4 April 1986: The Joys of Business Class

Friday evening, April 4, 1986, 10:30PM (New York time)

Somewhere over the North Atlantic

[3/3/2022 comment from Will:  Some readers will, no doubt, find it offensive that I would accept a free business class ticket from South Africa’s national tourist agency in 1986.  Nelson Mandela and his close associates had been in prison for more than 20 years while I was sampling free South African wines and enjoying a nice dinner in a wide, cushy seat.  At this time, there were numerous international boycotts of South African products and sports teams.  Non-white South African citizens continued to live under an oppressive system.  I had sold out and, therefore, had no right to consider myself a legitimate, ethical journalist, right?  I can’t disagree with such an accusation but would ask the reader to take a look at my at my discussion of this dilemma in my January 29, 2022 post:  “Prelude to ‘In Search of the White South African’".  OK – back to April 1986.]

En route to South Africa at last.  Comfortable, wide, soft seat in business class.  I made sure to get a window seat but I can’t see a bloody thing down there since it’s a night flight over the Atlantic Ocean.  We make a one-hour refueling stop at Ilha do Sal (Salt Island) around 5:00 AM local time.  This little tropical spec of land is part of Cape Verde, now an independent nation consisting of a group of volcanic islands located 300+ miles west of the West African coast.  It was a Portuguese colony until 1975.  It is my understanding that South African Airways (SAA) pretty much controls Sal, economically at least. 

Upon boarding this white, orange, and blue (colors of the South African flag) 747-Combi, the steward greeted me with, “Good evening, sir,” then, in Afrikaans, “Goeie naand, meneer.”  Once in my seat, I was handed a copy of the Johannesburg Star, South Africa’s largest-circulation daily newspaper.  I had scrounged around for several days in Los Angeles a few months ago try to find a copy but to no avail.  I was also handed a black sleep mask.

                                 South African Airways jumbo jet, circa 1985                                      photo:  South African Airways

Presently, I’m sipping an after-dinner port and munching on camembert and gouda cheese.  This follows a delectable dinner which I must, of course, get down on paper since it’s “my duty” to evaluate SAA in return for their $4000 plane ticket.  There was a choice of ten South African wines for din-din and I chose a 1981 KWV Roodeberg.  It was a dry red and I selected it because it was a blend of five different types of grapes (I’m a guy who likes variety).  It was flavorful and full-bodied as far as I was concerned.  Of course, I’m a cheap drunk.  Anything better than Bali Hi or Thunderbird tastes good to me.  Dinner started off with a seafood cocktail which was outasight including scallops and baby shrimp in a pâté served over lettuce.  Also your basic airline tossed salad with blue cheese dressing.  Choices of entre included duck with ginger sauce, lamb cutlet with mushrooms and onions in a red wine sauce, or filet of beef Mexicain.  I opted for the lamb and found it tender and tasty.  The yellow rice with raisins was good and the potato with almond croquettes were not bad.  However, the side of green beans were microwave soggy.  The South African meneer sitting next to me reported that his Mexican steak was so-so.  For dessert we had a chocolate mousse which appealed nicely to my chocolate fetish.  Smaaklike ete! (Afrikaans for bon appétit).  All in all, one of the best feeds I’ve had on an airplane, but it should be for a four-grand ticket.  Wonder what the food is like in tourist?

And now some items of interest from the Star.  Winnie Mandela’s picture is on the front page with an article about her being “unbanned.”  The Star reporter was quick to point out that, “Mrs. Mandela…may not be quoted.”  (Hmm – welcome to South African government doublespeak.)  Let’s see…  South Africa has the know-how to produce its own version of the “sophisticated Stinger anti-aircraft missiles supplied by the United States to UNITA” forces in Angola.  Eighteen-year-old national serviceman, Jacobus Pretorius, was found shot dead yesterday at a military base north of Pretoria.  Police do not suspect a crime.  Siamese twin boys, joined at the lower back, were born at the Sandton Clinic yesterday.  Other front page stories include a piece on the ANC welcoming Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s call for international punitive sanctions against the Republic of South Africa; “Gaddafi men say they blew up plane”; black schools are 80% full after 1500 parents, teachers and pupils at the National Education Crisis Committee meeting in Durban called for students to return to classes; “SA fuel projects hit by oil price slump” (the largest headline); and a report of strikes in the black township of Kabokweni. 

Enough for now.  Time to break out my new sleep mask and catch some shuteye.