Yesterday was day one of our trip to the UK and the South African leg went very smoothly. The driver arrived with the airport shuttle bus on time and we got to the airport a few hours earlier so we could relax in one of the lounges.
To be honest this was very disappointing and will be skipping this in the future as there was no value for money with what these lounge facilities cost. Everything I am doing is either multiplying by 5 or 7 depending if they have children's rates or not.
The flight was with Virgin which I cannot really fault as they do not control the weather. We had turbulence the entire leg of Africa which was roughly 7 hours of watching lightning flashes in the clouds just below the flight path. Fascinating to see this, but not throughout the flight whilst being bashed around. This made any chance of trying to sleep impossible even though I knew the chances were slim because of the seat sizing. Don't complain if you do not upgrade.
The flight landed on time just before 5am which now meant we had a 4 hour wait for the hire vehicle. Originally I was promised 6.30am, but then changed saying they could not make this work. 9am came and went which eventually became 10.30 am. The Polish guy who dropped off the vehicle left me with less than 1/4 tank of fuel which is odd and noted this along with a photo on the phone. Standard practice is you supply a full tank and you hand the vehicle back with a full tank so there are no hidden charges.
The Air BNB informed us the people renting had asked for a late checkout which was now 4 pm so we killed time having lunch. We checked in after 4pm and have completed a list of things not what I would call up to standard for the price we are paying. Filthy stained carpets and non existent internet which was one of the reasons we selected this place.
A green haze whilst landing at Heathrow today had me researching what causes this and it was not pollen. This green cloud layer was above the normal cloud layer and it took for ever to work our way through into the grey part. This morning during sun rise there was an eerie green tinge above the clouds and when we descended into this green mist/haze it was very real. This is new and 8 years ago this was not there so it definitely stands out as a worry. Has anyone else seen this because this was like a horror movie and it is not pollution or pollen.
We are going to have an early night tonight to get back on rack as I for one have not slept yet and we are over 36 hours already. I am just saddened at the lack of services in the UK which seem to be done by foreigners. The Polish guy this morning I had trouble understanding what he was saying and he is the front man meeting the public representing the company. No one cares what is going on and I will never be using this company again. I thought SA was bad, but quite honestly so far it is better than the UK. I will slowly get photos uploaded, but now I am just too exhausted to even try.
