Counting Sheep on South Africa Airways - by Emlyn Lee

I’ve lost my sleeping mojo…I used to have the ability to fall asleep before taking off on any flight, and wake up just about the time when the flight attendants come by to remind us to put our tray tables away and to put our seats back to their upright position. I was really looking forward to some shut eye during this flight, since I just spent three weeks busily on the road recruiting Cultural Embrace along the East coast, and pulled a few late nighters trying to get as much work done before this trip. But for some reason, I’m on my second movie, typing up this blog off-line, and restlessly awaiting to land so I can stretch my body.

I am flying on South Africa Airways to Cape Town, and even though there is nothing appealing about flying ~17 hours including a stopover in Dakar, Senegal, and then a layover in Johannesburg, l am impressed with their flight crew, aircraft, and service. Although I am not a hard critic when it comes to transportation, I have been in the travel & service industry for over 14 years and know the difference of quality of service. C’mon, there really is nothing peachy about getting to and from a destination. I think the tribulations from traveling happen, so that we can appreciate the destination that much more once we get there.

I have taken every mode of transportation known to mankind--from the chicken buses in Peru, to propeller flights in Zimbabwe, to the Orient Express in Australia, to boats and cruises along the European waterways, to a Flying Pigeon bike in China, to a hot air balloon across the Serengeti, to an elephant ride through Nepal, to the Concorde across the Atlantic Ocean—I’ve accumulated frequent travel miles in some shape and form. It’s not the way I got to the destination, but the destination itself. It’s the people, the music, the food & drinks, the sites, and the experience (including the transportation) that I seek to discover when I travel. Now that my grandmamma knees and back are agitatedly questioning when we will get there…they’re just the reminders to make me anticipate and embrace being in South Africa so much more. Three hundred twenty-four thousand six hundred seventy two sheep…three hundred twenty-four thousand six hundred seventy three sheep…three hundred twenty-four thousand six hundred seventy four sheep…