Trip Reports - JAN-LGW-SEZ-NBO (via LGW hopefully)-MRU-LGW-AMS-Home

JAN-ATL DL488 Boeing 727 500 miles SEATS 15 E & D


Last summer, my girlfriend, Darlene, and I bought a First Class 6 continent OneWorld RTW ticket and took a nice long vacation. Never mind we got three 100,000 mile bonuses from 1W carriers along with Executive Platinum status on AA.

The only segments left over after that trip were London-Gatwick (LGW)- Seychelles (SEZ) -Nairobi (NBO) - Mauritius (MRU) - (LGW) - Hong Kong (HKG) - Seoul (SEL), which is where we had started. For those of you who are 1W RTW enthusiasts, notice that we have a departure from Europe and also a return back into EUR, which, to my knowledge, is only allowed if departing from an African country other than South Africa and Zimbabwe. Let's just say I got really lucky in MAD one time with a reissue. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Both Darlene and I are working on our MBA so we don't travel much any more. Well, not nearly as much as we would like. Her last class before Spring Break was Wednesday night so I called her that morning and said we were leaving for East Africa on Thursday morning. She is used to scenarios like this so she got packed before she went to class and made her way to my house that night. That afternoon, I made the flight reservations for DL across the Atlantic along with the BA segs that we needed.

All the BA segs were available but unfortunately there were no confirmable upgrades into LGW on DL. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mad.gif We were placed on a waitlist though. Hotel reservations were going to be made when we arrived in ATL so there wasn't anything else that needed to be taken care of except for praying to the upgrade gods. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

The flight JAN-ATL was OK. We were not charged a change fee (which would have been 55US$) but were also not upgraded. That is what you get when you book flights less than 24 hours in advance. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

ATL-LGW DL58 Boeing 777 4220 miles SEATS 36H & J

Upgrade didn't clear so I don't want to talk about it. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mad.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mad.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mad.gif I think this is the first upgrade to ever not clear on a trans-oceanic seg. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif Not bad though for 7 years.

Upon landing at LGW, we needed to acquire three things in order to continue on as planned. 1) A flight coupon from SEZ-NBO (reason given below) 2) a Kenyan visa and 3) more pages in our passport. We had NO empty pages left!!!! The latter took much less time than the former.

We headed to the BA First/Club ticket desk in LGW and explained that when we had our ticket reissued in December, a segment (SEZ-NBO) was taken away because BA did not fly that route anymore. Upon further investigation after returning home, I was told they do fly that route and that I would need to show my old receipt at a BA desk and they would reissue the ticket properly.

The agent we were talking to in LGW was the only agent working ticketing and didn't seem too keen in helping us. Feeling that she was going to be difficult to deal with, we said we would drop the tickets off at a BA Travel Shop in town while we did some other things. She seemed quite happy with that.

We have had great experiences with several BA Travel Shops before. I recommend that everyone with ticketing problems go to a travel shop/city ticket office (especially with extensive changes) rather than the airport to make changes. I believe IndoGulf mentioned this one time on the boards but I personally didn't think it would be much different than an airport agent doing it….plus going into the city is sometimes an added time and expense. (LGW & LHR Express sure are a rip off!!!!!!! ) With BA, though, it has always been a smooth experience.

Ticket shops have always been much quicker than ticketing desks in dealing with my problems. Sometimes they even have refreshments for you. J They have always asked fewer questions than airport agents and you can drop the ticket off, do some sight seeing and return in a few hours rather than waiting at the airport while watching them work on it. This time, the Travel Shop took care of everything while we taxied to the US and Kenyan Embassies.

While buying a ticket in AMS one time, someone with a US passport about 1½ inches thick gave me a great piece of advice - "Take your passport to an US embassy if you ever need to get pages added. It takes days if you do it in the US." Well that is a great piece of advice. In the time that it took me to walk to a Coke machine and look at a picture of the first US space shuttle launch, the new pages had been added. It took a total of 3 minutes to get both passports done. Be aware though that the US embassy (at least on this particular day) is only open for adding pages a few hours each day.

The Kenyan Embassy was a different story though. We were told it would take at least 24 hours to have a visa issued by the Embassy so our only choice was to stand in line after arriving in NBO. After that, we picked up our newly reissued tickets on BA, took the Gatwick Express back to the airport and went to the lounge to have dinner. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

LGW-SEZ (refuel in NBO) BA2069 Boeing 747 5052 miles Seats 1 A & K

Since the age of 19, I have coveted the great BA First lounge that I would see on the way to the DL Lounge in LGW. I always thought it was some type of heavenly place for those traveling like a god in the sky. I would usually try to sneak a peak inside to see what type of snobbery entered into that unobtainable place. Well today I became "that guy." I was flying First LGW-SEZ and had access to any lounge BA had in LGW.

On the earlier part of this ticket we had flown a decent amount of segs in First on AA, BA, CX and QF. From having experienced those four carrier’s best lounges, I had a pretty good idea of what makes a great lounge. CX's Wing tops my list with BA's LHR lounges being second (but I hear that may change now that the new T-4 First lounge is open). My expectation of LGW was still rather high though. I was looking for what I thought it was when I was 19. An oasis before a flight….girls with fans feeding grapes to me while I lounged around surrounded by servants fulfilling every whim. Alas, it wasn't. It was nice though.

The lounge had practically the same services as LHR except the food service within the lounge is a little better at LHR. In LHR, there are soups and sandwiches available all day (and the soup has ALWAYS been delicious) but there was none in LGW. Other than that, there was not much else separating this lounge from the ones in LHR. In the Business Class lounge the highlights were free Internet access, a wine bar, showers and a dark, quiet sleeping area. In addition to that lounge, there was also a First lounge, which had none of the above, but was much more quiet and had a private dining area exclusively for passengers traveling in First just as LHR (Do the Gold card holders, etc… that have access to the First lounge have access to the pre-flight meal?). The pre-flight dining area had only two other customers (which is more than I have ever seen in LHR) and the menu was strikingly similar to the menu LHR had in December.

I guess the flight was fine because we slept the entire way. 14 hours is not very long in a sleeper seat. The only thing I really remember is the take-off from NBO. I had already reclined my seat before the nose came up and slept until the beautiful ascent into Mahe.

I hate to digress at this point but I feel I need to. I would like to give my opinion of whether or not the premium paid for First Class travel compared to Biz is worthwhile. I personally can’t afford one-way First class tickets, or Biz, so I always upgrade from coach. The RTW is a bargain though compared to the one-way fares and I find it is worth the extra money. Since I began flying in 1994, I have been completely loyal to DL (until I found out about RTWs). Right around the time that DL chose to go with a hybrid Biz-First type seat rather than a separate First/Biz cabin, I began flying a lot more International. Because of luck of the draw, I was upgraded a few times to First. DL’s old first is probably very similar to the non-sleeper seats other carriers have still have. I do not believe the premium paid for those seats compared to biz is worth the extra money. True sleeper seats such as BA are a different story though.

Take into consideration that the total elapsed time from JAN – SEZ was around 38 hours. The night before we set out on this trip we hardly slept, on the DL flight we maybe got 4 hours of sleep and then the next day we traversed London all day long. Upon arriving in SEZ though, we had no jet lag and were ready for a whole days worth of activities. Even for the return to the states, there was no jet lag. We slept on the nighttime MRU-LGW flight, slept in a hotel the next night with no problems and then stayed awake on the DL daytime flight home (which was in Biz). To put that into the perspective of a business person’s eyes, if you value the productivity of a whole days worth of work the same as the price difference between Biz and First, then pay for First.

Next I will be writing about the beautiful beaches of the Seychelles.

I'm enjoying your report. Eager for the rest ...

Great trip report Chris. Glad to see that you and Darlene haven't completely given up flying. I'm still thinking about a rtw in the fall maybe starting SEZ or MRU maybe tied in with the provence party.
jerry

LGW-SEZ Part II

The cloud cover was very low on our descent into Mahe so our viewing of the islands was picturesque only for a short amount of time. Customs formalities were quick but we did have to wait for our luggage. While waiting, we read a sign that mentioned it is illegal to trade foreign currency with anyone other than a bank (like our taxi driver to our hotel tried to do) and that you would also need a receipt from the bank in order to trade SEZ rupees back into a foreign currency.

In Mahe, we stayed at the Panorama Hotel, which was perched on a hill that had a view of Beau Vallon beach. The price was equivalent to 100 US$ for a double and the rooms were basic but very clean. It was pretty much a spotless Motel 6. I personally thought the price was too high for the type of room that we had and a French woman I could barely understand seemed to agree with me one afternoon. “Hhhhrrrrmmmpppp,” she said with a heavy French accent. “3 star hotel? No. Not in Paris. 100 US$. No. Not even in Paris.” I had come to expect this from what I had read about the island. Breakfast was provided though and Mary, the manager, made all our reservations for whatever we needed. There was also a fabulous pizzeria-called Baobab's Pizza http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif situated directly on the beach next to our hotel. It was so good we ate dinner there two out of the three nights we were in SEZ.

On our first day, we rented a car and drove around the perimeter of the island. Now don't think about renting a car if you are a timid driver. The roads are in good condition but on both sides of the road are two-foot deep drainage ditches. There are also amazingly sharp turns everywhere. And I mean everywhere! The island is extremely mountainous and the drivers speed like crazy too. The Lonely Planet guidebook mentioned that the dangers of driving were the locals driving too fast and the tourists driving too slowly. I found both to be absolutely correct. The people waiting to catch a bus are also a danger. The bus stops are apparently in the middle of the road. I would be going along trying to stay on the rode without hitting an oncoming car and then I would make eye contact with a local standing in front of me who was waiting to catch the bus! Darlene was having heart attacks every few minutes with my driving but by the time we left, we were walking in the middle of the rode like everybody else. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

After either driving by or sampling most of Mahe’s beaches, we both agreed that the best beach on Mahe is Takamaka, which is on the lower, southwest side of the island. It has a picturesque view made of a white sand beach that is surrounded by granite boulders, which appear to stand guard to the cove. There is also a small beachside restaurant that doesn't protrude much into the scenery of things. At the restaurant you could choose to have a buffet or just a beer while lazing the time away watching the sunset. If you want complete privacy though, there are several other good beaches on Mahe. Just drive around until you find one that is all yours. It is pretty easy to do. Also, for all of you ladies who like to sunbathe topless, this is an island for you.

The beach near the Panorama had a coral reef nearby so one day we took that opportunity to go snorkeling. Every time I go snorkeling I am reminded that I need to become PADI certified. There were beautiful fish all over and I even saw a sea turtle…..and this wasn't even one of the best snorkeling locations!!!!! Early one morning I had another phenomenal experience. As I was jogging along the beach, I noticed two small tailfins emerge from the water simultaneously. I stopped and waited for them to appear again and after seeing them surface twice more, I was convinced they were baby sharks that were no more than a foot long. For some reason I believed they were not a threat to my well being and swam toward where they were. After a few minutes I noticed how big this creature really was. What I thought was two small tailfins was actually the "wings" of a stingray simultaneously flapping out of the water. It came within a few feet of me and I was able to discern that it’s body was about three feet long while it's tail was an additional five feet long. Being around creatures like that in their natural environment on a deserted beach was an experience that made me feel much more connected to the sea and it's inhabitants. What a great vacation. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif


Next, I will be writing on our day trip to a small, secluded island that does not allow cars.

Great report, Chris. Tell us more. I am waiting for my trip to Seychelles. Hello to Darlene.

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This is a great report and extremely timely. My partner and I are just planning our trip to Mauritius. Your description of the Seychelles is making us think about trying to get up there, but I doubt we will given the distance from South Africa where we'll be starting and ending our trip.

Can't wait to hear more as you make your way to Mauritius. We're also booked into the Hilton, although we're considering the new Oberoi.

Thanks,
Chris

Man this thing is long. I hope I am not boring too many of you. A few is OK, but not many.

Part III

Mahe was very nice but it doesn’t even compare to the other island we went to. If you go, you should really plan to spend most of your time on other islands. Our hotel's manager and also a local that we met on the flight told us this so we took it to heart, unfortunately too late.

We chose to go to an island called La Digue. In order to get there, we could either take a flight to Praslin then ferry to La Digue or either a helicopter straight to our destination. Unfortunately the latter cost more than twice as much as the former so our budget dictated our choice. On a side note, if there were 4 of us going to LaDigue, both options would have been the same price in total, so don’t always knock off a helicopter ride just because you think it might be expensive.

To get from Mahe to Praslin, we had to leave around sunrise to get to the airport. We were told to “leave the rental car anywhere in the airport parking lot with the key under the floor mat…..and DON’T lock the door.” “You are kidding, right?” http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif was my response, but “No,” they weren’t. Not much security at the domestic terminal - they just asked for the name and put us on the flight. It was on an Air Seychelles 18 passenger twin prop plane. Originally we were told it was $65/person but it eventually became $75. At the airport we found out why. Apparently if you are a non-SEZ resident or citizen, you have to pay a US$ price which is more expensive than the rupee price after converted. I think both prices are fixed and it is just luck of the draw if the currency is better or worse. I could be wrong though. The same is true for the International departure tax (40 US$) but in that case, the locals pay a good bit more than foreigners. Just in case you were wondering, the config was 1-2 and boarding was al-la SouthWest (first one on the plane gets the best seats). It was a 12- minute flight from take-off to landing and then an uneventful 45-minute ferry ride to La Digue. I did learn a valuable lesson while waiting for the ferry though.

The lesson is that there is an old currency and new currency in SEZ. The old currency is useless. We had taken a taxi ride to the pier in Praslin and were given 25 SCR (about 3US$) as change. I tried to use that money to buy a cup of coffee at the pier’s restaurant and was told it was a worthless piece of paper. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mad.gif The taxi driver was still at the pier so I demanded my money back. His excuse was "Ugghhh….the money people give me!"

LaDigue only allows transportation via the 3 taxis on the island or either bicycle. No other cars are allowed. There are a few trucks hauling materials around though. Darlene and I rented two 18-speed bikes for $5 each and biked around the entire island during the 6 hours we were there. We stopped at several very nice beach areas, like Anse Patates, which is where we had lunch. Here there was an interesting menu item I regret not ordering. Fruit Bat. Maybe next time. The last beach we saw, Grand Anse, is a must see. It was the most beautiful beach I have ever seen in my life! I am not even going to attempt to describe it but it was better than postcard perfect. Darlene and I had already tossed around the idea to stay the night on this island and seeing this beach made the decision much harder, but since I had vowed to stay under budget and we had already paid for the hotel on Mahe for the upcoming night, we forced ourselves to catch the ferry back to Mahe. L Next time we won’t.

We unfortunately did not have time to see any of Praslin on our return trip. I hear the Vallee de Mai is great though.

FYI, according to the local we met on our flight, the two best restaurants on the island of Mahe are Le Corsaire and La Scala, both of which are in Bel Ombre. We unfortunately never made it to either of these restaurants.


The next installment will describe whether or not we have to fly back to LGW to get to MRU. I was hoping we would have to.

great report, Chris, am sooooo envious!

okay, was it really Fruit BAT? (the hanging upside down kind?)

Belle,

I suppose it was. They were flying all around the restaurant we were eating at and it took long enough to get our meal that they must walk to the beach to catch whatever someone orders. Somebody else must have ordered squid because I saw a guy bring some from the shore into the hotel.

Chris, I'm headed off to the Seychelles in two weeks with my partner and appreciate your trip report, we've both quite excited. During our 2 1/2 week stay, we were planning on staying a few days in Mahe, then a night on Bird Island, and the remainder of the trip on La Digue and Praslin. You had mentioned that there was an older currency that was no longer in use, could you describe the difference in the two currencies so that we don't get stuck with the older version please. Thanks, raffy.

Great reports Chris. Not bored yet!

Great report so far!

Raffy,

Congrats on selecting great destinations! I am sorry to say that I can not describe the difference in the two currencies very well. I tried asking the person in the cafe but he could only tell me that the difference was the type of animal portrayed on the bill. From what I could tell, the color and texture where the exact same. I had already returned the old currency so could not compare for myself.

From then on out I would compare what was in my pocket to the change that I had just been given. In hotels and large business establishments you should be fine.

Have fun. I am sure your trip report will be better than mine.