Trip Report: GRU-JNB
Overall, a very nice flight from Sao Paulo, Brazil (GRU) to Johannesburg, South Africa (JNB). With a flight time of less than 8 hours, I really started to think about the globe differently - Africa and South America are really pretty close to each other, similar to a flight from the US East Coast to Western Europe.
In GRU, South African Airways (plus it seems like every other airline) uses the Varig Smiles lounge. I didn't realize Varig was still its own brand, having been swallowed by GOL. I liked how the lounge had its own Paes de Queijo (cheese puff) station - very Brazilian.
The seats on South African Airways are really its strong suit, I think. They recline completely 180 degrees, horizontal. Not sloping towards the floor, or really narrow, like some other airlines that have flat beds.
Dinner was decent, but I was surprised by the small portion sizes! Maybe it's because I'm used to American portion sizes. This filet mignon looks so small I could make a slider out of it with the dinner roll!
On such a "short" international flight, I was surprised that the second service was a full hot breakfast, served in two courses no less. A very nice fruit platter with plum, mango, papaya, pineapple, and grapes came with your choice of yogurts, cereals, and breads. The next course was either an omelette or cold cuts plate (I chose the omelette). All of the food was really good, if not spectacular. The best was this fruit plate and the papaya-cassis ice cream served at dinner.
