The trip over was one of the best we have had. It is certainly easier with the kids being older -they can help carry and keep themselves entertained for the most part, which reduces the load on us. The real reason it was so good was the service provided by SAA.
We've used them on every trip and their quality of service is always excellent. This time was even better than in the past. They have changed from using the 747's to the Airbus A340-600.Our plane was a new model and remarkably comfortable. All the seats have the seat back monitors/entertainment systems, with a selection of on-demand movies, TV shows and games. I do think they should have more children's programming - Savannah was quickly bored with the 2 kids TV shows (an episode of Scooby and one of the X-Men) and the 2 Movies (Bee Movie and Enchanted). Owen watched a highlights package of a recent SAA Open golf tournament 4 times (!).
The food service was excellent, too - two full meals and tons snacks and drinks. Our seats were as comfortable as you can expect for economy class - enough room so my legs didn't hit the back of the chair in front. The plane had a camera mounted on the tail, which allowed a continuous real time feed of the outside of the aircraft on one of the TV channels. The image was grainy, but I completely geeked out watching the plane take off and land from that perspective. Seeing the earth from 12km up was a treat!
The trip over was epic. 3 flights and a 2 hour car trip. The total time elapsed, door to door, was 30 hours. We left home (Spring Hill) at 8.30AM (central time) on 03/16, and arrived in Empangeni at 9:40PM local time (or 2:40PM central time) on 03/17. The main flight over, from Washington to Johannesburg, was 14.5 hours. We didn't stop to refuel this time.
Here are some of the stats I collected on the main flight:
Total Distance: 8276 miles (13961 kilometers)
Time Elapsed: 14 hours 23 minutes
Average Speed: 570 m/h (913 km/h)
Top speed that I noticed: 688 m/h (1108 km/h)
Cruising Altitude: 41380 feet (12613 meters).
Savannah asked why "they" didn't make a train, under the ocean, to South Africa. My response was that it would take forever to travel the distance. We also had a good discussion about the logistical difficulties of building across the ocean. Turns out my time-estimate was pretty much close to exactly right! 8276 (as the plane flies) miles at 65 m/h, is 127 hours, which is about 5 days non-stop, which is equivalent to infinity.
Owen and Savannah were amazing on the trip over. I can only imagine how tough it is for their energetic little bodies to be forced to a seat and the crowded situation they had to endure through 4 airports, 3 airplanes and over 30 hours. They co-operated through the lines and tedium and were remarkably resilient to the stress of this trip.Today, they released all their wound-up-giro-giggers and exhausted themselves playing with their cousins Joel, Seth and Calib. We had a braai (barbecue) outside tonight. It included a 4 hour power failure, so the kids ran around under a near full-moon, playing tag-spy-rugby-hide-and-go-seek-chase-athon.
Remarkably, there were only 2 major bruising the whole day; Savannah - head meets door, and Joel - knee meets step. The only real tension was over the one available flash light, and whose turn it was to run with it. I was able to use my superior size and intellect to wield it for the largest percentage of the time!
Owen was asleep and snoring before the end of the first bedtime story - a world first for him :).
-- Grant
