August 11, 2013 - Addis Ababa, Ethopia

Phew - we got our boarding passes to Addis Ababa, but no luck on the boarding passes from Addis to Dar.  Yikes!  Sure hope there is an agent and someone speaks English there!!

We flew on the worlds oldest 767, but made it!!  I think it may have been older than me!  It had a projection system for the safety video.  Needless to say, the seats weren't too comfortable and sleep was elusive. 

We arrived and exited the plane on the tarmac.  Good news, there was a bus for business class passengers and they took us to the right terminal.  Bizarrely, the flight to Dar went from the domestic terminal even though Tanzania is a different county.  When in Rome....

We got into the terminal and looked around....no agents in sight.  OK...breathe!  Ah, there is a business class lounge.  In we went and lo and behold, we got our boarding passes here, so are set for the flight to Dar Es Salaam!  Yeah!

The business class lounge was a picture of world travel....

People from all cultures were there and we had a good time people watching.

Before we knew it, we were on our way to Dar. We arrived in Dar without issue and cleared customs quickly since we had our visas.  Our driver was waiting with a sign!  Off to the Hyatt and a shower!

We highly recommend the Hyatt Kilimanjaro in Dar.  It is an amazing place with incredible food.

Enjoy!
Cheri & John

August 10, 2013 - Paris Bound

One good thing about being in NJ for a day, we had time to research Paris and make a plan.  There are some great websites out there that helped us alot!.  http://parisbytrain.com/ is a great one that has pictures and everything.

This time, we boarded the plane and it was clear they were going to fly!  We made it safe and sound to Paris!  We got in early (7sish) and went to see the sights.  They offer a metro ticket that allowed us to ride the subway and get transport to and from the airport all on one ticket.  

Once we got to Notre Dame, we got of and began exploring.  They have a hop on hop off Seine tour (Batobus) - so we opted for the boat instead of the bus. That was a great way to see Paris.  It goes to all the major sights and it was a glorious day!!

We are headed to Ethiopia tonight and hoping to get our boarding passes for the next leg.  Ah but no luck on the boarding passed from Addis Ababba.  

 

Stay Tuned for more

Cheri & John

August 9, 2013 - On the road again!

We had been planning this adventure to Tanzania with Marius and Dani du Preez for nearly 3 years.  The time was finally here to make our way to Africa!  We had secured frequent flyer tickets months ago....all that was left was to get on the plane and get there!

 

Well, every adventure has it's bumps along the way.  This time it's getting out of the US.  It was a rough weather day from the start and we left home extra early.  Good thing we did since the thruway was flooded and we had to find our way through cow country to make it to Newark.  Phew...we finally made it 5 hours after we started, but with time to spare.

So, we decided to wait and eat on the airplane....then off to the gate.   The flight was to take off at 7:15 PM.  Great, should be fed and asleep by 9!  Not!!  The departure time began to slip and slip.  OK, 8:35 PM boarding time...better late than never.  We boarded the plane and we waited, and waited.  The pilot came on and said that there was a maintenance issue with the plane and they were waiting for a part.  Time ticked by and he was back to say they brought a Continental part not a  United part....all in all four hours elapsed before he announced that we all had to leave the plane because the crew had timed out!

Into the chaos we went....off the plane and directly to customer service while calling United on my phone.  We got a very nice agent who said oh dear...the flight from Istanbul tomorrow has already cancelled!  The only way I can get you in is via Paris and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia!!!  And, I can't get you there until Monday PM via 2 overnight flights.  She said, "I'm sorry, it's the only way in".  Ouch - take it!

We stood in line and got a hotel and meal vouchers!  Great - the Double Tree.  Once we got to the hotel it was 11:45 PM and room service had just closed along with the gift shop....no sleep shirt, no dinner.  Take out here we come...estimated to arrive at 12:30 AM.

OK, time to be sure the flights got booked right....I log into United to find they rebooked us coach for the two overnight flights....I don't think so!  We had business class tickets.  So - on hold for 50 minutes and counting and praying!  The second two flights are on Ethiopian Air.  Yikes!

Eureka!!  Confirmed business class!  Now we will have a day in Paris...so will try to see if we can see some sights.  Will also work out how to get to Ruaha without inconveniencing Dani and Marius too much more!!  1:30 AM and it's way past time to sleep.

Stay tuned...
Truly yours from Newark NJ!
Cheri & John

May 30, 2010 - Day 2 - The Bali Country Side

Bali is a part of Indonesia, but is pretty unique as compared to the rest of the country. It is upwards of 90% Hindu and you see signs of this faith every where. And it shows in the people - they are really. really nice from the heart. They pray every day, many times a day, and give offerings to the gods. You will see them all over the place.

Our driver, Ajik, was great! We headed out of Denpasar and up to Ubud. The traffic in Bali is scary at best with motorcycles weaving in and out of traffic at all times. And, despite the markings on the road, Bali traffic has a rhythm of it's own. People toot the horn to let others know they are near, they pull out where ever they feel like and the sea of traffic parts to allow them to do it, and you often think you are going to be crushed by a big truck....but alas, Ajik was an amazing driver and took all of this in stride as he expertly navigated us to see the sights.

First stop was the monkey forest! And oh what a stop it was! These monkeys are cousins to the Barbary apes we saw in Gibraltar and you will see it in their faces. By the time we arrived, it was nearing darkness and a rain storm was heading in. The light was tricky to say the least, but our trusty Canon 7D's were up to the challenge! We popped the ISo to allow more light to hit the sensor and grabbed these images.

After the monkeys, we went to see the white herons and then finally to our hotel. The hotel was spectacular and the food out of this world. We were so tired by this point that we elected to eat at the hotel for simplicity and were treated to a wonderful experience.

The torrential rain began around 2 am and much to our chagrin we found the one flaw in our gorgeous room...the roof emptied onto a skylight and it sounded like a whole rhythm section was practicing! yet again...not enough sleep!

Enjoy-
Cheri & John

May 29, 2010 - Bali Bound

With BA being on strike, we lost our connection out of Heathrow. Lucklily, as soon as the strike was back on, Cheri got on-line and secured seats from Gatwick to Amsterdam. Yeah! The trip is still on.

The bad news is that Gatwick is not too close to Paddington and with a 7 am flight we were out of the house at 3.45 am! No mind...we were going to Indonesia! So we got to Gatwick, faced off to BA agent who was clueless and asking things like, "what is the 3 letter code for where you are going? what class are you in - j?" She didn't instill confidence, especially when we got her to book our bags all the way through to Bali.

We hopped to Amsterdam without incident. Once there, we connected with a Cathay Pacific agent who was wonderful! She doubled checked our records and made sure all our luggage was destined to arrive with us!

We hopped onto the 777 from Amsterdam to Hong Kong. Oh la la! It was one of those 777 with herring bone business class seats. These have the most comfortable beds and a wide screen Tv with all kinds of movies and Bose cancellation headphones. Jackpot!

The good news - we could sleep. The bad news....well it was 2 pm our body clock time and sleep was elusive at best. So we both dozed and got a few hours, but not nearly as much as we hoped for.

We arrived in Hong Kong and popped into the first class lounge. Cheri sniffed around and found the showers. And what showers they were. Just picture us...we'd been up for the better part of 24 hours. These showers had giant heads and it felt like you were in a rain forest during a heavy down pour. So refreshing!!

After that - the final leg of the flights; a four hour and 20 minute flight to Denpasar (Bali)! We both slept alot on that flight.

When we arrived, we were met on the jet bridge by an agent from Wakatobi, our dive company. She cut all the lines and red tape, got us a visa, cleared customs and we were out in about 30 minutes. The average transit time is usually 2 to 3 hours. Yippee!

As we exited the customs area, we were met by our driver from Pure Bali and we were off to see the country side.

Enjoy!
Cheri & John