South Africa

We flew to the promised land on Saturday. After discovering that the Accra Mall is where 90% of the white people in Ghana are at any given time, we woke early for a noon flight. Ethiopia Airlines. And the promise of a comfortable overnight in Addis Ababa on their dime. What we didn't think of is that we are among travelers from across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East who would be spending the night in Addis Ababa with Ethiopian that evening.

We landed at 9 pm and proceeded to spend hours in line. First, it was the line to get our hotel voucher. Then immigration. Then the line for a bus to the hotel. Of course, our's was the last stop. It was close to midnight by the time we made it to the hotel. But we ate well and slept comfortably, albeit briefly. We awoke at 4:45 a.m. for a much-needed hot shower (Addis air was nippy), an impressive breakfast buffet, and a 5:30 a.m. bus back to the airport. The bus arrived to pick us up at 6:45, which made for a hustle back through the various airport lines, including a metal detector just to get into the airport, whose line by this time was snaked out the front door.

But we made our flight with ten minutes to spare and ate enough edible plane food to no longer be impressed by it. We landed around 1 p.m. Sunday in South Africa.

We were at the front of the immigration line in Johannesburg no more than ten minutes after deplaning. When the black immigration officer discovered Annette and I were together, and married at that, he couldn't help but share his elation. "That's wonderful. We may not have apartheid anymore, but that still doesn't happen here in South Africa." He stamped our passports and sent us along.

At baggage claim, I chuckled inwardly as a white man shouted to whatever staff member (all black) he could find about how inconveniently placed the trolleys were. He had to walk from baggage claim two to baggage claim five to get a trolley. I believe the trolleys were actually placed exactly in the middle of all of the baggage carousels. Obviously, this man was not coming from West Africa. Our bags came in quick time and we found an ATM, post office, and commuter train like it was Europe.

Tabitha and Lee greeted us with a smile, news that Tabis pregnant, and a BMW that shepherded us to a luxurious house in northern Johannesburg, complete with a nice kitchen, private guest house, big barbecue, wraparound front lawn scented by jasmine, swimming pool, hot tub, fast Interent, television, and bar well-stocked with wine and whiskey. This is going to be home for a while. Our vacation from our vacation.

It is as much compound as house. A wall sorrounds it, adorned by a yard of electric fence. The security system is active, with lasers around the house and front lawn, locking bars on the doors and windows and each door with a different key. For two days, we don't leave the house without Tabitha and Lee.

On Tuesday, we finally go for a walk. The neighborhood is absolutely gorgeous. Jacaranda blooms seem to be bursting on both sides of the street, dousing the neighborhood in lavender. Stately sycamores shade the streets, their puzzle-piece bark resembling desert storm camouflage. The streets are empty, except for two ADT security cars. One even has lights and a siren on top. We walk by their small security hut two blocks down to discover one man on a bicycle talking into a two-way radio. Another sits in the hut reading the newspaper with a flap jacket on. A few black grandmothers walk grandchildren whose ages are still single digits. They are the domestic help. Each house is colossal. There are no porches or stoops or driveways. All garages and walls on all sides. They are decorated by electric fences, razor wire, barbs and pointy things of all shapes and sizes.

After we see two school children walking, Annette almost absent-mindedly says this neighborhood would be a nice place to raise children. She immediately follows the comment with the observation that there are no streets to play in or neighbors in sight. Everybody lives behind walls, topped with wires and points. It seems like a hefty price to pay for such luxury.