Tyron’s First Plane Ride from Pretoria to Durban

Well, I told you last year December that I would be taking Tyron on his first plane ride when we went on holiday to the coast and this is a short post to describe to you all about Tyron’s experience.

Tyron's first plane ride - South African Airways

So we woke up early on the morning of the 24th of December. Yes, that was in 2009. Anyway, Tyron and I were both a bit tired, but he got excited the closer we got to the airport. Thanks to Bronwyn’s mother for picking us up and dropping us off. We booked in around 7am and I wanted him to have a window seat, he had asked so nicely I could not resist. To my surprise all the window seats were either taken or had been booked. I spoke in a nice and friendly manner to the check in lady and some how I convinced her to give us one that was booked, as the lady had not arrived yet and claimed her seat.

We were flying via South African Airways (SAA) and I had organized the tickets way back in September at a very reasonable price. I ended up paying R450 each which works out to be around $61 each. I think the tickets were going for over R1000 ($136) each if you bought them in December. I’m so glad we bought them earlier and I thank Cherise who had arranged it all for me.

Tyron was starting to get a bit to excited, but still showed that he was scared. Made me feel a bit uncomfortable, but I did understand what he was going through. I felt the same when I was small and went for my first plane ride.

We spent around 30 minutes waiting to board the plane, so went ended up playing some card games which my Mom had gotten him. I should say that I never won a single game, I still think he cheated a bit

We boarded a bus that would take us to the plane and I could see he was nervous, he face gave it away BIG time. We all cued up to board the plane and it was exciting for both of us. I say both of us as my last plane ride was in 2001, which felt like many moons ago.

We sat in row 32 which was right at the end of the plane, right at the back. It took us longer to walk to the back than to stand cue to board the plane. Everyone was packing their bags and standing in the middle (in our way).

Once we sat down, Tyron was ok and started to play a bit of DS while we waited for all to be ready to take off. Tyron was listening to the safety precuations and listened to every point and even showed me the doors, incase anything happened. Once all was ready, the pilot gave the go ahead and announced a few details over the intercom. Tyron held my hand and I could feel his hands were all wet. He actually made me feel nervous, which has not happened for many years.

Once the plane was ready, the engines started roaring and we made our way to the strip to take off. He squeezed my hand harder and before you knew it, we were off and started to climb. Although the flight was only about an hour long, it went by as if it was 30 minutes. We had so much fun and Tyron could not believe that we were higher than the clouds.

Tyron even asked if anyone had died in a plane, he asked as we had some turbalance and he got a bit scared. I don’t blame him as he is only 7 years old. I guess there are many things that he has to experience in life, but he can scratch flying in a plane off his list.

We had a small breakfast while in flight which consisted of a cooldrink for him and a coffee for me and a cheese and ham sandwitch. Not anything filling, but we both enjoyed it and it was something to remember.

I guess I can say that I took him on his first plane ride. The previous year during New Years, I took him on his first boat cruise. You can read more about it via the links below:

• Some Cruise Pictures
• Two Teasers from the Ship Cruise

He seems to be doing many things for the first time with his father, that’s me and I love it. Makes me proud that I can give him these experiences that he can look back on one day when he is older (when he is a man).

Below are a few more pictures of Tyron and the flight, I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

Tyron showing his new travel bag

He loves Ben 10 and my Mom bought him the bag to take a few things to travel with. It contained more games and sweats than anything else. The bag was full and I was surprised to see what he could fit in it.

Tyron boarding the plane

Tyron and myself were at the back of the cue when boarding as I wanted to take pictures of him boarding a plane for the first time.

Tyron boarding the plane via the steps

Tyron taking his first steps boarding the plane. He was amazed at how BIG the plane really was. He even said it looked bigger than it appears on TV.

Tyron view from the window seat

This was the view from Tyron’s window seat.

Final Thought

We both enjoyed it and I hope to go many places with Tyron before he is to old or finds it boring. When was your last time flying? Do you remember your first plane ride? Where did you fly to?

Tagged as: first plane ride, flying saa, Pictures, plane flight, pretoria to durban, tyron

From the desk of George Serradinho

I am the proud owner of Serradinho Blog and have made this my second home. I'm into blogging, downloads, WordPress, meeting and helping others, etc. Basically the internet in general :) Serradinho Web Services is my own company whereby I offer my services to clients. This ranges from web design, website upgrades, theme customizations, support, premium WordPress plugins and many more .....

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