Part 6 -- Nice and not-so-nice airports

The airports used on this trip were at Phoenix, Atlanta, Johannesburg,
Cape Town, Nelspruit, and New York (JFK). The new Kruger Mpumalanga
International Airport (KMIA) facility at Nelspruit was one of the most
beautiful we had ever seen, and is currently underutilized. The new
Jo'burg airport is in the finishing stages of construction and will be
a superb facility when completed. The Cape Town airport is slightly
older, but a perfectly adequate airport that we could not fault. We
also made fuel stops at San Island on the incoming leg, and Dakar on
the return, but didn't go inside to see the terminals there.

The deteriorated condition of the US airline industry is reflected in
the condition of the JFK airport at New York. The place was run-down
and dirty and nothing seemed to work right. The arrival of our SAA
flight was followed by our having to wait for a half-hour on the
taxiway before the ground crew got us into a parking bay. Then it took
nearly an hour before the baggage was off-loaded and sent down to the
baggage claim area. Everyone applauded when our bags started arriving.

Because we had already lost more than an hour of our 2-hour time
allowed to get to our connecting flight (minus the 30-minute closing
at the America Worst check-in counter) we were in a hurry to get from
terminal 4 to terminal 7. This is not an airport to be in a hurry at.

Because the TSA regs require the claiming of all checked luggage prior
to the Customs check, we subsequently had to haul all our luggage a
sub-freezing half-mile to the intra-terminal Air Train -- which was
malfunctioning (the doors refused to open at terminal 7, so we had to
get off at the next terminal stop, catch a different train, then make
another time-consuming round of all the terminal stops). This delay
resulted in the losing of my seat on the Phoenix-bound flight.

When we commented about the mess we encountered at JFK, a local
assured us that New York's La Guardia airport was in far worse shape.
Happily, our home airport here in Phoenix is a nicer facility. I
suggest that you try to avoid going through New York. Atlanta is a far
better connection point with a modern and efficient well laid-out set
of terminals connected by a subway train.

Arriving flights from outside the US go through the
Immigration-Customs-TSA screens at the first airport landed at.
Similarly, the first leg of an international departure gets the
super-security check at the start of the trip (in our case, Phoenix)
despite the fact that we were only going to Atlanta on that leg. But
we were kept within a security zone inside the Hartsfield-Jackson
airport at Atlanta while waiting for the departing SAA flight.

Interestingly, we went through successive careful SAA ticket and
passport checks before being allowed onto the plane. It appeared that
the airline was taking the South African Immigration requirements
seriously. But upon arrival at Jo'burg, the Immigration formalities
were quick and cursory, as predicted by people in this group.

Because the International Arrivals terminal was some distance from the
Domestic Departures terminal at Jo'burg, and the path was through a
long street-level construction zone, we felt a bit exposed to the
obvious pickpockets in the area (one of which successfully lifted a
cell phone from a fellow passenger). We personally had no trouble.

Violent robberies seemed unlikely at this airport during daylight
hours due of the large number of security people thereabouts. But
being alert there is highly advisable. Cell phones can be rented at
the International Arrivals terminal, by the way, and luggage porters
aggressively seek your business.

Luggage trolleys are provided at all South African airport terminals
we saw -- free of charge. At US airports travels are charged $3 or so
for the use of a trolley; and you had better bring USD with you on the
airplane because there are no money-changing bureaus between the
arriving airplane and baggage claim -- at least not at JFK.

The Cape Town airport didn't seem at all threatening despite the fact
that I had a quarter mile hike to do outside the terminal to get to
the rental car office. My wife waited in front of the terminal with
all our luggage until I brought the car around to pick her up. All
that went well (once I got the hang of driving on the "wrong" side of
the road-- heh heh).

Departure from Cape Town was crowded, but went fine. Back at Jo'burg
on the return leg, the path between terminals was on a higher enclosed
level and we felt perfectly safe. We lounged in a secure area and
dined at a restaurant called The News while waiting for our flight
back to the US. Nice place with typically sumptuous South African
meals, reasonably priced, and magnificently presented.

We will miss that.