise. I was rushing again to make it to my boarding gate when at passport control, an elderly woman in front of me forgot that she was at passport control and was just standing in front of the immigration woman. The immigration lady had to repeatedly ask her to produce her passport but the lady kept saying that she wanted to board the plane. Finally she was persuaded to get her passport out which she did at a slow-motion pace. Then when she had her passport handed back to her, she just stood there without moving. The officer asked her to proceed, but the woman said that she wanted her gate. I was getting rather concerned about missing my flight at this stage. Eventually I just handed my passport to the immigration women while the elderly woman was still standing there next to me. Quite a bizarre situation which I have never been in before. I made it to the plane. Phew !!
On the plane it was quite surreal. I knew half of the people on there and everyone kept saying hello. It is not often that you get on a flight and know half of the people already. I am not going to fly Virgin any longer. They used to be good but have gone downhill. The airplane staff are unprofessional and have attitude, and the ground staff didn't handle the situation very well when the flight was cancelled.
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