South Africa - The Rough Guide To South African Gospel - Various Artists

Advantages: great selection, good variety
Disadvantages: somehow mistitled, mostly traditional stuff

...Rough Guide, best known for their budget travel guides, has been steadily expanding in other areas, and has been responsible for quite a few musical "guides" over the years. This 1998 album, marketed as "Rough Guide to the Music of Eastern Europe", does pretty much exactly what is says on the package: provides quite a wide ranging overview of folk and (occasionally) folk-inspired music of Eastern Europe. This is an album that pretty much started my liking for "world music" coming from my part of the world, and despite its age it remains a good compilation which really does showcase the variety of what's on offer quite well. One thing that this "Rough Guide" album needs is perhaps a better definition of what is considered Eastern Europe: this is a surprisingly woolly category (I always remember somebody commenting than Poland... Read review

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Advantages: Nice staff...
Disadvantages: Serves LHR with check-in problem

...help you and talk to you. And the meals aren't bad either. But beware - there is no food on some of their shortest flights. There is no smoking on internal flights, but I personally would see that as an advantage. Check-in is usually easy, and the airline is renowned for their punctuality and efficiency. Then there's the international airline - South African Airways. Here, you will find firendly service in the comfortable interiors of their modern fleet, with the latest films to select from in Economy. Plus there's friendly staff and some culinary delights! There's a lot to do in South Africa. You may want to visit Cape Town's Robben Island (see seperate opinion). But, you need to get there somehow, and SAA does that for you, flying direct from the UK to Cape Town and J'B. They have a well-organised schedule, bringing in many... Read review

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Advantages: Cheap, Convenient, On time, Excellent Cabin Crew
Disadvantages: Legroom, lack of food

...After travelling on a horrendous Air France flight to Joburg (see my previous review) I was looking forward to experiencing the onboard service offered by South African Airways. Check-in was easy simply provide your credit card or Voyager Card (their frequent flyer programme) at check-in with your passports and you are checked in. (I had already pre-booked seats via www.flysaa.com) At Joburg there were no announcements for final boarding so I sat staring at the screen waiting for the boarding announcement to flash up when it did I proceeded to board the aircraft, walking across the tarmac to a covered set of steps not the most pleasurable experience when you are scared of height and stuck queueing on stair that aren't exactly solid!!! On board we walked throught the business area of the cabin separated during the flight by... Read review

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