Repatriation Experience:I was just given a few days notice before leaving on a repatriation flight.Since I now live in India,on a OCI card,I was eligible for the repat flight.The flight left on Saturday,25 July 2020,it was in fact the 3rd repat flight to leave SA.

I left Durban early Saturday morning to Johannesburg, although within & around then airport,social distancing is largely practiced,within the aircraft there was 0 social distancing.However, the process was smooth & efficient.

Once I got to OR Tambo,I found other repats waiting for the next instruction,the security & police asked to us to stand aside for the K-9 unit to sniff our luggage,then we were allowed to check in.Check in was again smooth & hassle free & so was immigration & security check

It was such a strange feeling to see the entire international section shut down. I overhead someone say, that there were 200 people abroad the flight, apart from us & a handful of officials there was no 1 in the terminal. It felt like an abandoned warehouse...

I’d say about 80% of the passengers, including myself, wore PPEs. Sadly there was no entertainment in the flight, but food was provided. It was actually a charted Ethiopian airline that carried us to Mumbai.

After transiting Ethiopia & arriving at Mumbai,the only unorganised part of the trip was the exit.During exit,all passengers gathered in a designated area,we registered our names & choice of quarantine stay, something which unnecessarily took 2hrs.

I would say overall,the journey was smooth & pleasant.If you’re prepared mentally & have patience,you can accomplish a lot.I’m in quarantine in Mumbai,spending my days in solitude,but content.I finally have time to take bubble baths, sleep till 12pm & watch plenty of tv

If you have any doubts about taking the repat flight, I hope this makes you feel better. And if you’re in SA trying to make your way back to India& have an extra R20k to splash,you should definitely contact Satguru for assistance.