Africa - There and Back Again

A bit about the trip out and back, and big-picture, where we went during our stay.  Black arrows are more or less standard commercial aircraft (more= Airbus A380, less = 40 passenger prop plane).  Orange is driving.  Red are bush planes landing on dirt runways. 

We flew from Boston to Dubai, and from there to Cape Town, where we stayed for three days, then flew through Johannesburg to Lusaka, where we stayed overnight.  The next morning, we flew to Mfuwe international airport and drove from there to South Luangwa National Park, staying there for eight days.  From there, we flew to Henry Mwaanga airport in Livingstone to see Victoria falls.  After two days, we transited by car to Kasana International Airport and took a bush plane to Machaba camp (landing on a dirt strip).  After three days, we took a bush plane to Maun Airport and from there flew to Johannesburg for a night at the Intercontinental Hotel before starting the 30+ hour ride home.

 
About the travelling.

Because at some point we were going to be on bush planes heading out to places where the airport is small strip of dirt and a air sock, we were limited to 44 pounds of luggage, which is about what we normally need for Alison's shoes.  So we had backpacks and one small duffel each.

Dave's was the flowery duffel, which was ALWAYS the last piece of luggage off the plane. In addition to landing on postage-size pieces of dirt, our pilot impressed us by DOING PAPERWORK WHILE LANDING.  Ok, maybe "terrified" is a better description.

On the main flight to and from Africa, we flew Emirates this time instead of Qatar, which meant we flew through Dubai instead of Doha, but like our Singapore / Thailand trip it was still two long flights made tolerable by Business Class tickets.  Those include seats that can turn into tiny coffins … I mean beds … so you can sleep on the flight.  Plus you get the business class lounge on each leg. 

Emirates tickets come with a complimentary limo to take you to the airport.  Given the advice to show up at least four hours early, we started our adventure at 6 pm Wednesday night.  It took us less than 20 minutes to clear the check in desk and get through security, meaning we could have shown up three hours later and been fine, but the lounge on the Boston side was comfortable enough that it wasn’t a burden. And it included a first … self boarding. 

There was the added benefit of having time to stop and chat with Rick, Elizabeth, Taylor and Anya who were off on their own adventure to Santorini, Greece.

On the flight, the meals ranged from “good” to “awesome.” The drink list was impressive; the wine list short but equally inviting.  Unfortunately, most of our travels were either trying to stay awake long enough to acclimate to the new time zone (South Africa is the same longitude as London, so six hours ahead) or trying to sleep, so we didn’t get to take advantage of the cocktail list. 

The entertainment system was a thirty two inch LED television with a ridiculous number of movies, plus the ability to view cameras mounted outside the aircraft in different spots, plus streaming news and the like.  It made the business class area look like some kind of sophisticated command and control bunker.  The ceiling had the nice touch of simulated stars, so when they turned the lights down so people could sleep, it didn’t feel like sleeping in a closed coffin.  More a coffin with the top open to view the night sky. 

Emirates limo with the weirdest "heads up" display behind the wheel... it showed you what was outside the windshield.  Why?	The Fieux-Morris clan heading for Santorini, Greece
At the lounge... 3 and a half hours early	Good thing they have plenty of distractions
Self-boarding, easy as 1-2-3	Distractions on the flight as well (good since it's 12 hours)
The wine list	We're in our drinking pods ... I mean, sleeping pods!
Private 32 inch entertainment system	And a simulated night sky on the ceiling

Dubai is a large airport, and despite landing around midnight, was fairly busy.  And had, of course, a Starbucks.

The business class lounge was solid.  I would give Qatar a bit of an edge in terms of “niceness” but Emirates the edge in terms of variety (where having a lounge roughly the size of a third world country helps; six of them, actually).  Dave liked the Moet and Chandon Champagne Lounge. 
 

Alison had lots of charts with time zones, currencies, tip amounts, etc.  Can't be too prepared.

We did one leg (Johannesburg to Dubai) on an Airbus A380, a monster, double-decker aircraft with the nicest business class we’ve ever seen, including a small lounge you could go to if you wanted a change in scenery.  The plane itself was impressive enough that we read up on it, including its tendency to cause other aircraft to flip upside down behind it because of its turbulence wake, and that the wings flex by as much as thirteen feet during takeoff.