Window seat please.

Marianne’s CBBH Photo Challenge this month, is ‘View from an aircraft‘.  I always try to get a window seat, more for the view than any other reason. For me, the flying experience is enhanced when I can watch the sunrise, sunset, or just see the fluffy white clouds passing by. I guess some people don’t want the constant reminder that they’re sitting in a long metal tube, about 30,000 feet above the ground, or the sea, and would rather pretend they’re on a train or a bus, so sit in the middle, and there are those that have to keep getting up to use the toilet, so prefer to sit on the aisle. Not me though; I revel in the fact that I’m actually high above the earth, flying effortlessly and at great speed, towards my destination. Quite often, I forget to take the camera out of my cabin bag, and by the time we take off, it’s too late to get up and grab it, so some of my pics are taken with my iPhone. I guess if it’s on airplane mode, that’s permissible, but I’m never sure, so try not to do it when the stewards are close by.

Here are a few of my in flight pics:

Coming in to land at Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok.

Taking off from Phuket International airport.

View from a helicopter over Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

Victoria falls in the distance.

Flying towards Belize.

Fluffy clouds.

Looking down at the swamps.

Smooth landing at Belize City.

First sighting of  San Pedro.

Getting closer to the ground.

This was only a 10-seater plane.

Miami next stop.

Coming in to land at Miami International.

Sometimes my attention is distracted from the view out of the window, and I’m more interested in what’s for dinner.

Very welcome view on the airplane.

Stop looking out of the window and eat.

Yummy raspberry chocolate mousse cake.

To see more views from airplanes, just click here.

According to the rules of Marianne’s challenge, I have to introduce you to two of the blogs that I’ve commented on in the past month.

First up is my South African blog friend, Adeeyoyo, who writes beautiful poetry which really touches one’s soul.

Then there’s the artistically talented Poppytump, who advertises her blog thus, “PhotographyBooksArtyStuffAndPlentyOfOtherNiffNaffAndTriviaToIgnore.”

Please pop over and visit them both. I promise that you won’t be disappointed.

Home again, home again, jiggety-jig. ;)

Here I am back home again in South Africa. It’s winter here and I was surprised at how cold it was when we touched down at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo airport at 7am. Some people on our flight were still dressed in shorts, sandals and T-shirts, and were shivering as they waited for their baggage, which they would no doubt open up and grab some warmer clothing as soon as possible.

International departures at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport, was quite spectacular. We had an awfully long wait for our flight to SA, and weren’t sure whether to go through security early, as we didn’t know what facilities were waiting on the other side. Sometimes you go through, and all there is there, are just uncomfortable waiting areas. Hubby asked one of the airport staff if there were more shops on the other side, and he smiled as he answered in the affirmative. Well, he certainly wasn’t lying, as after passing through the gate, we were met by a massive array of fancy stores and restaurants, almost as big as a small town. Every designer shop was represented, and we could have spent a large fortune if we had one to spare. 😉 There were wondrous creations to see all around us, and we so enjoyed admiring all of these, as well as the beautiful orchid displays.

We had lunch and then found something to take home for my mom, but still had almost 8 hours to wait until our flight at 1-15am, so we settled down to read and wait. By the time our flight came up, we were both more than ready for bed, and we still had an 11 hour flight, plus another one from Jo’burg to Durban. At such times, I just resign myself to my fate, and the phrase, “This too shall pass,”  plays itself over and over in my head.

I did get a shot of the rainbow over Phuket as we left for Bangkok.

The night passed very slowly indeed, and it was such a relief when the lights came on and I realised that there were only a couple of hours left. This was the first time ever, that I’ve been awake in time to get a sunrise photo.

By the time we eventually arrived home, I was ‘finished’, but still managed to unpack whilst the water was heating up for a very welcome bath. I made some delicious butternut soup for supper, and then it was absolute bliss to get into our own bed and sleep for almost 9 hours. It rained for most of the night, and today is cool and grey, but I’ve had that old Frank Sinatra song playing in my mind today, “It’s nice to go travelling………but it’s so much nicer to come home.”