11/26/21 and 11/27/21- Twenty-five years ago, Sharece and I got married in a little old church in Southwest Missouri. We were just kids and had no idea what life was, but we made it work. Fast forward to now and it's time to celebrate.
We get to JFK airport around 7:45am, a full 2 ½ hours before our flight, waiting in a long line to check in our bags and get ticketed with Qatar before being told at the desk that we need to fill out a declaration form. We step out of line for a bit, but didn't take long to finish. We then stand in several more long lines for security but are able to board the plane in time. Things looked smooth until we hear an announcement that the flight is delayed due to lack of workers in the luggage area. Um, what?
The delay lasts for an hour and a half, and even though we're finally wheels-up, our thoughts are squarely on our layover. Not making that flight would mean we're stuck in Qatar and will miss our first night romanticizing the Maldives. Yup, we done messed around and booked 4 nights in an over-the-water bungalow, All-Inclusive, in the Indian Ocean (Cinnamon Hakuraa Huraa).
It takes 12 ½ hours, and four movies to get to our layover in Qatar. The cabin is full of bratty kids that like to kick seats and sniffling adults that sounds like they're inhaling golf balls, but somehow we manage to get some rest while landing an hour behind schedule. The worry of missing the flight is also resolved as soon as we get off the plane and find a lady holding up a sign for our next flight. Whew!
While on plane #2, which is virtually empty allowing both of us to spread out, I logged onto the free Wi-Fi and find our bags made the transfer as well. Whew #2. Yet the worry started up again once we arrived in Male, Maldives, circling for an additional 40 minutes before landing 25 minutes late. Normally, this wouldn’t be such a big deal, but our scheduled seaplane (the 45 minutes propeller transfer from the airport to our private island resort) can only fly in the daylight. Since sunset is at 5:30pm that would mean we have a short window to deplane, go through customs, pick up our two bags, find the transfer counter and board. We must've had luck on our side because all of that happened beautifully. The seaplane was also a treat as we have a great view of the islands from the sky during sunset.
Upon landing on the water, we get dropped us off at a floating platform. From there, a boat from the resort picks us up and greets us warmly with welcome drinks and jots down our actual anniversary date for a surprise later. Most likely a cake.
After settling in, we are greeted once again by one of the best views possible of the resort just outside our room. We open the double doors from our bed to our deck overlooking the crystal blue water. We even have a glass bottom window at the foot of our bed where we can see all types of fish swimming around. Needless to say, we spend the next few hours getting acquainted with the room before heading for our buffet style dinner at 7:30pm. Did I mention this place has free drinks and awesome food?
After a filling dinner, we play some pool around the bar area, hit up the souvenir shop and freshen up for a good night’s sleep. We are ten hours ahead of New York City and can feel the energy draining. Luckily we have nothing planned to do tomorrow except eat, drink, relax and- whatever else floats our way.
11/28/21- Woke up to a beautiful sun rise, feeling extremely fortunate and thankful that a place like this exists in the world. We eat breakfast, have a cappuccino by the water and enjoy the walk around the island. We check on the snorkeling excursion and find that they have it every day at 10am and 3pm, no reservations needed. We’ll definitely look to do that tomorrow.
Back in our room, we do a little snorkeling of our own with our new full-face masks to try them out. The 80 degree water was chilly at first, but soon felt very comfortable as we saw several types of fish in the shallow coral. We also use this time to see how our GoPro camera works mounted to the mask.
We shower again, as this seems like a daily routine due to the high humidity, take a video of our room (which we accidentally locked ourselves out and had to flag down the houseboy) and hit up the lunch buffet. The food here is amazing as they have many choices available, but we are careful not to overeat by only getting small portions here and there. Don’t want to fall into a food coma.
On our way back, we enjoy the beach swing and grab some snorkel fins from the dive shop. Barely making it to our room, our bodies are exhausted, so we take a short nap. This humidity is frizzing our hair, which I don’t mind as I have good beach hair anyway.
Dinner time comes around and I have the roast duck, and afterwards we play some darts before retreating for the night. We didn’t do much today, as that’s the point, but we still feel wore out. We did look into the messages they offer but were turned off by the prices. $122 for a foot massage seems pretty outrageous.
11/29/21- Our anniversary is finally here. 25 years and counting and couldn’t have picked a more perfect place to celebrate. Of course, this is not the only thing we’ll be doing this trip as we have several more weeks planned of epic traveling, but it’s a tremendous start.
Waking up next to this woman every day has been an absolute pleasure and there’s not one thing I would change. Why would I? We’ve been together through the lean times of having bare essentials to our slightly more lavish lifestyle now, and any little thing in between done differently would’ve been arbitrary. Nothing in the world matters more than being with her (except for our kids and soon to be there kids), and I would easily take that with or without all of the great experiences and adventures we’ve been blessed to have over the years. I’ve fought hard to build our life up as we go, and it’s nice to see that hard work and patience pay off.
Back to our trip, we eat breakfast and retreat back to our room to blast music, dance and enjoy a dip in the water before our PCR tests at 11:30am. Our flight leaves in two days so we needed this for our next destination. They charge $65 per person for the tests, which is much different than having insurance in the states, but we’re on an island so what can we do.
After getting nasal and throat swabbed, we order a few drinks and talk with some other guests. At lunch, I got the grilled lamb and a pina colada as our waiter tried to up sale us on a seafood dinner, which is not included and costs $200 for a couple, we respectfully passed.
Around 3pm, we set off on our snorkeling adventure. The boat took us, and about 10 other guests, to the middle of the lagoon where there was plenty of coral. The wind picked up so the waves were a bit choppy, but we manage to get some gorgeous underwater photos.
Dinner is interesting as our waiter gives us a cake for our anniversary (as I thought they would). It’s very good and rich but way too much to eat as we leave most of it on the table. I do love how attentive the staff is here.
At our room, we gaze at the night sky as it’s full of stars and dance to a few more songs before taking a shower and settling down. Tomorrow will be our last full day here and we have nothing planned to do. Sleeping in is going to feel great.
11/30/21- Some crazy observations so far. We have zero cell phone service since we landed, which is not that big of a deal but when my credit card wants to send a text message to confirm it’s me who’s trying to log in then it becomes an issue. For the buffet meals we have to wear gloves and a mask every time we get our food. The gloves stick to our hands, due to the humidity, making it an interesting chore taking them off when we get back to our table with a plate of food. Also, they accept US money here, but I did exchange a few dollars to Maldivian to add to my collection.
Actually had about seven hours sleep last night, which is more than the five getting the first few. Usually we force ourselves to flip over to the dramatic time change on day one, but we had the luxury of spreading it out a bit here.
We take in a late breakfast and walk to the reception area to sign up for a shark excursion later this evening. With the sun fully out, we were baking by the time we get back to our room and to our surprise we see our bed made up with Happy Anniversary decorations. I remember yesterday the house boy looking a bit confused when we said we didn’t need our room made up and now I know why, because they were planning this. I actually like it the next day even more as it was completely unexpected. It’s the little touches that I appreciate and this place has done very well. We feel spoiled.
While getting ready for a swim, we get a call asking us to come to reception to settle our bill by 2pm. Not sure why they asked a day early as we had to go back and forth a bit, but ultimately they agreed that tomorrow is okay. With that done, we hit up lunch before spending some time at the bar.
The sunset shark adventure is awesome. They take us to the middle of the lagoon and feed the sharks as they swarm the boat. I was literally hanging off the side to get photos not even wondering if they like sausage fingers or not. Kinda glad they didn’t jump otherwise I may have had to take a break on this blog.
We play pool before dinner, and afterwards are exhausted. Looks like an early night for us as we can hardly keep our eyes open.
12/01/21- It was a fantastic couple of days as we thoroughly enjoyed the relaxation, the views and the hospitality. Everyone, from the welcome staff to our waiter, was on point with being helpful and friendly during our stay to make us feel at home. We’re also very happy to have clear skies everyday as the weather showed thunderstorms the entire week originally. I think we may have found a place more unpredictable than New York’s weather. Oh, and surprisingly my phone service came through, three days later. Weird!
After breakfast, we pack our things for the resort to take them to reception and chill at the bar for a bit. I did settle our bill with a major discount on the seaplane (thanks to our gold member status), and surprisingly they also didn’t charge us for the COVID tests, which should have been $130. I can’t complain about that. Again, the staff here has been amazing and would highly recommend for anyone looking for a getaway to a fantasy island destination. Keep in mind, this is not a party island by any means, but if you can survive the trek it is well worth it.
Lunch came and went and soon it was 2:30pm, in time for our return seaplane. The journey took 40 minutes and it was hot and full of people, but the views were amazing. Once we land, they bus us across the island to the airport terminal, pick up our luggage and maneuver around to find check-in. Luckily we filled out our immigration form online last night because they ask for the QR Code while in line for passport control.
Zipping through, we next go through security without any problems and find our gate with two hours to spare. We’re very hot, exhausted and ready to get out of these uncomfortable waiting area seats. Why do airports insist on seats that are rock hard and slant in such a way that your back feels like someone’s knee is pushing against it?
We’re sad to leave this place as every day felt like we were in a screensaver, but there’s so much more to do and we can’t wait to get to our next destination. Oh wait, did I not say where yet? Our flight at 6:20pm will be to Dubai where we’ll be staying for the next 4 days.
Our flight leaves on time and takes over 4 hours to touchdown. We skate through passport control and stand in line for a taxi. We ask the attendant how much and were quoted about 75 AED but the taxi driver quotes double that. We say no thanks and take an UBER instead.
Our hotel (Mercure Suites) looks spacious and on the 29th floor, which gives a decent view of the city. Unfortunately, we were given two twin beds but manage to put them together.
On another note: There’s a new COVID variant Omicron that’s sweeping through and apparently causing flight disruptions. Hopefully, the rest of our trip goes smoothly without incident, but we are watching out just in case.
12/02/21- Quick history lesson. Dubai was formed as a fisherman’s village in the 1800s but rapidly started developing after oil was found in the region in the 1960s. Since then it has become one of the most sought after travel destinations in the world.
Fast forward to today and we can clearly see how many people flock to this city as they’re everywhere, and there’s no rhyme or reason to how they walk or stand. It’s like everyone knows you can’t stay out of others way so why try. People cut you off only to walk slowly in front of you hand-in-hand with the ones they’re with, or they dart at you when coming from the opposite direction.
We wake up around 11am as we went to bed late and needed the sleep. After settling our plans for the next few days we decide to hit up the Mall of Emirates and a place called Dubai Ski. We buy the tickets online (which was a chore because they didn’t accept either of my Capital One credit cards and had to use my backup) and head for the elevator. This is where the day starts out crazy as we wait ten minutes for one to show up and barely squeeze in when it does.
Then, the elevator proceeds to stop on every other floor (keep in mind we were on the 29th floor to start), and with a full load already nobody else can get on, so we are greeted with disgusting looks every time. Finally, we reach the bottom thankful that we didn’t leave anything back in our room that we had to go back for.
We first look for food as we haven’t eaten at all yet, but our GPS acts up and brings us to the wrong area. Deciding to go straight to the mall, we try to use our phone to call an UBER only to find that neither of us has service (even though the Roaming has bars and we switched our service over to GSM). Literally stuck, we ask a taxi driver to take us to the mall and he points to the Metro saying, “Take that”. Um, okay. Guess he didn’t want to drive that way.
The metro was easy enough as we purchase our tickets and find what direction to go on the Red Line. It was only two stops away for a few dollars so worked out. At the mall, we walk around what seems like a hike to find the food court and are excited to see Charley’s subs. I’ve never been to a place where it’s so confusing to find anything even though they have signs written in English. It’s like you have to hunt around to find a hidden sign somewhere, and with our phones not working we were at their mercy.
With our bellies full, we ask a lady at a nearby counter to point us in the direction of Dubai Ski, and are there within about ten minutes. Luckily I was able to get a few minutes of free Wi-Fi in the food court so I could pull up my email with the ticket info on them, otherwise we probably would’ve been stuck.
Dubai Ski is an indoor ski resort built inside the mall. That’s right, a ski resort built in the desert. We left New York in the winter to come to Dubai to find snow. How’s that for ironic. The temperature is extremely cold, with actual snow throughout the entire place, which is why they provide all of the equipment and clothing we’d need (jacket, pants, shoes, gloves and even socks). We dress up warmly and once we walk into the large hanger-like room, we realize just how cold it actually is. Brrrrr!
At first we weren’t blown away as the kiddy rides were up front, but around the corner we see what we were looking for, the ski-lift. This is a five plus minute ride that takes us to the top of the slopes, unfortunately we weren’t there to ski but for the other rides. We stay on until it drops us back at the bottom thankful we were able to get the grand overview of the place.
We then stand in line to get a two-person tube to slide down the snow bank in. The ride was short but very fun, enough for us to do that a few times. Then we ride the giant ball that rolls down the bank with you inside. It starts off having to jump head first into the blown-up, padded ball before it’s released downhill. It was a good one.
With our bodies frozen, we step out into the main lobby area to warm up for about ten minutes before heading back in. This time we take the ski lift up to the mid-level section and find a tube ride that slides down hill while flying around curves. At one point I thought the thing was going to flip over, but somehow it manages to stay on track.
The last ride was the zip-line and was very fun to do. I was initially told I couldn’t hold onto my camera, so I tuck it into my jacket, but as soon as it releases I take it out and start filming. Sharece went after me and I was able to catch her coming down the zip-line the entire way. What an awesome way to end this adventure.
With our bodies completely numb, we take off our gear and head into the mall to look for a selfie-stick for my GoPro camera. The one I brought to Dubai Ski broke when I had it tucked in my pocket. Luckily, I didn’t have to use it there but I will surely need it tomorrow. The store we find only had one for around $40 US, but it comes with accessories that seem useful enough.
Tired from the day out, we look for our return Metro ticket but neither of us can find them, which is very strange. We talk with an attendant and end up buying a card with multiple rides on them for cheap, so it worked out regardless. Two stops later, we’re back at our hotel. I called Sprint to find out about our service and they have no answers, so this ordeal looks like it’ll last for several more days.
12/03/21- Didn’t get much sleep due to the Sprint fiasco last night, but we work it out. Cost $20 but well worth it to finally have service on this trip. I’m sure I can get a credit from them later.
We wait outside of our hotel at 8:25am as asked, however our transport didn’t arrive until 9:15am. The sugar donut I ate wakes me up enough to be alert, which will be highly needed on this day. We sit in the back of the van and already feel the bumps of the road as the driver swerves around traffic. An hour later we arrive at their headquarters to buy souvenirs, water, food and head scarves, which Sharece gets one and looks way cool in.
Shortly after, we get into an SUV retrofitted with special tires for sand bashing, which if you are not familiar with that term it’s like jumping sand dunes in a dune buggy, but much more erratic. The thrill was enough to wake me up though.
The driver pulls up to the camels and after taking a few photos we hop on for our thirty minute ride into the desert. This is the highlight as they offer a short walk for a few minutes but we sprung for the longer journey to get the full feel. The camels are actually comfortable and glad it wasn’t too hot outside during the journey. Sharece’s camel likes to rub up against my leg and let me pet it while it poses for photos. I was very impressed.
The last thing is sand boarding down the dunes. Sharece opts out while filming me attempt this maneuver, as I’ve never even been on a snowboard or a pair of skies before. Immediately after strapping in I, of course, fall back into the sand and fight to get up. The second attempt starts better only to gradually work the board down the dune as it keeps getting caught up. Finally, on the third attempt I make headway, only to almost tumble half way down. It’s definitely an experience I’ll never forget, and neither will Sharece’s camera.
We make it back to our hotel in one piece, although very sandy. I had to maneuver while in the van to make sure my camera didn’t get any sand on it which was not easy, and rinse off in the shower upon our return. Needless to say, the bar of soap is caked.
Researching things to do, I purchase tickets to the Dubai Frame for sunset and the confirmation says I’ll get an email once payment is confirmed in thirty minutes. Well, it never showed up, yet there’s an authorization on my credit card. Does this mean it DIDN’T go through? I’m not going to try the payment again, so I take a screenshot and move on.
At 3pm, we take an UBER to the Saudi German Hospital for our PCR COVID tests. We thought we’d be in and out like before but it takes thirty minutes to register on their app before getting swabbed. Man, I still can’t get used to that nose feeling. The tests cost us 150 AED (roughly $40 each). We’ve been careful on this trip so far, wearing a mask and keeping our distance when possible. In Dubai, wearing a mask indoors is mandatory and almost all still wear them outdoors, which works because the last thing we want is to catch anything and have to quarantine.
With the test taking so long to do, we take an UBER ($20) to the Dubai Frame (which is 500 feet tall with a vast view of the city) and make it with ten minutes to spare before our scheduled time. There’s already a long line forming, however, I still don’t have a confirmation email, so I went to the ticket guy and showed him the screenshots of the confirmation and my credit card’s pending charge and he let us right through. Lucky us. There’s another long line to get into the building and are asked for our tickets. This time they jot down my name and email and ask us to sit for several minutes before they allow us to go through. Whew! Can’t believe that actually worked.
The elevator takes us to the top just as the sun comes down, creating some great photos of Dubai. People there were also very courteous as they waited for each other to finish taking photos and looked around to make sure they weren’t in anyone’s way. It also wasn’t super crowded either. The sun fully went down as we continue to get night shots, but left shortly after the glare from the inside lights were becoming crazy, ruining most photos. Not sure why they built it that way, but it started to suck.
Once on the ground, we contemplate checking out other things but feel way too tired to continue. We could’ve forced it but it’s probably best to get some actual sleep tonight, so we take an UBER back to our hotel, pick up some food for tomorrow morning and call it a night.
Side note: Dubai is like a much larger version of Vegas in many ways. Each building is unique with its own character to it, everything lights up one way or another and just because a store seems close doesn’t mean it’s easy to get to.
12/04/21- There’s so much to do in Dubai that a few days is not enough. It’s a massive city with several business epicenters and a lot of little things to do. I would say for anyone planning to do the whole shebang, spend at least a week. It also feels very safe, although my tour guide yesterday did try to pawn off his hundred dollar US bills to me for half price. I stayed clear of that scam.
Had plenty of sleep and feel refreshed for a full day of the city. We leave around 11am and take the metro five stops before calling an UBER the rest of the way to canal. Here we cross the twisted bridge which looks amazing, and stroll on the boardwalk. The heat was smacking us a bit but the wind cooled us off, especially in the shade. After about an hour we realize we are nowhere near any cars and have to walk back a bit to call another UBER to take us to the city center.
We get dropped off at the Burj Khalifa (which we call the big tall one) and are amazed at how much taller it is compared to the surrounding buildings. Standing at over 2,716 feet high, it’s the tallest building in the world at more than double the height of the Empire State Building. This place is ridiculously high. We already have our pre-paid tickets for later, so we spend the few hours remaining roaming the area, getting food and enjoying the indoor aquarium at the mall. Also went looking for a new lens cap for my Canon camera as I lost mine on day one in the seaplane, but none of the stores carried the size I needed.
When 4pm rolls around, we’re able to skip the line with our VIP tickets (we decided to splurge The $145 US each since when are we coming back to Dubai) and head straight into the lounge. From there we take an express elevator to the 125th floor, get on another elevator to the 148th floor (VIPs only) and are greeted with coffee and snacks as soon as we come in. The views are absolutely amazing and dwarf all of the surrounding buildings by far.
We are only supposed to be on that deck for thirty minutes before mingling in with the common folks on the 125th floor that purchased a regular ticket, but we stay there for about two hours waiting for the sun to set and it was worth it. After getting some night shots, we take the elevator back to the bottom and head outside to catch the fountain show. If you’ve ever been to Vegas then most likely you caught something similar at the Bellagio. Well, this one is much more elaborate.
Our feet are now exhausted as this is the most walking we’ve done on our trip so far. We use what AED cash we had left to buy food for tonight and tomorrow morning and head back to the hotel. Our flight leaves extremely early and most likely won’t be able to get much sleep. Stay tuned!
Our hotel reception prints off our PCR results so we have a handheld copy to show the airline. This PCR test was a bit worrisome earlier as they said the results would be given to us within 24 hours, well on the 25th hour we were up in the “big tall one” and had to call for them to email. I was slightly concerned that somehow we had tested positive and were delaying the results to make sure, especially since I felt a slight headache coming on, but it turns it out it was all in my head- Ba Dum Ching!
12/05/21- Got a grand total of one hour sleep before we call an UBER to take us to the airport. We go toward the check-in counter and met with a group of people standing around blocking the entrance. I go to the front to find out what's going on and the lady puts me right through. I guess the others had a later flight
While getting ticketed, an argument breaks out between a man and a woman in which airport security had to intervene. While the check-in guy was laughing I say, “And please make sure our seats are nowhere near them.”
When we board the plane, another man tries to bully his way past security to the gate and was stopped promptly. Yelling happened and we were sure the guy was going to get kicked out, but weirdly they let him through. Not a good example they are setting.
The flight takes four hours and we sleep for most of it. We did have the pleasure of sitting next to a woman with a crying baby, but the flight attendants move her before takeoff. She was still within earshot but at least muffled.
We finally land at our layover in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This was a place we had set to visit for a few days to break up the transfer, but once we found that we had to get a Yellow Fever shot and they were $150 US we said, Nuh Uh!
We hit a long line in Addis for the passport transfer and security line again, but our layover is 2 ½ hours so we have plenty of time to relax, and once through we find our gate and check out a gift shop, which had some very unique stuff. I pick a small clay souvenir up with the words Ethiopia written on it and ask how much and quoted $25 US. I immediately put it down and walk out.
Just before boarding, we see everyone at the gate heading out. Unsure of what was going on, I grab a peak at the departures board to see our flight changed from Gate A to Gate C. It took a bit to walk through the terminal before lining up to take a shuttle to our plane. Oh the joys of traveling.
The flight is smooth and a short two hours, however, our screens don’t work very well. Mine was working fine until they reset the other screens, and then mine went out too. I was just watching it for the flight status anyhow.
We land, deplane and wait in line for the COVID health inspection. We take a rapid test and have to pay $10 for it each. It took some time to fill out the online form and documents but we test Negative and push right through. Our luggage was waiting for us as we head to the taxi rank. They don’t take credit card so I withdraw cash from the ATM and am astounded at the exchange rate. I took out $50 US dollars worth for the taxi and it came up to 115,000 Tanzanian shillings. WOW! I’m ball’n now!
The drive takes over an hour as we see their culture first hand. Motor bikes are treated as side notes as cars pass them and in some cases play chicken. It’s eat or be eaten on the roadway and cars are king. We check into our hotel and not thirty minutes later our tour guide for tomorrow shows up to meet us, which we’re so glad he did because he helps us maneuver the COVID testing appointments we need. Unfortunately, he only takes cash for the testing, so he takes me over to an ATM to withdraw. I took out extra because it seems everything around here is cash only. This will be an interesting few days for sure.
He continues to show me around town as it looks like utter chaos. Stores are not open due to it being the weekend and all of the hustlers are out in full force. At first they don’t pay much attention to me, but once the assistant from the tour company and I part ways I could hear them chomping to scam. Every block was filled with someone trying to talk with me, show me around, asking questions about where I was going. I understand being friendly, but a cold shoulder works just as well. One even tried to get me to change money with him. I never felt like I was about to get mugged or anything, but it was pretty wild. I spent the whole time out taking photos, not only of the town, but of the people I came across. Felt like a real photo journalist.
As the day winds down, we order room service pasta and prepare to get as much sleep as possible as we have to be out of here by 8am.
12/06/21- Another place, another time zone. We fell back an hour when we landed in Tanzania, which is good to give us an extra hour of sleep. We sorely needed it as we wake up early to have our bags ready for checkout. They also agree to hold our suitcases as we’ll be back in a few days from our excursion.
Breakfast is at 7:30am, which has a nice wrap-around view of the street, although it’s raining quite a bit. They make Sharece fresh scrambled eggs and have veggie pizza and fruit on buffet. Once done, we meet with our driver for the African Serengeti safari (from Monkey Adventures). When looking for a guide did our research to find just the right one as we wanted a private tour. It did cost more, but we were able to customize what we wanted and all meals and lodging are included. A small price to pay to enjoy going out into the wilderness.
The drive takes several hours to get to the Serengeti, plus an added thirty minutes to change a flat tire during the drive. The driver takes care of everything as he was quick, and we didn’t even need to get out of the vehicle. It was impressive to see how efficient that was.
We stop for lunch around 12:30pm and picnic outside of the Ngorongoro crater, which we’ll visit more in the days to come, but was able to see the entire crater from up top along with some zebra. We’re given a box lunch with kabobs, chicken, rolls, juice and fruit. I’m not sure what I was expecting but it went beyond that expectation for sure. Our driver warned us about the birds in the area that like to take food out of your hand, so we’re careful to block our food when we see a bird circling around. The other group that was there wasn’t so lucky as it swooped down at them twice. I feel bad for rooting for the bird but it was pretty funny.
At 2pm we enter the gaming zone and begin our quest. First up was the giraffe, which already hit one of our top animals to see. Farther down we run into some gazelles and emu as they jump in front of the vehicle to cross the road. Already we’re feeling fortunate as getting up close to these animals is exactly why we chose this tour, but it wasn’t until we see the lions that we feel complete. It was so cute as the mom lion returns to her cubs from who knows how long and rubs up against the dad lion. We’re in awe over this reunion as we can’t believe what we are witnessing.
Then, an elephant herd crosses through the vehicles as some kick up dirt into the air as if about to charge. Luckily, they continue their walk without any issues, but some of the other drivers were concerned for sure. We continue to see packs of wildebeest, warthogs and such before leaving the park as the sun begins to set.
We end the day at our tented camp of Tukaone where we’re warmly greeted and served dinner. The camp is smack in the middle of the Serengeti, so we’re asked to be cautious at night when leaving our tent. Oh and when I say tent I mean it is maxed out like a suite, with a large canopy bed and private bathroom.
What a fantastic day as this was much more than I’d hoped to get. The drive was rocky at times as he sped through the dirt road throughout the trip, but it was all necessary to get to where we wanted to go. I’m so happy for this safari and can’t believe we still have two days left of it.
Side Note: Nobody in Tanzania wears a mask (except for the hotel staff).
12/07/21- Waking up to the sounds of the Serengeti is amazing. Despite the hard bed, we’re able to sleep soundly, probably because we’re exhausted. The air feels cool as well, much different than when we first went to bed and had to have our mini fans on that we brought with us.
During breakfast we hear elephants in the distance, and soon a pack of them gradually come closer to the campsite. Not sure if they can smell the food but they keep their distance, but as we leave our driver stops the vehicle close by and one of them kicks up dirt and begins to charge. Quickly, the driver puts the car in gear and drives off. Wow!
We do our Covid tests at an outdoor makeshift clinic (about an hour away) and the doctor is very thorough with the swabbing of the mouth and both nostrils. Happy that is done and hoping we get the email in a few days before our flight.
Now onto day #2 of the safari. Like yesterday, we see giraffe, zebra and lions again as we roam around the Serengeti Park. Even though we saw them already it still feels exhilarating and new not knowing what the animals might do or how they may act. In the distance, we see a hoard of elephants moving in bunches and as we approach we count at least 100 of them grouped together. Our vehicle is literally feet away as they migrate across, in front and around us.
We catch two of them fighting, tusk to tusk and then follow two other elephants rubbing on each other as they playfully run around. The finishing touch is when those two start humping in front of everyone. It last all but 7 seconds or so but it was definitely an interesting sight to see. Like watching National Geographic up close.
Continuing on, we find a pair of cheetahs lying in the weeds with a fresh kill. They gnaw on it for quite some time before leaving to find shelter from the sun; and that’s when the birds take over. We track them for a bit but they’re very slow moving, so we continue around the park until we see a leopard resting in a tree. Its limbs dangle as it watches us gawk, wondering if it will come down.
This was an amazing experience as I thought yesterday couldn’t have been topped. And we still have tomorrow! Unfortunately, our vehicle gets another flat tire that our driver had to fix. I offer to help but he wants none of it. I can understand as I would be the same way, and it appears they deal with this all the time with the terrain.
With the afternoon approaching, we picnic at the Serengeti entrance for lunch and that’s when I get a text message that a flight we’re scheduled to take next week wants to change to three days later. UM, NO! With limited Wi-Fi access I’ll have to deal with this later.
We leave the park and drive for several hours toward our hotel, through the bumpy roads which our driver calls the African Massage. Haha, sure it is! On the way he takes us to an authentic shop that sells only from the locals. We find a few things to buy, negotiate a price and when we try to pay with a credit card the guy says it’s down. But wait, he just said when we entered that they accept credit card. I tell him, “Sorry, I can’t buy” and miraculously the credit card machine works again. I can’t blame them for trying. In the shop, they had the most adorable kittens that appear to be a month old. It was hard to put them down when leaving, but there’s no way we can take them back with us as we’re having our own flight problems right now.
It takes only fifteen more minutes to reach our hotel, sorry I mean an oasis compared to the night before (Country Lodge). This place has a pool, dinner included and a very nice room. The two issues are Wi-Fi doesn’t work in the room (which is a pain to have to deal with the airline from the lobby) and none of the outlets work, so have to do everything in the lobby for the time being.
Contacted my agent for the flight that was cancelled and they can’t get a hold of the airline. They mention that a refund is not guaranteed and I let them have it, saying they need to fight for me on this as there’s no way an airline can cancel a flight and NOT refund. Will find out more tomorrow, hopefully.
During dinner (which was a full course meal by candlelight), they fix our outlets in our room so something’s happening. Should be a good night’s sleep and can’t wait until tomorrow.
12/08/21- We don’t leave until 9am, giving us plenty of time to sleep in, eat breakfast and work on the plane ticket fiasco. I cancel my hotel booking for Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, which was our next destination. Why you ask? Because they now have a mandatory ten day quarantine for all travelers, which doesn’t work with our plans. I contact the airline for the flight and they change it for a minimal charge. Relief can’t even describe what I’m feeling.
With that done, we set off for Day #3 of the safari in the Ngorongoro crater. Unlike the Serengeti, the crater has fewer predators in a vast area full of wildlife. It takes an hour to get there and another half hour to travel down but the views are amazing.
Instantly, we’re met with some small elephants grazing the trees from the road, and when we reach the bottom there’s nothing but wide open plains full of zebra, wildebeests and more. They don’t even flinch as we drive by, allowing us to get very close and personal.
Half way through the crater, we encounter a pack of lions resting on a cliff. Watching intently, they slowly leave their spot and one by one filter down to the terrain below. It’s obvious they’re in attack formation as one lion will walk out a ways then lie down, waiting for another to pass him and do the same. There’s probably about ten or so taking turns and quickly we see where they’re heading as three warthogs are drinking by the nearby stream. The incredible part is the entire pride walks right by our vehicle like we weren’t even there, literally feet away.
We have our cameras ready knowing what’s about to happen, we just don’t know when. At one point the warthog walks right in front of the lion, lurking in the grass; and not a moment later the chase is on. Unfortunately for the lions, they miss out on the kill. The entire ordeal unfolds in front of us as we gasp at what could’ve been.
Lunch time comes around and we picnic at a lake in the crater, which has elephants, hippos and water buffalo in our view. The place is packed with other groups as most eat in their vehicles, however, there’s one couple that tries to enjoy their meal outside when a bird swoops down and takes the guys sandwich out of his hand. He chases it for a bit, not sure why as the food is gone at this point, but ultimately throws his hands up in failure. Funny enough, they continue to eat when more birds attempt to grab their food. Finally, they wise up and move underneath the big tree.
With lunch over, we drive out of the crater and back onto the main road to go back to Arusha. It takes three hours, as we doze off, and when we arrive the town is a madhouse of cars, bikes and people everywhere. The traffic is so bad that it takes almost an hour to go only 2 kilometers to reach our hotel.
What an adventure, and one that will never be forgotten. Our driver says we’re lucky to see all that we did, especially in three days, as many stay a week or longer and still come away empty. I’m just happy that we survived and ready for the next part of our trip.
12/09/21- It feels so good to be back in a normal hotel as the last few days were filled with no Wi-Fi in rooms, no air conditioning of any kind and us having to cake ourselves in bug spray. We’ve been taking malaria pills daily just in case a bad mosquito decides to bite us, and unfortunately that will have to continue while we’re in Africa.
We wake up refreshed, eat breakfast and get an email with our COVID test results for our other flight tomorrow. We have some time before our taxi to the airport so I spend it trying to fix the auto-focus on my camera lens. I believe dust may have lodged somewhere as it’s slow to adjust, which has been a pain over the past few days. I have to switch to manual focus at times to get the shot I want quickly, and believe me that wasn’t easy to do when capturing action shots. After some time, I realize it’s best to wait until after the trip as I don’t want to damage the lens.
The ride to the airport is smooth and lasts over an hour. Arusha is an interesting place, far different than what we’re used to. Lambs and cows roam freely to graze, often times just inches from the main highway, there are nice houses right next to shacks, and so many people that just stand outside waiting for something to happen. Whether it’s waiting for a bus on the side of the road with bottles of water or sitting on their motorbikes in the shade scoping out what’s happening.
There’s much beauty with the mountain views and red leaf trees they call “Christmas Trees”. What I definitely won’t miss is the smell of body odor everywhere, enough to make you gag.
We enter the airport and have to go through security at the door; shoes, belt and all. At the ticket counter the attendant asks about our bag that’s ripped on the side (a product of years of traveling) and asks that I sign a waiver for it, which I do since it’s made it this far. Then, we have to go through a full security check again to get to our gate. Why the need for two full security checks back to back is beyond me as what can you pick up after the first that’s not allowed through the second?
We board the propeller plane and the ride was quite nice, except for the screaming kid the entire hour long journey right behind our seat. Every single flight we’ve been on has had one of these near us so we’ve grown to expect it now.
Since it’s a domestic flight it was fast to grab our bags at Dar Es Salaam, no customs, but we’re scanned again through security on our way out of baggage claim. Seriously! Upon exiting we’re approached by a guy about a taxi, we ask how much and he says $10 USD. I know we are literally going about 5 minutes down the road and that’s too much so I say I only have half of that. He ponders around a bit before agreeing. We check our GPS for the hotel to confirm he’s going in the right direction and find two hotels nearby with the exact same name (FQ Village). The address we have from our booking only says 113 as well, which doesn’t pull up anything, so at this point we’re at the driver’s mercy that he’s going the right direction. We get to the hotel and it matches what we have on our picture printout, much to our relief.
The outside of the hotel looks nice but the room itself is small, basic and has a freak’n window for a door to the bathroom. Literally, you can see the toilet from the bed with the door shut. What kind of freaky deaky, twisted person would even think to design something like this? We fix it by putting a sheet over it. Then, we notice a small window above our door with the hallway camera in view. Again, weird! We grab a pillow and stuff it in the window ledge to block that as well.
I’m so glad we’re not even staying here twelve hours as our flight is at 3:45am. We only picked this place because it was the best option close to the airport.
We look for dinner that accepts credit card, as we have minimal cash left, and find an app for delivery. After selecting what we want we see at checkout that it’s cash only. Curious, I find another app that says the same thing. So, a restaurant makes the food and has it delivered, but what if the person they’re delivering to doesn’t have enough cash? Do they take it back… trash it? Sounds like a poor way of doing business.
We check with our hotel’s restaurant, which does take card, but the receptionist has a hard time understanding what we want, even though we point to the picture on the menu. We say we want a chicken sandwich and she doesn’t understand, even though she spoke English decently. Finally tell her grilled chicken with bread and make the gesture of it on a bun (imagine how that went) and she nods. I’m now scared we’re going to get a fish head and a roll. And of course she wreaks of body odor.
Room service brings our food and sure enough they gave us chicken on the bone and not a sandwich. She was sorry for the mix-up and says we can have it no charge. We’re good with that. To be honest it was very well made, so if they do charge us for it I’m okay with that.
12/10/21- Three hours sleep. That’s all we get before getting ready for our next flight. This hotel is not the best but it beats sleeping at the airport. That probably should be their slogan. We’re very happy they have cold air conditioning, so that’s a plus.
We check out at 1am, pay the amount for the dinner (which they did charge us the whole amount but no worries) and call an UBER to pick us up. We have only 9,000 Shillings left (which is about $4 US) and the taxi back would cost 15,000 Shilling cash only, so we were happy to see UBER in the area.
A driver accepts the fare but after five minutes doesn’t move his car. I get a message from him asking where we were going, which is odd because it says on the app, and when I say the airport he says “Ohhh, need money for baggage”. The shake down is real people!
Since the UBER was ultra cheap, a tip is fine by me, but it was the way it was handled that puts me off. Regardless, we get to the airport, I slip him 5,000 Shillings and we’re in business.
At the check-in counter, we show our screenshot of our COVID test and are told only a paper printout will work. The hotel’s machine was down so I couldn’t do it before and I never realized the paper doc was necessary. She points me to the Stationary store not far away and get the print outs for 2,000 Shillings each. Now if you’re doing the math you can add the 5,000 + 2x (2,000) Shillings and equals to exactly 9,000 Shilling, which is all I have. Unbelievable luck!
In the security line I’m asked about my tooth necklace I’m wearing. I say I got it in Brazil years ago and he asks if I declared it. Never been asked that before but I quickly tell him it’s a fake and very cheap. He asks how much I paid and I reply $2. He lets me through.
Our flight leaves on time and takes an hour to get to Nairobi Kenya, our first layover. At our gate in Kenya, we’re asked for our Yellow Fever card, which we don’t have because Tanzania is not listed as a Yellow Fever zone. She says it is, but will let us pass because Cape Town is not strict on that. Wow, that almost threw a monkey wrench into the whole works, but I quickly say thank you and move on my way. The Yellow Fever shot was one of the reasons we chose carefully on where to go in Africa because it would have cost us about $400 for them in the US. Of course, now I’m wondering if we’ll be asked again later.
Second flight turns out to be the exact same plane we just got off of; we even have the same seats. The flight takes 3 hours and lands in Victoria Falls, which if you remember was the place that we had to change from due to the quarantine rules. Ironic that our journey takes us here anyhow, but instead of disembarking the plane, we stay on for forty minutes before it takes off again for South Africa. To sum up, we take the same plane three times, hitting four different countries, all in the same day. Didn’t realize planes had bus schedules.
The last leg of the journey finally touches down in Cape Town around 1pm. We deplane, go through customs (which we fly by without anyone asking about Yellow Fever) and find one of our bags has a rip in it. Before leaving the airport, we make a claim with Kenya Airways for the bag and they’ll look into it for a reimbursement. Either way, this bag will have to be retired after this journey.
They have UBER here, which we set up, but on our way out we are hit with ten different people claiming to be from UBER asking if we need a ride. Aren’t UBERs supposed to be APP only? So, I’m going to say ‘NO’ on the scam, but good luck on your next victim.
The drive takes twenty minutes and we arrive at our bed and breakfast, Valley Heights, and immediately feel good about the decision to stay here. It’s only for one night as we’re switching tomorrow, but it’s in a great area with beautiful scenery and the host is friendly.
Feeling hungry, we walk to Harry’s Burgers and along the way stop at a pharmacy and find a camera cap for my lens of all places. Then walk across the street to see free wine tasting and spend the next hour chatting it up with the locals. We could’ve stayed longer but our stomachs are really growling at this point. We get to Harry’s, eat some delicious burgers and then walk home before sunset.
Fun observations so far: People here love our American “accent”, which is funny because I didn’t think we really had one. Their eyes would brighten as they’d talk to us, as if we’re going to tell them some hidden secret to life. Also, even though this is a richy area, high crime is prevalent as observed by the electric fencing put up on their outside walls. The first thing people tell us is to be careful with our stuff while walking around and not to go out at night if it can be avoided. So, I think I found how the movie The Purge got its inspiration. Lastly, everything’s very cheap due to the exchange rate as our dinner was only about $12 USD total.
12/11/21- Cape Town reminds me of Australia in many ways, especially with all the British/Australian accents. It’s a nice reprieve from Tanzania as it feels much less hectic and more peaceful.
We sleep in with a full night’s sleep on one of the most comfortable beds we’ve had so far on this trip. Our host makes us breakfast with scrambled eggs, toast, fruit and French-pressed coffee and it’s very well made. My expectations are already surpassed.
We check out at 10am and take an UBER to our next hotel, Cellars-Hohenort, which we used our Hyatt points for. This hotel was once a farm vineyard and still has the vines (which they outsource) and a beautiful garden surrounding the property.
We stroll around for an hour as we wait for our room to be ready and when we check in we’re amazed at how large it is. They upgraded us to their suite with a pool view, separate living room and complimentary min-bar. There’s so much detail that we spend ten minutes taking it all in with pictures. It definitely has paid off being Hyatt reward members. When a hotel has its own map, that’s pretty cool! The hotel also lends us a converter as we didn’t expect Cape Town not to have a UK or even a European outlet like the rest of Africa
We take an UBER to the Buitenwerwachting winery and the place is pact outside. With limited seating, we enjoy the inside room to ourselves with five tastings each and buy two bottles. The total price is $30 US, how is that even possible? Afterward a few hours, we retreat to our hotel and order room service. During the call we get disconnected and within thirty seconds there’s a knock on our door to confirm our order. WOW! Service here is top notch! We feel like royalty right now and it doesn’t even compute.
On another note, our flight was cancelled by Qatar to get back to the states and currently on hold to chat with American Airlines. They gave us an option to rebook with British Airways but have to leave the day before. With limited options, we accept the deal. I’m glad we came to Cape Town three days early as we’re losing a day and a half on the backend. Hey, whatever works!
Originally we had three flights to return home with, but this new option is only two flights and saves us about seven hours of flight time, all at no additional cost. Oh the joys of traveling through COVID.
12/12/21- Update to the new flight. Looks like the UK has a mandatory quarantine for anyone arriving from South Africa, so we won’t be able to leave the airport during our long 14 hour overnight layover. That’s going to be interesting.
Breakfast is elegantly served in the courtyard with the beautiful greenery, ponds and ducks waddling around. We order the French toast and omelet as well as crumpets, which is a thicker type of pancake and very good. We notice on the menu a charge around $25 US each and ask if breakfast is included with our room and she says, “Everything is at no charge as you are in room #5”. Well then, don’t mind if I do!
After breakfast, the hotel allows us to go to one of their higher up floors to take photos of their vineyard, which was so awesome of them. This place has gone well beyond anything we could’ve asked; matter of fact, almost all of the places we’ve been to have been most helpful.
We then call an UBER to take us to Table Mountain. We opt for the skip-the-line tickets and are ushered up the stairs straight to the cable car. It rotates on the way up giving us a full 360 degree view. The freaky part is when we get up to the low-laying clouds at the top, completely blinding us from the world below.
We’ve been to the top of mountains before but this is a first when it’s complete cloud cover, and honestly it didn’t faze us one bit. The look was so eerie as the clouds would part every now and then, giving us a view of the city below.
We spend two hours roaming around before catching a ride to Groot Winery, which is highly rated on our list of things to do. The initial red and white wines are okay but the port-style and sweet wine are simply amazing. If we didn’t purchase a few bottles yesterday we definitely would’ve added those to our collection.
The next winery we went to, Beau Constantia, has absolutely the best views of any place we’ve seen so far. The vineyards travel all the way up the mountain and the area is so vast that I have to use my wide-angel lens to get it all. Definitely a must do if in Cape Town. The sky opens up beautifully which makes up double think about going back up to the top of Table Mountain for clear views, but it’s not to be for today.
With the night approaching, we get a ride back to our hotel and find rose pedals all around our room. We’ll leave the rest up to the imagination. We end the night with room service sandwiches, as we haven’t eaten since breakfast and are famished.
12/13/21- ♪♪ Wake up in the mornin’ feeling like P. Diddy! ♪♪ What an awesome couple of days at the Hyatt Cellars-Hohenort. We feel absolutely spoiled and can definitely recommend. I can’t confirm you’ll receive the same service as us, but they are all friendly and attentive. They even help schedule our Covid test for later this week having someone come to our next hotel.
After our big breakfast, we check out around 11am and catch an Uber to our third hotel in Cape Town, Aha Harbour Bridge Hotel. At check-in we mention that we will need to check out a day earlier than paid for as our flight changed and they processed a refund for that last night. I’m impressed with how easy that was. A representative from Kenya Airlines is showing up to take our luggage we claimed as damaged, so we take everything out and leave at the reception for him to collect. We’ve been assured that our bag will be returned before our flight out so hopefully that’s the case, otherwise we’ll have to fetch another one somewhere.
First place we go to today is the Castle of Good Hope. This is a fortified fortress used by the colonist in the 1600s to protect their trade routes from the UK to India. The tour was a great way to learn about the history of Cape Town with several exhibits and museums to check out. They’re also filming the movie “The Woman King” with the set still up. They just went on hiatus last Friday with plans on using the set again in January so interesting to see that here.
The wind is really kicking up as it’s around 25-30 mph. Just walking around is like fighting gravity as we push ourselves to our Uber pickup point and take it to the Bo-Kaap district. This area is filled with colorful houses that line the streets as a symbol of freedom, however, the sun was hitting the wrong direction so pictures weren’t the best, and it was in a poor neighborhood which is odd for a main attraction. We don’t stay long as we’re getting approached by several homeless locals, and opt to go to the V&A Waterfront instead.
The waves crash against the shoreline as we hold hands down the boardwalk. It’s so peaceful that even the strong wind can’t break our bond. After a stroll through the mall, we walk toward the Cape Town Wheel and it’s lively with music and pedestrians, which is cool to see as I get stuck in a small helicopter ride, but the day is catching up so we take an Uber back to hotel for the night.
12/14/21- We get a decent night’s sleep despite having to wake up early for our day trip tour to the Cape Peninsula. Breakfast was good with eggs, ham and fruit and wait for our pick-up at 8:45am but arrives a half hour late. Then it drives to pick up the next group and we have to wait another twenty or so minutes for them to be ready, so already this tour is starting off an hour late but at least the skies are blue, and there’s only four of us. The couple picked up is from South Africa but I swear they sound Australian.
We travel down to Hout Bay to get a great view of the harbor, then our driver tells us if we don’t have enough cash for the entrance fees coming up to use the ATM as their credit card machines don’t work half the time. I wasn’t expecting to spend more fees taking out cash but what’s a few more dollars I guess.
Now off to the main attractions. We arrive at the Cape of Good Hope, which is the southern most end of Africa you can get and where the currents of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. We pay the admission and decide to take the funicular to the top of the mountain as walking uphill is not in our best interest right now, and it would take over an hour. Once at the top, there are more stairs to climb before finally reaching the lighthouse. The view is amazing and surprisingly it’s not windy or cold. I pretty much brought my jacket for nothing.
On the way out, our van is stopped by guards making sure we didn’t take any flowers from the area as it’s illegal to do so. In the process, they find that his tour credentials expired last month and questions him for several minutes before giving him a pass. I understand in this Covid age how crazy it is and feel bad as that has to be a bit embarrassing.
Our next stop is for lunch in Simon’s Town. The beach there looks amazing with white powder sand and excellent views of the surrounding mountains. The food was quite good too as we had fish & chips, hamburger and wine, all for around $25 USD. With our bellies full, we walk down the block to Boulder’s Beach and see the many penguins that live there freely. They swam from an island about 60 kilometers away in the 1980s and have stayed since, so now they’re considered African penguins. They’re so close that we can reach out and touch them if we want, but that’s very much frowned upon so we reframe. We did see several getting-it-on so to speak.
Our last stop is to Muizenberg, famous for its colorful beach houses. We thought they’d be riddled with tourist or people camping out in front of them, but surprisingly it was easy to take photos. I did search around for a souvenir shop as we’re still looking for a Cape Town one, but everything seems closed. Hopefully tomorrow.
The driver drops us back at our hotel around 6pm and we are exhausted. We did find that South Africa is no longer on the red list for Covid so that may make it easier to get back home, so glad for the little ray of hope ahead.
12/15/21- Breakfast is the same as yesterday, still good, and we take our Covid tests inside our hotel room (thanks to our last hotel for setting that up). She took credit card, which is awesome, and now we wait until tonight for the results. Unfortunately, we’re not able to check into our flight with British Airways online and have to do so at the counter, so hoping we get seats together.
It’s supposed to rain today, but we don’t see a dark cloud anywhere. That’s good news for our last day as we venture to the Zeitz Museum, which is full of contemporary art about the apartheid in the 1900s. This era was responsible for over one million Africans being slaughtered and the displacement of native families. There wasn’t much to it as several floors were closed off, but the building itself was quite interesting to see.
As the wind picks up again, we take an Uber to the Parliament building (Company’s Garden), but when we arrive we can’t find where it is. Unsure if there are two Parliament buildings, we follow our map the wrong direction for about ten minutes before circling back. Once at the gates, we find we have to walk around the block for another ten minutes to the other side, which incidentally opens to a very nice park and gardens area. We get the shot we’re looking for and enjoy the stroll in the nice, cool breeze.
We search for a souvenir shop, because the ones we found before didn’t have what we’re looking for, but can’t find anything. We decide to take an Uber to Table Mountain, the place we went to a few days ago, and get one from there. We probably should’ve grabbed it then but we had no idea we’d have such a hard time since. Either way, we find one that works.
With all the places crossed off our list in Cape Town, we go back to the wine region for some tastings. It takes forty minutes to get there but we can’t pass up the opportunity, and it beats sitting in our hotel with nothing to do. The first vineyard is Klein Constantia (established back in 1685), which has an awesome sweet wine and some decent reds. The history of South Africa is unreal and worth a Google by the way.
We then head over to Constantia Glen for dinner with the complete vineyard view in front of us. Again, two full plates of food and wine tasting for just over $20 USD is unreal. This is when the rain finally came down, but we’re just inside the double doors so we only got a bit chilly from the wind.
Ready to get packing, we reach our hotel to find our ripped luggage waiting for us, just in time. The airline mentions they’ll replace and ship the new one to our address in New York, but I’ll believe it when I see it. We were actually hoping for a reimbursement to find another luggage set, as it’s time anyhow, but doesn’t look like that’s happening.
12/16/21 and 12/17/21- I receive my Covid results promptly at 10pm (negative as always) but Sharece didn’t. When we still didn’t have it by 12:30am I knew something was messed up so I get out of bed, put some regular clothes on and march to the front desk for them to call for me. The lab technician on the phone was quite rude to hotel reception, even though they messed up, and wait an hour before the email finally comes through. Losing sleep wasn’t ideal but I was able chit chat with reception during that time as he was eager to know about America and if people were actually protesting wearing masks and such.
The next morning, it takes only fifteen minutes to get to the airport with the roads almost empty for 7am and very peaceful. Looks like Covid all over again. We arrive with plenty of time to skate through passport control (which the guy didn’t even ask us to pull down our masks and waives us through), but our British Airways flight is being held at the gate for “paperwork”. It takes over an hour but we finally get in the air. We also have the entire 4 seat row to ourselves to stretch out in.
The flight is a long twelve hours with over nine of it being just Africa. That continent is huge. There was turbulence here and there but we make it to London shortly after 8pm. Once off the plane, we shuttle to Terminal 5 (packed like sardines) and find our next flight tomorrow is also through Terminal 5, however, they don’t allow people to stay there overnight; thus we have to shuttle over to Terminal 3 for the time being. We follow all of the signs and make sure to ask questions so we don’t accidentally leave the airport area and have to recheck back in, because if that happens we’ll have to get a Covid test and quarantine for several days before taking our flight home.
At Terminal 3, we have to go back through security again and dump our liquids we just got from the plane (can of soda and waters). You know, because that stuff is explosive, right? I think it’s another way to force you to pay for that again in the terminal.
We barely settle in when we’re told the lounge area is closing for the night and need to head to Gate 7. There’s around fifty or so people here and it’s impossible to sleep with them talking, snoring and even whispering into their phones. The chairs are also very uncomfortable as we choose the ones that lay back but have no cushion to them. Next time, always take the row of cushioned seats.
4am comes around and we’re asked to go back to the lounge where we wait until 5am for the bus to Terminal 5. This is really getting ridiculous now, but what can you do? Scream? We queue for the shuttle, go through security and look for our next gate when we see our flight shows delayed until 11am. I want to give them a new motto: “American Airlines: We’ll get you there… eventually!”
While we wait I thought I’d take some time to go over some interesting differences in the English language. In the UK and South Africa, when something is available they say it’s “on offer”. “to let” means to rent and a traffic light is not called a traffic light… it’s called a “robot”.
At the gate, I’m selected for additional security, which includes a thorough pat down, and notice the other person searched has long hair as well. It’s been a while since I was profiled. I allow them to do their thing, give the person my number (just kidding on that one) and wait for boarding. I use this time to ask one of the flight crew to see if we can get an upgrade due to the cancellation of our first flight and she gives us a two-seater with more cabin room. That was nice. Well nice until we board and see the seats. They are the ones with a wall in front and no pockets to put anything in. You also have to bring up the tray and tv monitor AND right next to where they put babies on board, which one was already screaming in our ears.
I look around the plane for the previous seats we had, figuring they’d still available, and luckily find an entire row of 4 open. Without hesitation, or even asking, we move our stuff to that row. We did see the flight crew look around after noticing our previous empty seats but we didn’t give ourselves away (not wanting them to say we have to return back for takeoff or anything). It works like a charm. The flight home was relaxing and arrive around 2pm. Once we take the Uber home we’re exhausted to the max. We check our suitcase to confirm our wine bottles made it home unharmed, so everything is as it should be.
Another successful trip comes to a close, one in which we’re able to pull off with yet another Covid variant disrupting plans. The testing was a pain, and wearing masks was not fun during the long flights, but overall it was a fun adventure and a perfect way to celebrate our lives together.
END OF BLOG
