It’s official, there is actually
an airport that is worse than Mumbai for transiting – O R Tambo Johannesburg.
I remember when we went through
there a couple of years ago on our way to Botswana it was pretty bad but today
it was just awful – this was compounded by Opodo, who I’d booked the flights
through, giving me wrong info.
Our (new) cases were checked
through to Windhoek (must remember to pronounce with German accent – Vindhoek)
so logically we would follow the signs for International Terminal A Transfers,
but our instructions from Opodo stated categorically that the Jo’burg to
Windhoek flight left from Domestic Terminal B.
So we spent 1 ½ hours snaking along in a queue to clear immigration,
firstly there were only 2 officers on duty and secondly queuing is not as you
know it in England. First you are in a
single long queue, then you are syphoned off to join one of the small
sub-queues and it really is pot luck whether this moves quicker than the next
one. We found ourselves behind a couple
of people but ended up way in front so we were lucky but it really is a lottery
as staff just close up and go off for tea when they feel like it.
Having finally entered South
Africa we walked some 15 mins to Terminal B Domestic, unearthed a BA check-in
desk and got our Gate for the Windhoek flight A20 – Terminal A
aaarrrggghhh.
So we spent the next ¾
hour getting ourselves through Emigration and back out of South Africa. What a complete and utter farce. Added to that the Lounge we had booked was of
course Terminal B and despite our protestations could not be transferred to
Terminal A, so we spent a very miserable hour in a dingy coffee bar until the
next flight. This was a very pleasant
one, just two hours and a very nice meal.