7/7-7/8: In the Air

We had a very uneventful journey into Johannesburg on Tuesday and Wednesday. Claire slept the entire way to Atlanta, then played and ran around for the few hours before the long flight. Once on board, she settled right in, fascinated by the little video screens on each seat. Delta has great entertainment, with at least 150 movies on demand, plus games and tv shows to pick from. I think Claire watched Madagascar 3 times before realizing the Mickey games were lots of fun. She did an amazing job sleeping on the plane, and her special kid's meal was a hit. So even though the AC left a little to be desired, and the flight lasted 16, instead of 15, hours, the flight over was a success. Here are some shots of our little world traveler:



We landed in Johannesburg around sunset, so we had an overhead view of all the cooking fires in the townships. This is where the black people in South Africa were moved during Apartheid, and because of the lack of jobs and money (along with a deep-running racism), they are still living there. There is no electricity or running water, and people live in nothing more than metal sheeting-made boxes about the size of my closet. These are all over South Africa, mostly in the out-lying areas of cities. Because of the World Cup coming next year, the government is tearing down a lot of townships and moving people into government housing, but it's not going fast enough. It's really hard to believe people are living in these kind of conditions.

Here's a view of a few fires from the plane:


And here's the skyline of the city. It looks foggy, but it's actually a constant haze that covers the country because of all the smoke:


Up next: our trip into Zululand!