Andy's birthday journey

Last Thursday, (20th) we travelled to the UK from Cape Town. It was a 12-hour day flight, which some people would find too long and boring. But I much prefer it as I can read, write, enjoy the view, and so on, without my sleep pattern being disturbed. When we finally arrive at our destination I can go to bed and enjoy a good night's sleep.

So our journey home last week, which also coincided with Andy's birthday was quite enjoyable. With our frequent flier points we can now go into the BA lounge before the flight, where complimentary drinks and snacks, papers and magazines are provided, in pleasant surroundings. I mentioned at the lounge reception, that it was Andy's birthday, wondering if they could do anything special for him. When we were settled with our drinks and papers, suddenly over the microphone a voice sang "Happy Birthday Mr Andy James..." and fellow travellers gave him greetings. Then, on the plane, when our breakfast arrived, the flight attendant offered Andy a glass of champagne, normally only offered to Business and First Class travellers.

As you can see there were quite a few empty seats in our section, so we had excellent service throughout the flight. Finally, when we came through Passport Control at Heathrow, the officer, noticing his date of birth, wished Andy a 'Happy Birthday'!

When we took off from Cape Town the plane headed south, over the coastline and I managed to capture this shot of our shaddow:

Then it leveled out and the seat belt sign went off, so I quickly moved to the other side to take a photo of the peninsula, down to Cape Point:

As the plane circled round, heading north, I went back to my seat on the right side to take some aerial shots of Table Mountain.

This is about half way down the peninsula, with Hout Bay on the foreground. Although you can't get a very clear photo through a plane window, I hope you can see how extensive and flat the Mountain is, forming a letter 'n'. The little peak to the left is Lion's Head.

This is Robben Island, looking back across the Northern Suburbs (our apartment is situated in there somewhere!) Robben Island is where Nelson Mandela, and other political prisoners were imprisoned for many years, during the South African Aparteid years.

Our plane followed the West Coast of South Africa, as it headed north, and I thought this cloud formation over the land looked really pretty - like snow!

Finally, after flying over the sea for several hours, we then crossed over the coastline of Nigeria, to continue over North Africa:

All in all, a very interesting flight!