PresRDC

Prologue – Sabi Sands Game Reserve, Monday, October 27, 2003

It has been an hour since the early Spring sun slipped below the parched African bush. As the Southern Cross comes into view overhead, I sit in an open topped Range Rover no more than ten feet from a mother lioness tenderly caring for her newly born cub. In an incredible stroke of luck, I just had the great privilege of watching this future king enter into the world weak and powerless, but full of the potential to rule his forest domain. Pondering the wonder of this moment, I realize that I am on the best trip of my life.

And I am not supposed to be here . . .

PresRDC

Part I – I’m Going to Africa?!?!?

In February 2003, it came time to plan my next foreign adventure. I was in the middle of my first year as a practicing attorney and was fortunate-enough to have landed on a case providing me with all the billable hours I could handle. Realizing that I was going to finish the firm’s fiscal year (which runs from November to November) with well-over my minimum required hours, I decided that I could afford to take off a full two weeks and go on a really great trip. I still had enough miles in my AAdvantage account from the Oneworld Explorer I completed in 2002 to score a first class ticket to anywhere I wanted to go. The question was where.

It did not take me long to decide on a trip to mainland China. While I had been to Hong Kong twice previously, I had not had the opportunity to travel across the border into the PRC proper. I decided to focus on Beijing and also to spend a few days in Singapore, another country I had yet to visit.

A quick call to American Airlines and I had a Cathay Pacific first class award to Singapore. My routing was JFK-SFO-HKG-SIN-HKG-YVR-JFK. I had scheduled a one week stopover in Hong Kong on the way back, from where I would travel to and from Beijing on a separate ticket. I was already to go to China and was very excited about the trip.

Then SARS hit . . .

I was not concerned about getting SARS, as I quickly realized that the media hype surrounding the disease was way overblown. I was, however, concerned that the precautions in place because of SARS could make the trip unpleasant. I had a hunch that things would improve before the time of my trip, but I finally decided it was not worth worrying about it, so, in April, I changed my destination to South Africa, another country I had always wanted to visit.

By choosing South Africa, I figured I would avoid Asia all together. Then I did some research and realized that American wanted 200,000 miles for a first class ticket to Africa via Europe (London, Zurich or Madrid), but only 145,000 miles to fly via Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific. Hmm . . . let’s see . . . . I could fly in one of the premier first class cabins in the world for 55,000 miles less than I would need to fly in good, but nevertheless less acclaimed first class cabins. I decided to gamble on SARS subsiding and to go with the Cathay award. Another quick call to American and I had the ticket all set. My routing was: JFK-SFO-HKG-JNB-HKG-YVR-JFK.

As it turns-out, it was very fortunate that I booked the ticket when I did. A week later, American re-vamped its award structure and eliminated the Cathay award to South Africa and there was a mini rush of Flyertalkers trying to book this award before it was cancelled. My understanding is that many of them had to book at least one segment in business class due to a lack of first class award availability. My good luck on this trip started early.

PresRDC

Part II – New York to Hong Kong (Friday, October 17, 2003 – Sunday, October 19, 2003)

After months of anticipation, the day of my departure finally arrived. I was up late the night before watching my Yankees finally dispatch the Red Sox, so I had yet to pack when I awoke on the morning of the 17th. As I had on my around the world trip, I decided to take two pieces of luggage with me; my 22-inch rollaboard and my 25-inch rolling suitcase. I would check the 25-incher and carry my toiletry kit and a change of clothes in the 22-incher, which I would carry with me. This way, should my checked luggage get lost somewhere, I would at least have a change of clothes.

My car service sedan arrived on time at 12:30 PM and we were on route to JFK a few minutes later. On the way to JFK, the news broke about the kid who left the “suspicious items” on some Southwest planes, which is always interesting to hear when you are about to fly. There was construction on the Whitestone Bridge, which led to some considerable traffic, and it took us nearly ninety minutes to reach JFK (I have made it to JFK from my apartment in as little as forty-five minutes).

My flight was departing from Terminal 9, so I waded my way through the construction of American’s new terminal to check-in. The check-in lobby was virtually empty and I was helped almost immediately. My 25-incher was checked through to HKG, tagged with an orange priority tag and I was given boarding passes for both the American and Cathay segments. TSA does checked baggage screening at Terminal 9 in the lobby, so I was able to lock my bag before it was screened. That accomplished, I made my way to the Terminal 9 Admirals Club. The agent at the desk was quite nice, but initially refused to give me drink coupons, saying that they were only for trans-Atlantic passengers. This, of course, was ridiculous as I was entitled to them both by virtue of holding a first class award ticket on a transcon flight and by virtue of being a Oneworld first class passenger. She eventually relented, but having to argue for my drink vouchers was a bit of a downer. I do not drink, but American requires coupons for bottles of water and I wanted some to take with me. The remainder of my time in the Admirals Club passed quickly and soon I headed through security, which was quick, and to Gate 43 for boarding.

American Airlines flight AA 045
Departed: New York (JFK) @ 3:45 PM
Arrived: San Francisco (SFO) @ 6:55 PM
Boeing 767-200ER
First Class Seat 3J

Boarding was announced exactly at 3:15 PM and I boarded right away as there is little of interest past security in Terminal 9. As with all of American’s premium transcon flights (those from JFK to LAX and SFO), my flight was operated by a 767-200. Actually, AA 45 originates in Paris as a two-class 767-300ER and switches to a three-class 767-200 for the onward segment to SFO. I settled into Seat 3J, which is the right-hand window seat in the second of the two rows in First Class. Being an odd-numbered flight, this seat should guarantee me first choice of entrees. The First Class seats on the 767-200 are the (in)famous “wooly mammoth” seats, meaning that they are made of brown leather trim with brown wool fur on the seat and back sections. These seats feature electronic legrest controls, but manual recline controls. Although they very much show their age, I find these seats quite comfortable as the leg rest comes-up to the horizontal and the seat back reclines nearly flat.

As boarding continued, the First Class cabin filled to capacity. Our two flight attendants were busy collecting coats and handing-out pre-departure drinks of orange juice, water or sparkling wine. Despite these transcon flights being domestic and thus avoiding the bonding issues associated with opening the drink cart on the ground that is present on international flights, I have never been offered the beverage of my choice as a pre-departure drink on these transcon flights. Not a big deal, really, just an interesting observation. I had two glasses of orange juice, which were served in hard plastic wine/champagne glasses.

Just before departure, the Captain came on the PA with his welcoming message. Interestingly, he noted the story about the Southwest planes and assured us that this, and every American plane, gets a thorough security check every day. I thought this was a nice touch that I am sure reassured those who had been nervous about the news.

We pushed from Gate 43 on time and crossed the bridge spanning the Van Wyck Expressway on our way to Runway 31L. As we taxied, the Purser handed-out the menus for the flight. Here is a transcript:

There was no wait to takeoff and we began our takeoff roll immediately after swinging onto Runway 31L. After approximately twenty-five seconds we were airborne and on our way to the West Coast. Our route of flight took us across northern New Jersey and Pennsylvania, Ohio and northern Indiana (not far from a certain Catholic university located in South Bend). After overflying Illinois and Iowa, AA 45 sprinted across Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah and Nevada before letting down over Northern California.

Once reaching cruising altitude, the female Purser took drink and entrée orders starting with my seat. I ordered my standard in-flight drink of a Diet Coke with lime and the filet mignon as my main course. She served my drink a few minutes later, but made a point to offer the vegetables or the warm nuts. Although the menu clearly says “or,” I have never not been offered both without asking. I decided not to push the issue and just selected the nuts, as they are one of my favorite parts of American’s meal service. Refills on the Diet Coke were offered quickly and regularly, but no refills on the nuts were offered. I have noticed that ever since American stopped catering meals for flight attendants, refills on nuts have become a rarity. I suspect the flight attendants are hoarding the extras for themselves. I don’t really mind, but it would be nice to get refills, especially if it takes awhile to get the meal service underway.

About thirty minutes into the flight, the Purser came through the cabin to set our tray tables for dinner. American treats these premium transcon flights very similar to its international flights and there are no messy trays. After setting everyone’s table, she came through with the salmon cart. Unlike lunch flights, dinner flights feature a separate salmon and salad course, each served from the serving trolley. I had a plate of the salmon with onions, capers, sour cream, lemon and toast points. The portion of salmon is not particularly large, but it is quite good and is one of my favorite parts of the meal. After clearing the salmon plates, the salad cart came through. I had my salad with the Garlic-Dill dressing and all the fixings, including a nice lobster tail and claw. For some reason, there were no raw vegetables such as onions, peppers and tomatoes to add to the salad, only the roasted vegetables. It was fine, but I prefer nice fresh raw vegetables to cold roasted vegetables. It seemed as though the salad was less elaborate than I had remembered, but it could just have been an anomaly.

The filet mignon was fine, but overcooked as usual. To be honest, I was not impressed with the entrée choices, but I was not upset as I knew I would be having a nicer meal on the Cathay flight.

The dessert cart made its long-awaited appearance and I had an ice cream sundae with my usual hot fudge, whipped cream and nuts. Excellent as always.

First Class passengers on these premium transcon flights get the personal DVD players that Premium Class passengers get on the 767-300ER international flights. This is a great feature and one to which I look forward. For the remainder of the flight, I watched Training Day with Denzel Washington and a Globe Trekker DVD about China.

By the time I was done with the DVD player, we were well into our descent into SFO. American no longer serves freshly basked cookies prior to landing on these flights, so there was no additional food service. The flight attendants did a good job, however, of keeping all nine passengers’ drinks filled throughout the flight. I spoke to the second First Class flight attendant while on a bathroom break and found out the crew was LGA based, which I have since learned is the New York domestic base for American’s flight attendants, even those qualified as Pursers, who, I assume, spend most of their time flying the premium transcon flights to SFO and LAX.

We touched down on SFO’s Runway 28R at 6:40 PM. When I looked across the cabin at Runway 28L, I was surprised to see a Cargolux 747-400F rolling-out at same time as our flight touched-down. I was aware that SFO’s runway layout allows for simultaneous approaches, but it is still a bit a shock to see a 747 landing only a few feet away from your landing aircraft!

We vacated the runway and had a short taxi to the American terminal, where we docked at the gate at 6:45 PM, ten minutes ahead of our scheduled arrival time.

The Embassy Suites Hotel Burlingame

As Cathay Pacific’s daily flight to HKG leaves at 1:30 AM, I faced a six hour layover at SFO. Instead of spending this time in the airport, I decided to use Priceline to get an inexpensive hotel room near the airport, where I could relax for a few hours between flights and have a shower. My bid of $45 was accepted by the Embassy Suites Burlingame, which is about five miles from the SFO terminals.

After leaving the plane, I headed for a taxi. While all the airport hotels offer free shuttles from SFO, I am an impatient person and did not want to endure what can be a long wait for the shuttle. The taxi ride was short and I was checked-in and given a suite (all rooms are, of course, suites) on the seventh floor. The room was fine, featuring a large living area with a couch and a lounge chair. There was a minibar area between the living room and bedroom and a sink in the bedroom. The bathroom was fine, but basic. Overall, this was a fine hotel for a layover, but I would have rather stayed at the Westin or the Gateway Sheraton. Of course, I was not willing to pay for either of these hotels, so I have no grounds to complain.

After watching “Rudy” (which, by the way, stars Yours Truly as a member of the crowd during Rudy’s final on field moment of glory) and just relaxing, I took a shower and left the hotel at about 10:30 PM. The hotel shuttle arrived at the same time I was leaving, so I just hopped on it. After making a quick stop at the Doubletree, we headed to the airport. As I was the only passenger, I was dropped-off first in front of the International Terminal.

Cathay Pacific flight CX 873
Departed: San Francisco (SFO) @ 1:30 AM
Arrived: Hong Kong (HKG) @ 6:30 AM (Sunday, October 19, 2003)
Boeing 747-400
First Class Seat 2A

I arrived outside the International Terminal at 10:45 PM and proceeded directly to the Cathay check-in counters. At this time of night, there were few flights departing, so it was not difficult to spot the Cathay counters by the crowd of people waiting to check-in at the Economy Class line. While the Economy Class line was overflowing, both the Business and First Class lines were empty. As such, I was quickly helped at the one First Class counter. Despite already having had my boarding pass issued by American at JFK, the agent reprinted it on the distinctive red Cathay Pacific First Class boarding pass stock. I was also issued a lounge pass and given directions. Before leaving, I asked the agent if he could confirm that my bag had been transferred from American. He told me that it was too early to check, but that I should do so in the lounge in an hour or so. Satisfied, I headed-off to security.

I should at this point add that I am a huge fan of the SFO International Terminal. I love the grandeur of the check-in area and how it is built over the main ring road leading to the other terminals. The International Terminal features two concourses, stretching like wings off the central check-in area. Each concourse has its own security checkpoint and it is impossible to travel between each concourse without re-clearing security (and having a boarding pass for a flight in the other concourse).

As you may know, SFO is one of the airports participating in a pilot program in which the security screeners are not federal employees, but rather private sector employees. A traveler will likely have no idea that these screeners are not TSA employees as they wear identical uniforms, but with the “TSA” just below the back collar replaced by a “TEAM SFO” moniker.

As was the case this past August, SFO practices 100% shoe removal. I always travel in shoes that I know do not contain metal shanks, but my explanation of this fell on deaf ears and I was told to de-shoe. Despite this hassle, the line was short and I was through in less than ten minutes. After re-shoeing, I made a sharp left and headed for the lounge.

Cathay Pacific uses Japan Airlines’ Sakura Lounge at SFO. The Sakura Lounge is located above the main concourse down a corridor from China Airlines’ Dynasty Lounge. The Sakura Lounge is, in my opinion, nicely decorated and clearly features the Japanese aesthetic of simplicity of design. It has a large Business Class area and a small room for First Class passengers. The First Class side does not feature additional food or beverage items and does not appear to offer any additional comforts. If anything, it is cramped and slightly uncomfortable. The food and beverage area is located in the Business Class section and features a decent selection of wines, beers and other spirits. There are numerous soft drinks as well. The food selection is quite poor, with just a few cookies, chips and little plastic cups of snack mix. There are no hot items, cheeses or finger sandwiches. The lounge is staffed by Cathay Pacific employees, who I find to be very polite and helpful.

I arrived at the lounge, dropped my rollaboard in the luggage storage area and poured myself a Canada Dry Ginger Ale. Although it is kind of pointless, I sat in the First Class area, mostly because, if I did not, the staff would be perplexed and would more than once ask if I would be more comfortable in the First Class area. They do this not to be difficult, but out of concern that I did not realize I could sit in the other area. After an hour, I went for a walk around the terminal, stopping in the Duty Free shop for something to do. In addition to the Cathay flight, there was a China Airlines flight to Taipei scheduled to depart a few minutes earlier.

I returned to the lounge and asked the agent to check if my bag had been transferred from American. She told me to have a seat and she would get back to me. As I was getting quite tired by this time (remember that it was nearly 3:00 AM back in Connecticut), I poured myself a Diet Coke and struck up a conversation with a middle age couple sitting in the First Class area. They were on their way to Bangkok and I gave them pointers of things to do. They had not flown Cathay’s First Class before and had numerous questions about the meal service and entertainment. By the time I finished extolling the virtues of Cathay, I think they were under the impression that I fly Cathay in First Class on a regular basis. They did not realize that I just have a good memory for details when flying First Class. At some point during my lesson, the Agent came over to inform me that my bag had, in fact, made it over from American and was on the plane. Excellent.

At about 12:45 AM, I had had enough of the Sakura Lounge and, after thanking the staff for their hospitality, headed for the gate. All the gates at SFO’s International Terminal are located a level below the concourse and one must take an escalator to reach them. The gate was at the far end of the concourse and about a ten minute walk from the Sakura Lounge. By the time I made my way there, there was quite a crowd, although boarding had yet to begin. Boarding began a few minutes later with First and Business Class passengers using one door and Economy passengers using the other. Interestingly, Economy Class passengers were subjected to random security checks after entering the loading area, while the premium passengers were spared this hassle.

Cathay Pacific almost exclusively uses its so-called 74B fleet on the SFO route. This is a 747-400 that has not been upgraded with the new flat Business Class seats and StudioCX, Cathay’s on demand audio and visual entertainment system. First Class is almost identical to the First Class on the remodeled 747-400s, but passengers have a choice of video cassettes as opposed to on demand entertainment.

As I boarded through the L-1 door, I glanced to my right to confirm that the aircraft had the old Business Class seats. It did. I was quickly escorted to Seat 2A, my preferred seat and was quickly offered a glass of champagne and a small canapé of smoked salmon and cream cheese. I was also quickly offered an amenity kit and was helped stowing my rollaboard in the overhead bins.

On the 747-400s, First Class is located in the nose and features twelve suites that recline into fully flat beds. There are four single seats along each wall and two rows of seat pairs in the center at rows three and four. There is a small table just in front of the center seats at row three which, during boarding, features an array of magazines and newspapers, including the New York Times and the South China Morning Post. Unlike some airlines, there is no closet at the front of the cabin and the front bulkhead features a simple black and white Chinese style painting. The back bulkhead features Cathay’s signature crane-shaped swoosh. The predominant color in the cabin is green, with the seats being finished in a green cloth with polished wood accents. The floor is carpeted with a thin green striped carpet and the walls are white. While some might think there is too much green, I like the look of the cabin and it quite tasteful.

As boarding continued, the cabin slowly filled to capacity. With only twelve seats, however, the cabin never feels crowded. A few minutes before our scheduled departure, Captain Adams came on the PA and informed us that due to strong head winds over our usual route, we would be taking a more northerly route tonight, which would result in a flying time of nearly fourteen hours. As the scheduled sector time for this flight is fourteen hours, he informed us that we would likely be arriving a few minutes late into HKG.

We pushed exactly on time at 1:30 AM and, after engine start, slowly lumbered our way to Runway 28L. We reached the runway in about ten minutes and were airborne immediately after swinging onto the runway. Owing to our full flight and all the fuel required for our longer than normal flying time, our flying machine took nearly a minute to slip Earth’s surly bonds and climb into early morning California darkness.

After passing 10,000 feet, the flight attendants swung into action and distributed menus. Here is a transcript of the Supper menu:

I ordered my favorite drink of Cathay Delight and elected to partake in the caviar and salmon course and have the soup. For my main course, I elected to have the orange duck. As a rule, I always choose a Chinese option for my main course when flying Cathay as they usually are better than the western options (which are also quite good).

While waiting for my drink, the Inflight Service Director came by my seat to introduce herself and to welcome me on board. The ISDs always personally introduce themselves to the First Class passengers and I think it is a nice touch. My Cathay Delight was served by the Purser a few minutes later along with a plate of warm pistachios, which were replenished when I had finished them.

About twenty minutes later, the flight attendants wheeled the caviar and salmon cart through the aisle starting at the back right of the cabin (when facing the nose) and working down the “K” seats before coming-up the left aisle and hitting those of us in the “A” seats. While the rest of the meal service is ŕ la carte and served individually from the galley, the caviar and salmon course is served at a set time from the serving trolley. I like that Cathay retains the traditional cart service for this course, which I think is a nice nod to the traditions of first class service.

I was given two nice scoops of caviar and two thick slices of salmon along with the traditional garnishes of chopped egg whites and yolks, minced onion and crčme fraiche. This was served with two warm potatoes and, although not listed on the menu, toast points. It was, as usual, delicious, but I would have liked some more onion and crčme fraiche. My soup was served soon after the caviar plates were removed and I was also, at this time, presented with the bread basket, from which I selected a warm mini loaf of garlic bread and a ciabatta roll. The soup was a very thick chowder, with pieces of seafood (shrimp and scallop). Once finished, my main course was presented. It featured a duck breast with freshly steamed rice (Cathay has a rice steamer on board) and pak choy. It was quite good, but the duck was overcooked. I find that, as with beef, duck is very difficult to get right in an airplane oven and is usually overcooked. Nevertheless, it was very good. I was quite full by this point, so I passed on the cheese course and just opted for some Haagen Dazs vanilla ice cream. The ice cream was served in an individual serving tub and not in a bowl. It was still very frozen when it was served, so I let it soften a bit while I changed into my sleeping attire.

One area where Cathay looses point is its bathrooms. While they are well stocked with hand lotion, cloth towels and, my personal favorite, Evian water to spray on your face, but they just are too small. On the 747-400s, there are two bathrooms for First Class located side-by-side immediately behind the L-1 door and across from the galley. There is just not enough floor space to accomplish changing and whenever I attempt to, I am reminded of Chris Farley changing out of his flight attendant uniform in Tommy Boy! Cathay provides First Class passengers with Shanghai Tang pajamas, which are tan with red accents around the collar and sleeves. They are nice, but too warm for me. As such, I save them for gifts and, instead, wear a pair of shorts and a t-shirt for sleeping. I find this much more comfortable.

After nearly putting my foot into the toilet, I returned to my seat and finished the now soft ice cream. I then reclined the seat and napped for a few hours. When I woke up, we still had over seven hours to go, so I elected to watch a movie. Although there is no AVOD on these 74Bs, Cathay does provide a large selection of cassette tapes to watch. The selections are the same as are on offer on StudioCX. I elected to watch “The Life of David Gale” with Kevin Spacey. Unfortunately, my video player was not working properly, with the picture cutting-out from time to time.

As mentioned above, Captain Adams had informed us that we would be taking a very northerly route this evening. After departing SFO, we tracked due north enroute to Vancouver. After passing Vancouver, our 747-400 overflew the Queen Charlotte Islands and the Alexander Archipelago before setting course for Fairbanks, Alaska. Over Fairbanks, we made a left turn onto a more westerly heading across the Seward Peninsula and across the Bering Strait north of St. Lawrence Island. Having crossed the International Date Line, we passed over Russia’s Chukchi Peninsula and began tracking a southwesterly route across the Kamchatka Peninsula and into the Sea of Okhotsk. We stayed north of the Kuril Islands and overflew Sapporo on the Japanese Island of Hokkaido. After crossing the Sea of Japan, the CX 873 clipped the Korean Peninsula overflying Pusan and crossed the East China Sea enroute to Taipei. After overflying Taipei we entered the South China Sea and stayed South of Xiamen and Shantou before beginning our approach into HKG.

For the rest of the flight, I slept off and on. Even though I was tired, I could not settle into a deep sleep, but did get several hours of rest. A few hours before breakfast was to be served, I had the Noodles and Soup with Braised Beef Brisket. Served in a large red bowl with a side of chili sauce, it was excellent.

About two hours out of HKG, the breakfast service began. Here is the menu transcript:

I elected to have some orange juice, the fruit appetizer, a bowl of Corn Flakes and scrambled eggs with sausage, potatoes and mushrooms. My table was set with a freshly starched white table cloth and my freshly squeezed orange juice soon followed. The fruit was great and very fresh. Unlike some airlines, it was not served partially frozen. I was given a basket with some rolls, toast and a croissant and was given a choice of preserves and honey offered on a tray. I also requested a muffin as they are usually excellent. After finishing my fruit, I was given a bowl of cereal with milk served in a small pitcher. After the cereal, my main course was served. It was delicious.

The sun began to rise as we passed over Taiwan and soon most of my fellow passengers were up and requesting breakfast. We began our descent about thirty minutes prior to landing and the flight attendants were busy finalizing the service and getting everything squared-away for landing. Soon, the jagged hills of Lantau Island were in view off the right hand side of the aircraft and we were on final approach to the Hong Kong International Airport on Chep Lap Kok Island. At exactly 6:38 AM, we crossed the threshold on Runway 7L and gently kissed the ground after thirteen hours and fifty-two minutes aloft. Exiting the runway at the Alpha 8 high speed turn-off we slowly made our way via Taxiways Bravo, Victor and Hotel to our stand at Gate 3. Despite being a few minutes late, we were the first arrival of the morning. The flight attendants held back the Business and Economy passengers and, after thanking the crew for an excellent flight, I was off the plane and on my way to the temperature check and Immigration. There was no line at either station and I was in the Baggage Hall within five minutes of leaving the aircraft. As I chatted with a fellow First Class passenger from Dallas, our bags arrived and mine was the third on the belt. Customs was hassle free and soon I had purchased my Airport Express Ticket and was on my way to Kowloon and the Sheraton Hong Kong.

PresRDC

Part III – Hong Kong: Livin' It, Lovin’ It (Sunday, October 19, 2003 – Monday, October 20, 2003)

The Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel & Towers, the Star Ferry, Central and the Temple Street Night Market

I got off at the Kowloon MTR Station and took one of Hong Kong’s red and white taxis the short distance to the hotel. While an Airport Express ticket includes a free shuttle to most of the major hotels, I prefer to take a taxi as they are fairly inexpensive and much more convenient. At the hotel, I left my luggage with the porters on the lower level and took the escalator to the main lobby, where I grabbed an elevator to the Towers check-in area.

I had decided to splurge and booked myself a Towers harbour view room for the night. As the majority of my hotel nights on this trip were paid-for using Starpoints, I decided I could afford the nicer room. Despite the early hour, I was able to check-in and get a room. I was offered a choice between a city view suite and a standard harbour view room. When in Hong Kong, I always prefer a harbour view room, so I sacrificed the space for the view. Since my previous stay at this hotel in August 2002, the Towers floors had been fully renovated. The room was small, but well appointed with a beige carpet and a desk with an executive style chair. The bed did not have a pillow-top mattress, but did feature a duvet. The bathroom featured a glass counter and sink, which overlooked the rest of the room. The shower and bath tub were in a separate room. Interestingly, the shower and the tub were separate, but right next to each other, so that, when using the shower, one gets the bath tub completely wet.

Although offered, I turned-down the opportunity to have breakfast in the Towers Lounge. After a quick shower and a change of clothes, I had a surprising amount of energy, so I headed for the Star Ferry and a little sightseeing. I noticed that the Financial Times Building had been completed (when I was last in Hong Kong in August 2002, its frame was not yet fully completed). Whenever I am in Hong Kong, my first stop is the Star Ferry. Hong Kong is a harbor city and, as with all harbor cities, the best way to see it is from the harbor. Plus, only twenty cents for a first class ticket makes the Star Ferry one of the best sightseeing deals anywhere. Even though the MTR is quicker, I will always cross Victoria Harbour on the Star Ferry, thank you very much.

After getting off in Central, I took a little stroll and ended-up at the Pacific Place Mall in Admiralty. This is one of, if not the most, upscale mall in Hong Kong and is connected to such hotels as the Conrad International and the J.W. Marriott. I was not interested in shopping, but wanted to check-out watches in preparation for my trip to the Temple Street Night Market that evening. After my mall visit, I headed to Wan Chai and my favorite dumpling restaurant, creatively called The Dumpling Shop.

That night, after a nap, I headed to Temple Street in Kowloon in search of a fake watch. About two weeks earlier, my watch unexpectedly broke and I needed a replacement. Temple Street is home to the famous Temple Street Night Market , which is full of hawker stands selling all sorts of items from fake designer t-shirts to pirated CDs. Most of the materials are made in mainland China and are transported across the border. After about an hour, I found the watch I was looking for, a blue faced silver band Swiss Army Watch, which cost me eighty-nine Hong Kong Dollars (a little over eleven U.S. Dollars).

Fast Times on Lantau Island

The next day, I decided to do one of the Hong Kong things I had not had the time to do on my previous visits, explore Lantau Island. Visible from Chep Lap Kok, the jagged hills of Lantau looked intriguing and, as my onward flight to JNB was not scheduled to depart until nearly midnight, I had all day. I took the Star Ferry to Central and walked over to the Ferry Terminal, from where the boats to Lantau depart. It took around thirty minutes to reach Mui Wo. As it was a nice day, the ride was quite scenic with views of the harbor traffic, the Tsing Ma Bridge and Peng Chau Island. At Mui Wo, I boarded a bus for Tai O, an ancient fishing village on the northwestern side of Lantau. The ride was quite an experience as the road was winding and, at multiple points, one of the two lanes were closed for construction. There is nothing like the experience of starting a manual transmission bus while on a hill with a several hundred foot drop on the other side! The bus made several stops, including one at a prison, but finally reached Tai O, which was its last stop. I got out and spent a few hours strolling through the narrow streets full of fresh seafood, mangy dogs and elderly people just hanging out. Tai O is also known for its stilt houses, many looking so small that you cannot conceive that people actually use them for habitation.

After Tai O, I grabbed a taxi and headed to the Po Lin Monastery, home of the Tian Tan Buddha, which is the world’s largest seated Buddha. Perched high in the mountains, the monastery, which in English means “precious lotus” became a major pilgrimage destination in the 1920s. To reach the statue, one must purchase a ticket (which includes a meal at the monastery’s apparently quite good vegetarian restaurant) and ascend approximately two hundred steps. As I made my way up, I observed a group of people who were being filmed sprinting up a section of the steps. I actually have no idea what they were doing, or why, but it was quite entertaining to see them run up a few dozen steps, turn-around, walk back and then do it all over again. The view from the base of the statue is quite nice and I enjoyed seeing the rugged peaks of Lantau dotted with various pagodas. I would highly recommend that any visitor to Hong Kong include a trip to the Po Lin Monastery.

I decided to not take the ferry back to Central, and instead decided to take a taxi to Tung Chung, from where I could catch the MTR’s Tung Chung Line to Kowloon. The ride from the monastery to Tung Chung was quite an experience as the road was very narrow and full of curves. At several spots, there were pull-offs where a car could quickly get out of the way of an oncoming truck or bus. The train ride to Kowloon was pretty quick (about twenty-five minutes) and I was back the Sheraton with more than enough time to pack, shower and make my 6:00 PM check-out time.

Although my flight to JNB was not leaving until nearly midnight, 6:00 PM was the latest check-out time I could negotiate. A little before 6:00 PM, I vacated the room and set myself up in the Towers Lounge for a few hours. There was a nice food spread and a nice selection of drinks, all served by a friendly and eager to please wait staff. At about 7:30 PM, I decided it was time to make my way to HKG, so I bid the Towers Lounge farewell and grabbed a taxi. While the Airport Express is a great way to get to HKG, I decided that if my taxi driver was willing to make a deal, I would have him take me all the way to the airport. He was willing to play ball, so for two hundred and ten Hong Kong Dollars, I had my ride to HKG. I was off to Africa.


[This message has been edited by PresRDC (edited Mar 15, 2004).]

PresRDC

Part IV – Hong Kong to Cape Town (October 20, 2003 – October 21, 2003)

Cathay Pacific flight CX 749
Departed: Hong Kong (HKG) @ 11:40 PM
Arrived: Johannesburg (JNB) @ 6:55 AM (Tuesday, October 21, 2003)
Airbus A340-300
First Class Seat 1A

The taxi dropped me off in front of the Terminal at 8:15 PM. After grabbing a free luggage cart, I headed into the terminal. Cathay’s First Class check-in facility is located at Area B and, instead of the traditional desks, features several podiums which display flight information such as the departure gate and the aircraft type while check-in progresses. There was no line and I was helped immediately. Despite making a connection in JNB to Cape Town, I only had the bag checked to JNB as I was unsure whether I could trust the transfer facilities at JNB. There are no luggage belts at the First Class check-in position, so my bag, tagged with a First Class priority sticker, was taken by a porter over to the Business Class check-in desks to be sent down to the handlers. I was handed my boarding pass, a lounge invitation and the SARS declaration form, which I filled-out on my way to Passport Control. There was not much of a line at Passport Control and I was through and on my way to The Wing in under five minutes.

Although my flight was leaving from Gate 40, which is located at the far end of the airport, I decided to stop at The Wing. Not having had dinner, my first stop was The Haven, which is The Wing’s restaurant, catered by the Peninsula Hotel. The food is served buffet style, but the wait staff takes requests and, providing the requisite food items are in stock, they will prepare requests to order. They will also fetch noodle dishes from the Noodle Bar located in the Business Class side. I found adequate vittles on the buffet, so did not bother ordering anything special.

After my meal, I checked my e-mail on one of the many public computer terminals scattered around The Wing. If you really need to use a computer, however, I would advise that you head for The Pier, Cathay’s other lounge at the far end of the airport as there are even more computers located there. In the main lounge area of the First Class side of The Wing, there are servers taking drink orders from those passengers sitting there. In addition to The Haven and the main sitting area, there is a quiet area called The Library and, of course, the famous Cabanas, to where I headed after checking my e-mail.

The Cabanas are essentially large bathrooms which open to a patio area featuring a beach-style lounge chair and overlooking a small brook that flows between the various Cabanas. The bathroom area features a large Jacuzzi-style tub and a rainmaker shower in addition to a sink and a toilet. There is a closet for hanging clothes and the attendant will provide you with towels. I did not really need a shower, but I had time and I figured why not. While the Cabanas are wonderful, I noticed that they are starting to look a little worse for wear and I suspect Cathay will renovate them in the near future. If there are no Cabanas available when you arrive, there are shower rooms across the hall. Although they lack the tub and patio area of the Cabanas, they do have the rainmaker showers.

After my Cabana experience, it was nearing 10:45 PM, so I left The Wing in search of a bureau de change to get some South African Rand. This proved more difficult than I expected as the first place I stopped did not have any Rand and the second did not have enough for all I wanted to change. I was able to get enough to get me through my arrival in Cape Town, so I was happy. After this, I began the long march down the Central Concourse to Gate 40, which is the first gate on the right hand side in the Southwest Concourse. One can make this journey using the automated people mover, but this is located two levels down and, as there are plenty of moving walkways across the Central Concourse, I find it decidedly less convenient than making my way under my own power.

By the time I arrived at Gate 40, boarding of the A340-300 that would be operating as the CX 749 was underway. All the gates at HKG feature dual airbridges and Cathay boards its First and Business Class passengers through one and Economy passengers through the other. I boarded right away and entered the A340 through the L-1 door, where I was greeted by name by the First Class Purser and shown to Seat 1A, which is the first seat on the left.

There are eight First Class seats on the A340 arranged in two rows of 1-2-1. On the A340-300, 1A is my preferred seat, but many people prefer 2A as it is a little further from the galley. Unlike the A340-600 where the bathroom is on the left side, the bathroom on the A340-300 is on the right side right in front of Seat 1K. As such, I would advise that one avoid 1K if at all possible as it will see considerably more foot traffic and could possibly have smell issues. There are two dedicated flight attendants for First Class, giving the same 1:4 flight attendant to passenger ratio as exists on the 747-400. However, with one of these two flight attendants working mainly in the galley during meal times, the service may be slower than on the 747-400. The seats themselves are basically the same as on the 747-400 and all A340s feature StudioCX and the new Business Class seats. One of the drawbacks of the A340 configuration is that Business Class passengers have to pass through the First Class cabin, making it less quiet and peaceful during boarding.

It should be mentioned at this point that Cathay has announced plans to remove First Class from most of the A340-300 fleet starting in April 2004.

Unlike in SFO, the drinks cart was not bonded and passengers could select anything they wanted for a pre-flight drink. I, of course, opted for a Cathay Delight, which was served with a scallop hors d’ouerves. My Cathay Delight was replenished without my asking, which was appreciated.

Our A340 pushed from Gate 40 a few minutes behind schedule at 11:43 PM and we had a long taxi to Runway 7R. There was no wait to takeoff and we were airborne after a forty second takeoff run.

Once we reached our cruising altitude, the flight attendants distributed menus and pajamas. Here is a menu transcript:

Although I usually order a Chinese main course, there was none that tickled my fancy, expect for the noodle soup, which I was planning on having as a mid-flight snack. As such, I ordered the chicken along with the caviar and salmon and the soup. For a drink, I ordered yet another Cathay Delight, which was served with the warm pistachios. While waiting for the meal service to start, I changed into my shorts and t-shirt in the bathroom.

The caviar and salmon was identical to that on the CX 873, which was fine by me as it was quite good. The trolley began by going down the right aisle, so the passengers in 2A and 2D were served last. The soup was good and garlic bread plentiful, so I remained happy. The chicken was a disappointment as it was dried-out, but I was not really too hungry, so I just picked at it. Of course, the Cathay flight attendants are so attentive that they noticed I was not really eating it and asked if I wanted something else. I declined and told them I had already eaten in The Wing. I once again skipped the cheese course and opted for some Haagen Dazs that, once again, was frozen solid.

During the meal, I sampled some of the CD options on StudioCX. The music selection was great, and as our A340 was crossing Laos, I was rocking out to The Beach Boy’s Pet Sounds, Elvis’ Number One Hits and the Rolling Stones Greatest Hits. In addition to classic rock, StudioCX offers pop, country, classical and Asian selections. My only gripe about StudioCX (other than the fact that no U2 was on offer this month) is that you cannot listen to a CD and change the screen to the Airshow without it reverting to the cycled music. The video selections are equally impressive, featuring first run and classic movies, current and classic television shows and sports and documentary programming. After dinner I settled under my duvet and watched “Pirates of the Caribbean,” which I loved.

The CX 749 travels over 6600 miles enroute to JNB, taking nearly thirteen hours to make the journey. After leaving Hong Kong airspace, the A340 tracked on a southwesterly heading over the Pearl River Delta and Hainan Island. We crossed Vietnam north of Da Nang and overflew Laos passing south of Vietaine. Entering Thai airspace, we tracked north of Bangkok and left Indochina over Myanmar. Entering the Indian Ocean, we skirted the extreme northern coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra and crossed the Equator due south of Sri Lanka. Entering the realm of the Doldrums, the CX 749 overflew the Chagos Archipelago very close to the British island of Diego Garcia, home to a veritable who’s who of former al-Queda leaders. Our next landfall was Madagascar, passing just north of the capital city of Antananarivo. After overflying the Mozambique Channel, the A340 entered the African continent over the city of Beira in Mozambique. By the time night turned to day, we were over the Mozambique/South Africa border and about one hour from landing in JNB.

For the rest of flight, I slept quite soundly, walking once about half way through the flight to sample the noodle and braised beef dish, which was excellent. About ninety minutes out of JNB, it was breakfast time. Here is a menu transcript:

I ordered the fruit, the Corn Flakes and the Dim Sum. I also ordered a glass of orange juice and the muffins, which were chocolate chip on this flight and were delicious with butter and honey. After breakfast, I listened to more music on StudioCX and awaited our arrival into JNB.

It was a wet and cold day in JNB as we touched down. I had heard that the Immigration lines at JNB can be long and I was not looking forward to that. We parked at a remote stand and had to take a bus to the terminal. Swissport was Cathay’s ground handling agent at JNB and they bussed all First and Business Class passengers together before any Economy passengers were offloaded. To my great and pleasant surprise, there was no line at Immigration and I was in the baggage hall in minutes. My bag was one of the first on the belt and I was out and into the arrivals hall within ten minutes of getting off the bus.

South African Airways flight SA 321
Departed: Johannesburg (JNB) @ 10:00 AM
Arrived: Cape Town (CPT) @ 12:10 PM
Airbus A340-600
Business Class Seat 1L

Supposedly, there is a South African Airways check-in facility in the Arrivals Lobby of the JNB International Terminal. I, however, cannot verify this as I could not find it. As such, I made my way with my bags along the approximately three hundred yard walk to the Domestic Terminal. As I was on the ground level, I needed to navigate my cart up a series of three inclined moving walkways to reach the check-in lobby. Despite being a Monday morning, the terminal was not crowded and, although the electronic signs were not working, I soon found the Business Class check-in island. I was quickly helped and given my boarding pass for the flight. Security was very quick and I was through in a few minutes.

South African’s Domestic Business Class passengers are allowed to use the Baobab Lounge. I was quite impressed with this lounge. It was designed with an African theme, featuring natural wood accents and earth tone furniture. A very pleasing design that definitely reminds one that he or she is in Africa. The lounge overlooks the two parallel runways, providing aircraft spotters with an excellent view of the ramp action. It also featured shower rooms, which, after a thirteen hour flight, was my primary interest. Each shower room features a glass shower (with excellent water pressure) a sink and a toilet. Also provided was a towel and a shower mat. The earthy theme continued in the shower room which was floored in rich brown terra cotta tiles. After my shower, I still had some time to kill, so I checked my e-mail on one of the public computer terminals in the lounge. There is a staffed bar and a small selection of packaged “munchies” and some sandwiches on offer.

Unlike the other South African airports I would visit, the majority of domestic flights departed from airbridge gates. However, I selected flight SA 321 because it was scheduled to be operated by an A340-600, a new aircraft type for me. The majority of South African’s JNB to CPT flights are operated by 737 equipment, but there are a handful of flights operated by international equipment, mostly A340 and 747-400s. These flights are parked at the International Terminal and, as the airbridges there are connected only to the international area, domestic passengers must be bussed to these aircraft and board via airstairs. This is definitely less convenient than a 737 flight, but for me it was worth it to get a more comfortable seat and a chance to fly on a new aircraft type. I had redeemed 30,000 Delta miles for a roundtrip JNB-CPT-JNB business class award ticket on South African.

South African’s A340-600s are configured with only Business and Economy class and usually operate to Frankfurt and Hong Kong. The seats are blue and arranged in a 2-2-2 configuration with, I would guess, fifty-five to sixty inches of pitch. The seats recline nearly flat, but the legrest does not come-up to the horizontal. Also, when upright, I noticed that the seat area was a bit too shallow. The real stars of the cabin were the bathrooms. They were quite large and featured a window. It would have been very easy to change in this bathroom, which I am sure is appreciated by those passengers traveling on this aircraft on a long overnight flight to and/or from South Africa. Since the time I took this flight, SAA has upgraded the Business Class cabins on the A340-600 with lie-flat seats.

The flight attendants distributed pre-takeoff drinks of orange juice, water or champagne. Although we boarded on time, we ended-up leaving a few minutes late due to the sheer volume of people boarding the plane. I’ll say it again. If convenience is your primary concern, you will want to book yourself on a 737 flight. Anyway, we pushed at approximately 10:10 AM and had a quick taxi to the runway. One of the really interesting features of the A340-600 are the cameras mounted on the tail and the nose gear, which are pumped into the cabin on takeoff and landing. Interestingly, the camera tuned-off at the moment of rotation and touch down, I guess to shield nervous flyers from the most intense moments of the procedure.

Our route of flight took us on a southwesterly heading across the Orange Free State enroute to Kimberley. Entering the Cape Province over Kimberley, our giant Airbus rocketed over the Cape Wine Lands and into the Atlantic Ocean north of Cape Town, before turning around over the Cape of Good Hope from where we entered False Bay and began our approach into CPT.

Cabin service started about fifteen minutes after takeoff. Our trays were laid with a white linen table cloth before drinks were served from the cart. I selected a Diet Coke with lemon (a shock, I know), which was served with the can (actually a miniature can). This was a snack flight, which was served a few minutes later. It was a one tray affair, consisting of a plastic wrapped sandwich, a plastic bag of dried fruit and another with a dried dark substance that looked to me like freeze dried moose droppings. As it turns-out, it was biltong, which is a dried meat product. I skipped both it and the fruit as I like my food fully hydrated. I was not impressed with this snack, but I was not particularly hungry, so I did not mind too much.

The real highlight of this flight was the approach into CPT. Approximately thirty minutes prior to landing, the terrain changed from flat agricultural land to stunning mountains. As we neared Cape Town, the vineyards surrounding Cape Town came into view. We overflew the coast and made a series of sweeping left turns, which provided a stunning view of the Cape Peninsula and the city bowl of Cape Town. From there we were treated to a gorgeous view of False Bay before turning onto finals for CPT. Touch down was approximately 12:15 PM and we were at the gate in a few minutes. As at JNB, we arrived at a coaching stand and needed to deplane via airstairs and take a bus the short distance to the Domestic Arrivals area. There are only two airbridges at CPT, both of which are connected to the International Terminal. As such, all domestic flights use airstairs.

My bag quickly appeared on the belt and I was out of the airport within ten minutes of deplaning.


[This message has been edited by PresRDC (edited Mar 15, 2004).]

PresRDC

Part V – Cape Town, Robben Island and the Cape Peninsula (October 21, 2003 – October 25, 2003)

I had booked airport transfers with The Southern Touring Company, which was recommended as a reliable tour company for a day tour of the Cape Peninsula. I was so impressed with their responsiveness to my e-mails that I decided to trust them for ground transfers as opposed to going through the hotels. Knowing what I know now, however, I would not bother with arranging ground transfers as the taxi service seemed more reliable than I expected and driving, at least in non-urban areas, proved not to be problematic. Anyway, my driver met me after I left the Baggage Hall and we were soon on our way in a Volkswagen touring van to The ArabellaSheraton Grand Hotel in downtown Cape Town.

One of the benefits of using a tour company for your ground transfers is that you get a free tour thrown in with the cost of the ride. My driver pointed out the Cecil Rhodes Memorial, the University of Cape Town and the hospital where the first heart transplant was performed. The most striking aspect of the drive into Cape Town from the airport are the shanty towns that have sprung-up along the N2 highway. Immediately on arrival, a visitor is struck by the poverty in which many South Africans continue to live despite the more than a decade that has passed since the fall of Apartheid. Although there are few pedestrian bridges spanning the highway, many people cross the highway on foot, which is something for which a driver must be alert and that one does not see in the United States.

The ArabellaSheraton Grand Hotel Cape Town

It took about twenty minutes to arrive at the ArabellaSheraton. The first thing a guest notices on arrival is the lobby. Striking, with its modern design and bold color accents, most notably the carpet in front of reception, one could easily mistake the lobby for that found in a W Hotel. In addition to the usual check-in facilities and restaurants, there is a jazz bar offering live music each evening and a store selling South African wine. There are three computer terminals next to reception where you can get directions and other tourist information. There is also a room off reception offering computer terminals with internet access.

As a Starwood Platinum member, I was escorted from the main check-in desks to the Towers Club reception area, which is also located in the lobby at two sit-down desks a few feet away from the main reception area. Despite using my points (7000 per night) for three of my four nights, I was upgraded to a Towers room on the seventeenth floor overlooking the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, Table Bay and, in the distance, Robben Island. The room itself was quite large and well appointed with modern-looking furniture and fixtures. The predominant colors were white, grey, black and tan, but the artwork (both paintings and objects d'art) added a nice splash of color. The bathroom featured heated tile floors, a large tub, a walk-in shower and a separate room for the toilet. The water pressure was excellent, but the walk-in shower was screaming for a rainmaker showerhead, as opposed to the rather dull and typical hand-held unit featured. The bed was a typical Sheraton Sweet Sleeper bed with a duvet, soft mattress and six pillows. There was a wooden desk, more resembling a table, with two wheeled chairs. There was also an oddly shaped tan contoured lounge chair, which, although difficult to enter and egress, was, once seated, quite comfortable. The room also featured two large closets and a typical in-room safe. A welcome message from the General Manager was already in the room, along with a welcome gift featuring two glass paperweights (or maybe coasters) on which the ArabellaSheraton Grand Cape Town logo was inscribed.

As a Platinum member, I was given access to the Towers Club, which is located on the nineteenth floor. The Towers Club features a wrap-around view of the Waterfront development and Cape Town’s harbor and, in the back, Table Mountain (which was somewhat obscured by the neighboring building). The Towers Club offered a complimentary breakfast, a complimentary afternoon tea from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM and evening drinks and hors d'ouerves from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. Additionally, the Club has a dedicated restaurant, which is open for dinner (which is not complimentary). The modern décor prevalent in the rest of hotel was also present in the Towers Club and various games and books on African wildlife and Cape Town were on offer. Additionally, there were two free computer terminals with internet access. While the Club itself was wonderful, the real gem were the staff, who were always helpful, friendly and quick to strike up a conversation.

The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront

Despite my long overnight flight and connection at JNB, I was surprisingly full of energy and eager to explore. I decided to make the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront my first destination as it is close to the hotel and I wanted to visit the Two Oceans Aquarium and just figured it would be a pleasant and relaxed place to spend a few hours. Although the ArabellaSheraton claimed to operate a water shuttle between the Waterfront and the hotel, I could not find a schedule and no one seemed to give me a definitive answer as to when (or if) it operated. As such, I took a taxi. There is no taxi queue in front of the hotel and the bellman has to call for one on request. Each time I did this, it took less than ten minutes for the cab to arrive, but if you are pressed for time, you might want to call a few minutes ahead.

Built in the shadow of Table Mountain, the Waterfront is a tourist site featuring accommodations, restaurants, shopping and nightlife. Additionally, it is home to the Nelson Mandela Gateway, from which the ferry to Robben Island departs. It also is home to the Aquarium, where I headed after being dropped off at the Victoria & Alfred Hotel. The highlight of the Aquarium is the large glass tank housing the line fish including several shark species. There is also a small colony of Jackass Penguins and, for the kids, several hands-on exhibits. I have had the privilege of visiting some of the great aquariums of the world, including the Sydney Aquarium, the Baltimore Aquarium and, my local favorite, the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium. I would rank the Two Oceans as one of the best, but not quite at the level of the Sydney or Baltimore Aquariums, which are the best I have visited.

After the Aquarium, I took a brief look at some of the retail outlets and swung by the Nelson Mandela Gateway to pick-up my ferry ticket for the next morning. Flyertalker catch22, who works for Mediscapes, a company providing surgical vacations, graciously offered to book the ticket for me so that my desired ferry sailing would not be sold-out. After this, I ate an early dinner at the Hildebrand Restaurant, an Italian place I selected more for its view and outdoor tables than for the food. Food wise, it was good, but nothing special. Of course, I should admit that I am Italian food snob and generally turn my nose up at Italian food from anywhere other than Italy and New York City. By the time I was finished, it was nearing 6:00 PM and I was exhausted, so I headed back to the hotel for the night as I had an early wake-up for my trip to Robben Island.

Robben Island

The day dawned bleak and cloudy, which had me worried as that afternoon I was planning on ascending Table Mountain. I resolved not to worry about it as I was very, very excited to go to Robben Island. I grabbed a taxi and arrived at the Nelson Mandela Gateway a few minutes later. All passengers had to wait in small waiting area which, I am sure not accidentally, is located next to an art gallery showing watercolors of the prison on Robben Island done by Nelson Mandela. They were simple watercolors retailing for between five hundred and five thousand U.S. Dollars, depending on the size and subject. All were signed by Mandela. Cleary, one would purchase one of these not so much for the art work, but for the artist. I am no art expert, but I bet these would be a pretty good investment. Alas, they were out of my price range.

The ferry to Robben Island is a fast ferry with both indoor and outdoor seating, making the approximately seven mile trip in around twenty minutes. I would recommend sitting outside as the view is quite nice, but, if you do, be sure to wear warm clothes and a waterproof jacket as you will be splashed by the icy waters of the South Atlantic Ocean.

Once at Robben Island, we were sheparded onto two buses, each with a guide and driver for a tour of the island. The guide was quite funny and very knowledgeable. The highlight of the tour was a visit to the limestone quarry where Mandela and the other political prisoners were made to work day after day while on the Island. To see the cave where they held their political discussions and classes while on their lunch break was fascinating. A word of caution, both the driver and the guide appreciate tips, so be sure to have some small bills with you.

The tour of the Island ended at the Maximum Security Prison, where we were met by another guide who would take us through the prison grounds. All the guides working in the prison are former guards or political prisoners. Our guide spent twenty years on the Island for his involvement in the military wing of the African National Congress. He showed us the mail room, where their outgoing and incoming messages were censored (often they would only get the greeting and the ending) and the yard where the prisoners had their recreation time. While there, you could almost picture Mandela and Walter Sissulu locked in a deep discussion, while the younger ANC members looked on. The yard is also where the prisoners hid the transcript of Mandela’s autobiography, which would eventually be published as A Long Walk to Freedom. The most moving part of the tour was the cellblock where we got to see Cell #5, which was Mandela’s for most of his eighteen years on the Island. The tour ended with a question and answer session. Surprisingly, our guide explained that he was not working on the Island for any high minded purpose, but rather because he needed the money to support his family (not that there is anything wrong with that). As such, he, like the other guide, expected to be tipped. I gave him a Twenty Rand bill, which, at the time I was there, was about three U.S. Dollars.

We were on the Island for a total of two hours and, by the time the ferry headed back to Cape Town, the clouds had lifted and the sun was out. I highly recommend that you take a seat on the right side of the boat for the ride back to Cape Town as the City Bowl, Table Mountain and the Lion’s Head will be visible off the right-hand side. Unfortunately, no seats were available by the time I made my way to the ferry, so I had to stand on the lower deck. The view was great, but I got absolutely soaked by the spray. I did not mind though as I love being on boats and getting wet is part of the experience.

Table Mountain

Table Mountain towers over Cape Town like a natural version of the Parthenon towering over an African Athens. Often covered with a cloud layer known as the “Tablecloth,” a visitor intent on visiting the summit of this noble rock formation should make his or her way there the first time the top clears as there are no guarantees it will clear again during one’s stay. There are several trails one can take to climb the mountain. For the less robust (or the more lazy), there is a cable car.

After a quick lunch at the Waterfront, I grabbed a taxi and headed to the Lower Cableway Station. This is located outside the city center and took about twenty minutes to reach. Actually, the station is already quite a ways up the mountain and the drive to it offers a stunning view of the city and the harbor.

Of course, this view pales in comparison with the view from the cable car and from the top. The cable car takes under five minutes to reach the summit and the floor of the car rotates so that everyone can get a full 360 degree view. If you do not want to rotate, stand in the center of the cabin next to the operator. His or her position does not rotate.

Once at the summit, I was treated to a remarkable view, as though I was viewing Cape Town from an airplane. I could make out the City Bowl, the Waterfront, the ArabellaSheraton and, in the distance, Robben Island. On the opposite side, I could see the Cape Flats, and the mountains of the Cape Peninsula. There is absolutely no way that I can describe the view. It is simply wonderful and should be among the top destinations for a first (and second, and third, etc.) time visitor to Cape Town. I spent several hours hiking around the top of mountain. Although it looks flat from sea level, the top of Table Mountain is, in fact, quite rugged and, although there is a well maintained stone walkway with several scenic viewing platforms in the area near the Upper Cableway Station, anyone wanting to do some real hiking should be prepared to scale some hills and less than fully developed paths. There is also a small cafeteria at the summit selling drinks and light food options. If you are planning to hike, you should get some water as the walk to and from the furthest point of the summit took well over ninety minutes.

After my Table Mountain experience, I headed back to the ArabellaSheraton and, after a quick dinner in the Towers Lounge, I was asleep by 8:30 PM. As you can tell, I am not a big fan of nightlife and, as such, have nothing substantive to add about the bar scene in Cape Town other than that I have heard it is quite lively.

Touring the Cape Peninsula

This was the day that I had booked my tour of the Cape Peninsula. As mentioned above, I had arranged this tour with The Southern Touring Company for 9:00 AM. By the time I made it to the lobby at 8:55 AM, Cyril, my guide for the day was waiting. After brief introductions, we headed off for our first destination, Hout Bay, on the western or Atlantic side of the Peninsula. Our plan was to work our way down the Atlantic coast toward Cape Point in the morning and to return to Cape Town via the eastern side, which borders False Bay. But first, we stopped for a brief photo opportunity at Sea Point, where one can see most the “Twelve Apostles,” the twelve peaks that work their way down the Peninsula.

At Hout Bay, I decided to take advantage of one of the numerous cruises to see the Cape Fur Seals on Duiker Island. There are several operators taking tourists on the thirty minute tour. These boats go all day long, so there is no reason to book in advance. I was joined on my cruise by a group of Spanish tourists, one of whom spent the cruise annoyingly imitating the minstrel singers performing at the foot of the gangway. I hoped that this guy would somehow fall off the boat, be mistaken for a seal and devoured by a great white shark, but I was not that lucky. The cruise itself was fun, but the water was very rough and, if one is prone to seasickness, it might best be avoided. Having a little boating experience, I was impressed with the handling skills of our skipper who deftly maneuvered the boat right against the rocky shoals of the island to allow us a closer view. I cannot say that the seals looked much different than the sea lions that live at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, but I am not a marine biologist, so you can take my opinion with a grain of sea salt.

After Hout Bay, we headed inland through the Constantia Valley as the coastal road was closed. Cyril briefly stopped at one of the numerous vineyards dotting this area for a quick photo. About an hour later, we arrived at the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve at the southern point of the Cape Peninsula. To enter the park, one must pay an entry fee, but it was not very much. The drive was quite scenic and Cyril stopped a few times to point-out various Cape flora and fauna, including the rare Cape Zebra, of which we caught a fleeting glimpse from the distance.

By this time, both Cyril and I were getting hungry, so we decided to grab a bite at the Two Oceans Restaurant, which is located at Cape Point, at the base of the funicular railroad leading to the actual Cape of Good Hope. Interestingly, the restaurant would not serve bread to those patrons, like us, who were sitting outside as they claimed the Cape’s resident baboons were likely to pounce and make off with the bread. I have heard numerous excuses over the years, but this one was truly new to me. Of course, I did not doubt it, as Cyril had been telling me about how aggressive these intelligent animals can be, mostly due to illegal feeding by humans. Apparently, they have learned how to open doors and it is not uncommon for a homeowner who unwittingly left his or her door unlocked to awake to a house full of baboons ransacking their kitchen! A funny thought, provided it does not happen to you.

After lunch, we took the funicular to the top of Cape Point. One could walk the distance, but we decided to be lazy. Actually, even if you do take the funicular, you must still climb a series of steps to reach the viewing platform, which is at the base of the old lighthouse. In April 1911, a Portuguese ship named Lusitania (not a good name for ships, I know) wrecked on Bellows Rock below the old lighthouse. As a result, it was decided to build a new lighthouse lower down, presumably to better illuminate the treacherous rocks of the Cape. The view was amazing. It was a perfectly clear day and I could see across False Bay. Confession time. I am a 100% total unstoppable geography nerd. As a kid, I would spend hours pouring over maps and my National Geographic World Atlas, even though outdated, remains one of my most prized possessions. As such, to be standing overlooking the actual Cape of Good Hope was an amazing experience.

After leaving the park, Cyril and I headed for our last stop, Simon’s Town, home to both South Africa’s Navy and the famous colony of Jackass Penguins. The penguins live on the beach and their “guests” must pay a fee to access the wooden walkway from which they are viewable. The penguins were in middle of molting, which made many of them look as though they had gone twelve rounds with a wood chipper. Talk about ruffled feathers! It was definitely fun to see them and I am glad that I did.

By the time Cyril and I finished with the penguins, it was time to return to the ArabellaSheraton. I thanked Cyril for his time and headed back into the hotel. As I was pretty tired from the tour and as I had an early wake-up for my next day’s excursion, I decided to skip dinner and went to sleep early.

You Go in the Cage? Cage Goes in the Water? Shark’s in the Water? Farewell and Adieu All You Spanish Ladies . . .

Three thirty in the morning is an absurd time to awake. However, when you’re getting up so that you can (hopefully) see Great White Sharks in their natural habitat, it is a small price to pay. Because of the large population of Cape Fur Seals, the waters of Walker Bay, an inlet off of False Bay are one of the best locations in the world for viewing these feared, but beautiful, marine creatures. Prior to arriving in Cape Town, I had arranged for a day long shark viewing trip with White Shark Ecoventures, a locally owned and operated shark diving company operating out of Gansbaai on the Western Cape.

Due to the tide schedule for the day, we needed to be in the water by 7:00 AM so as to have deep enough water to egress from the dock. As Gansbaai is more than a two hour drive from Cape Town, we needed to be on the road early, hence my 4:00 AM pick-up. The van to Gansbaai was included in the cost of the excursion. It was still dark when myself, our driver and a British family left Cape Town. By the time we reached a particularly dramatic stretch of road known as Sir Lowry’s Pass, the first hints of sun were becoming visible.

We arrived at Gansbaai at 6:30 AM and, after signing the numerous liability releases, were off. The boat was quite small with room for ten persons plus the two person crew. Most of the seating areas were exposed to the elements and, as the water was pretty choppy, we all got wet. On top of the pilot house, there was a viewing platform accessed by a ladder. On the stern was a winch, which was used to lower the shark cage into the water.

Once at the site, the crew lowered the shark cage and deployed a foam silhouette of a seal and a collection of fish heads that were towed behind the boat. They also chummed the water with fish guts and oil. Needless to say, it was quite “fragrant.” Once this was done, the waiting began. As we waited, the water got rougher and the boat was being knocked around pretty good, causing a few of my fellow shark spotters to blow chunks off the side the boat. Fortunately, Yours Truly does not suffer from this particular affliction, but it was difficult to maintain one’s balance. An hour or so later, we had our first contact. I was on the upper deck and saw the dark outline of the shark appear before it broke its head above the water and grabbed onto the fish heads. It immediately let go and disappeared. We had three other such contacts, but each happened so fast, that I was unable to get the money photo of the shark’s jaws locked onto the fish heads. As the water was so rough (and getting rougher), only one person actually got into the shark cage before the crew decided we needed to head back in, about ninety minutes earlier than scheduled. The ride back was extremely rough and, at several points, the boat was airborne. Most people seemed nervous. Yours Truly was not concerned and actually thought it was quite fun.

Once back on shore, we did a little shore based whale watching in Hermanus and then returned to Cape Town, where we arrived around 4:00 PM. Exhausted, I ordered some room service and fell asleep by 7:30 PM.

PresRDC

Part VI - Cape Town to Sabi Sands (October 25, 2003 - October 26, 2003)

As you might expect when you go to sleep at 7:30 PM, I was up early and decided to do some shopping at the Waterfront. One of the things that surprised me, was the dearth of locally-produced art work. Most of the objects dˇ¦art on sale at the various stores in the Waterfront were from other parts of Africa, such as Zimbabwe or West Africa. All of those objects were stunning, but I really wanted to buy something indigenous to South Africa. It proved really difficult. I decided to hold-off on making my major purchases, just in case I could find some native work elsewhere, but I bought a doll made in one of the local townships for my sister and a painted ostrich egg featuring the Big Five (one of few locally made products available) for my parents.

I returned to the ArabellaSheraton at noon and checked-out by 1:00 PM.

South African Airways flight SA 346
Departed: Cape Town (CPT) @ 3:10 PM
Arrived: Johannesburg (JNB) @ 5:10 PM
Airbus A340-600
Business Class Seat 1L

My airport transfer was again arranged through the Southern Touring Company and, this time, I was transported in a sedan. Actually, the driver was Jonas, the owner of the company. Total cost for the transfers to the ArabellaSheraton, the tour of the Cape Peninsula and my upcoming transfers to and from the Western Cape Hotel & Spa ] was 3500 Rand, or a little under five hundred dollars, which I thought was a good deal.

There was no traffic and I arrived at CPT by 1:30 PM. All domestic flights depart from the dedicated domestic terminal and South African Airwaysˇ¦ check-in area is located at the far right of the terminal (if facing the terminal from the street) and, as would be expected, there are dedicated counters for Business Class, which are located to the right of the Economy Class check-in. There were three agents working at the Business Class counter, but no order to the line, so it was a bit of a free-for-all. Fortunately, there were no more than five persons/groups trying to check-in, so it went quickly. My larger bag was tagged to JNB and a priority tag was added. Security was only a few steps away from check-in and there was no line. As such, I was airside within ten minutes of being dropped-off.

The CPT domestic terminal does not feature airbridges and, airside, is a long corridor with the gates on one side and a small selection of eating establishments and book stores on the other. Both South African Airways and Comair operate Business Class lounges in the terminal, which are located one floor above the gate area. The South African Airways Baobab Lounge was, like the one in JNB, decorated with an African theme. There was a staffed bar, numerous computer terminals (with internet access) and a large television on which was showing the Rugby World Cup. At the bar were a selection of bagged snacks, including chips (crisps) and nuts. Overall, it was a nice lounge with good facilities, but the furniture was showing signs of wear and tear.

Boarding began at 2:30 PM and, despite the A340-600 being parked only a few feet away, we needed to take a bus to reach the aircraft. As in JNB, there was no priority boarding for Business Class and no special arrangement made to reach the aircraft, so I had to cram onto the regular bus. This was fine and it probably does not make sense to have a dedicated boarding procedure for Business Class passengers.

Once on the aircraft, I settled into Seat 1L and accepted a glass of orange juice. The cabin was very clean and identical to that on my previous JNB-CPT flight. This time, the Business Class cabin was entirely full and I ended-up next to an American businessman from Houston on his to Senegal. We pushed off the gate a few minutes behind schedule at 3:15 PM and were airborne less than ten minutes later. As on the previous flight, the external cameras were operational and, again, turned-off at the moment of rotation and, later, on touch down. Our flight time was under two hours and we followed much the same route as we did on the previous flight. Drinks were served from the cart along with a bag of nuts. I had my usual Diet Coke with lemon (no lime). Unlike the previous flight, the snack on this flight was hot and consisted of various hors dˇ¦ouerves, the ubiquitous biltong (still looking like freeze dried feces and still not eaten), dried fruit and a cookie. It was perfectly adequate for the time of day and the length of the flight.

We arrived on time and parked at a remote stand next to all the European airliners awaiting their call to duty later in the evening. Of course, this meant another bus trip, but Business Class passengers were offloaded first and had a dedicated bus. While the bus is clearly inconvenient, it does offer a nice view of the tarmac and I was able to watch, among others, the Qantas 747-400 preparing for its flight to Perth and Sydney. The bus dropped us off at the domestic baggage claim and I only had to wait a few minutes for my bag to appear. I left the terminal and met my driver from the Sheraton Pretoria, where I would be staying for the night.

The Sheraton Pretoria Hotel & Towers

If I did not need stays to requalify for Starwood Platinum status, I would have chosen a more convenient option for the night, most likely the Intercontinental Hotel, which is located across the street from the airport terminal. As you proably know, Pretoria is the official capital of South Africa and the home to its executive branch (its legislature is located in Cape Town). JNB is located between Johannesburg and Pretoria and it is an approximately forty-five minute drive to reach the hotel. Johannesburg and Pretoria have a much more substantial crime problem than Cape Town and, tellingly, the company that does grounds transfers for the Sheraton is, in actuality, a security and body guard company.

Once at the hotel, check-in was accomplished quickly at a sit-down desk (no counter) and I was upgraded to a Towers room on the seventh floor. Compared to both the ArabellaSheraton and the Western Cape Hotel, the Sheraton Pretoria is like the ugly cousin in the Starwood South Africa family. On its own, it would be a nice, if not exactly excellent hotel, but when compared to the other two, it comes up short. My room was large, and featured a king size bed, a lounge area (not a separate room) with a coffee table, a couch and a lounge chair. There was a large desk, a television and a bathroom with a walk-in glass shower and a separate tub. The room was older and more worn-in than the ArabellaSheraton (not surprising). My biggest complaint was the bed, which did not feature a duvet, but the typical Motel 6 style nasty-a*s skanky wool blanket. Hopefully, it will eventually get the new Sheraton Sweet Sleeper Bed.

I had an adequate dinner at the steak restaurant in the hotel and retired early as I was still tired from my time in Cape Town.

South African Airways flight SA 1227 (operated by South African Express)
Departed: Johannesburg (JNB) @ 10:45 AM
Arrived: Hoedspruit (HDS) @ 11:55 AM
DeHavilland Canada Dash 8 „ł Fokker F-28
Economy Class Seat 5A

I checked-out at 8:00 AM and the same driver as the previous evening drove me back to JNB, at which I arrived around 8:40 AM. As I was traveling in Economy Class on this flight (these regional flights are single class flights), I had to brave the longer check-in line at the Economy counter. Fortunately, it was a short line and I received my pre-assigned seat, 5A, and my large bag was checked to Hoedspruit. Security was quick and I was airside within a few minutes. Unfortunately, not being in Business Class meant no Baobab Lounge, so I made due with wandering the departures area. Around 10:15 AM, I made my way down the escalator to Gate E11, which, as with all regional flights, was a bus gate.

We ˇ§boardedˇ¨ (the bus, that is) at 10:25 AM and waited for about twenty minutes until the SAA staff had rounded up all the passengers. Then, we drove, and drove, and drove, and drove all the way past the other South African Express Dash 8s to the remote stands where the European aircraft were parked. There, among the gargantuan Airbus and Boeing aircraft sat a lone Fokker, in front of which our bus stopped. At first, because it was painted with red, white and blue stripes, I thought it was a retired American Airlines F-100. However, I quickly realized that it was too short and thus was an F-28. I have never had the opportunity to fly on an F-28, so I was excited. Of course, it was obvious that this aircraft was not operated by SAA, but some third party carrier. Being in Africa, I had no idea whether this aircraft was safe, but figured that a quality operation like SAA would not put its passengers on a dangerous aircraft. As such, I boarded and looked forward to my first (and likely last) F-28 flight.

As you might expect when a larger aircraft is substituted for a smaller one, the plane was not full, and I had both the aisle and window seat on the two-seat side of the aircraft. Those passengers in rows 1 and 2 were lucky and got first class style seats arranged in a 2-2 layout with a large recline and footrests. The remaining seats, while leather, were very small both in terms of pitch and width. Fortunately, it was a short flight.

We took-off late, at around 11:10 AM, but I figured we would be traveling much faster than the Dash 8 and thus would make-up much of the time. Once at altitude, the two flight attendants served beverages (I was given two mini cans of Diet Coke) and a snack box consisting of some cold Swedish meatballs, a slice of cheese and a candy bar. It was quite filling and, it goes without saying, was way more than you would get in the U.S. on a similar length flight.

Our flight time ended-up being only twenty-five minutes and we landed at 11:35 AM. The landing was quite interesting. Hoedspruitˇ¦s airport doubles as an Air Force base and, as such, has two very long runways. When we touched down, the aircraft did not rapidly decelerate, but instead coasted the length of the runway. Once we reached the end of the runway, we still had nearly ten minutes of taxi time before parking at the small airline terminal.

Once I got off the F-28, I was met by the pilot of my air taxi that would take me the remaining distance to the safari lodge. This air taxi was arranged through my safari lodge. After paying my departure tax (which is done at a dedicated desk in the terminal), we were off in a small Cessna Skyhawk. I have done very little flying in small general aviation aircraft and I was surprised at just how much you felt the wind and other aerial forces as we were flying. After a twenty minute flight, we overflew the safari lodge and landed on a rough dirt strip.



[This message has been edited by PresRDC (edited Mar 15, 2004).]

PresRDC

Part VII – On Safari (October 26, 2003 – October 28, 2003)

Safari. Just thinking of the word conjures-up images of Teddy Roosevelt trekking through the African bush on the hunt for wild game. To think that I was now in a South African game reserve just hours from my first encounter with the animals I have grown-up watching and reading about in National Geographic, made me very excited. Now, nearly five months after my trip, I still get excited thinking about my two days walking in the footsteps of T.R. and standing in the shadows of giants.

As soon as the Cessna Skyhawk came to a stop and shut down, I was warmly greeted my Mike, the head ranger at the Chitwa Chitwa Safari Lodge and, along with his wife, Nikki, my host for the next few days. Chitwa Chitwa operates two lodges at Sabi Sands, the Game Lodge, which is a larger (accommodating around twenty guests) and more upscale (and expensive) offering than the Safari Lodge, which accommodates twelve guests in six two-person bungalows.

It was a short drive via the Safari Lodge’s open-topped Range Rover to reach the lodge. My bags were taken to my room and I was escorted to the open air lounge and bar area, where I met Nikki, had a very welcome glass of water, and got checked-in. The lounge, as mentioned, is open air and features several comfortable lounge chairs and couches. As might be expected at an outdoor venue, the furniture was frayed and a very much worn-in, but nevertheless was quite comfortable. At one end of the lounge is a small store selling such necessities as batteries and film and the bar. At the other end, is an outdoor swimming pool, overlooking a man-made lake, which is located just beyond an electric fence and is designed to bring the game close the lodge (as Mike said, both the guests and the animals have their own pool).

I had arrived just in time for lunch, which is held at a picnic area just steps from the main lounge pavilion. Lunch was served by two cooks and featured various cold salads, quiche, fresh bread and fruit salad. It was simple food befitting the casual atmosphere in which it was served and was quite good. At lunch I met the other guests at the lodge, an elderly German couple (another couple would arrive later in the day). After lunch, I had a few hours of “down time” before we left for that evening’s game drive. The schedule at the Chitwa Chitwa is similar to all safari lodges. The day begins at first light with a three hour game drive. Breakfast is served upon our return, and then there is an optional nature walk. The rest of the morning is “down time,” allowing a guest time to swim, sun or shower. Lunch is served around 1:00 PM and then, after a few more hours of rest, there is an evening three hour game drive that lasts usually until an hour after sunset. Dinner is served upon returning from the evening drive and then, it is lights out until the next day, when the routine begins again.

The sky was threatening with distant claps of thunder as we departed for the drive. Since we were not at full capacity this evening, Nikki decided to come along. In addition to Mike, who was driving, and Nikki, who was riding shotgun, we were joined by DeBeers, the tracker, who sat perched on a small chair over the hood of the vehicle. A fourth companion came along, the rifle, just in case things got out of hand. Sitting alone in the rear most (and most elevated) seat, I scanned the arid landscape for the first signs of life. Then, as we paused at a water hole, a male lion came sauntering from behind the Range Rover and proceeded to drink. Soon, he was joined by a female. We sat there for twenty minutes watching. Just being that close to actual wild lions was amazing and I enjoyed the realization of just how far from suburban New York City my life had taken me.

In addition to these lions, that evening we encountered elephants, giraffe, zebra, more lions and we had a fleeting glimpse of some wild dogs. The other highlight, however, was a pair of leopards, who had killed a warthog and dragged its carcass up into a tree. The leopards used this warthog for energy as they made sweet love multiple times before our eyes. Interestingly, the female leopard was more “randy” than the male, and took the initiative. I’m telling you, some guys have all the luck!

Dinner is served in a different location than breakfast and lunch. It is held around a fire pit with each guest’s table setting placed on a T.V. tray around the flames. Jonas, our waiter, served a soup course first and, after a menu presentation, the main course was served buffet style. As with lunch, the food was simple, but plentiful and tasty. Mike and Nikki joined us for dinner and we had a pleasant chat. Mike is a native Afrikaner, who grew-up near Jo’burg while Nikki is a native Australian, who came to South Africa on holiday and never left.

After dinner, everyone retired to their rooms. Once the lights are shut-off, guests are not allowed to leave their rooms until being awoken the next morning. Apparently, it is not uncommon for lions and hyenas to roam the property at night and they would make short work of a guest wandering around. The room itself was pretty basic, but was comfortable. The bungalow was circular shaped and the bed, which was queen size, was located in the center of the main room. At night, the housekeepers placed a mosquito net over the bed and we were advised to take advantage of it. The room had a full bathroom with both an indoor and outdoor shower and a bathtub. The furniture was definitely worn-in, but this was not exactly unexpected owing to the location in the bush. I am sure there are far more luxurious lodges in Sabi Sands, but I found the Chitwa Chitwa perfectly comfortable and, at just three hundred U.S. Dollars per night, the most affordable option in the region.

The next morning, we left for our game drive at around 5:45 AM and soon came across a solitary rhino lumbering around near the lodge’s airstrip. We also stopped by and saw the leopards from the previous night. There was less of the warthog to see and I am happy to report that the leopards were still going at it like rock stars. We also saw more lions, elephants and various birds. Breakfast consisted of breads, fruits and sweets. In addition, one could order omelets or other egg preparations, which were prepared to order. After breakfast, DeBeers led an interesting nature walk explaining how the local people survive off the land and the medicinal properties of various plants. It was a neat experience, but very buggy.

That evening, we encountered the birth of the lion cub previously mentioned. The sun had set and the drive was just about over when a report from another lodge (all the competing lodges go out for game drives at the same time and maintain radio contact, helping each other maximize the sightings for each other’s guests), telling us that a lioness was about to give birth on the other side of the game reserve. What followed was a mad dash across the park. Mike’s driving was exceptional and we managed to dodge all the picker bushes and other hazards as we traveled well in excess of 40 MPH (a fast speed for the terrain conditions). Sitting in the far back of the Range Rover, I had the best view of oncoming low hanging branches and took it upon myself to make sure everything was ducking at the appropriate moment (me included, as I was the most exposed). The drive was a blast! We arrived just as the birth was happening. We all managed to see it, but no one from our car managed to get a picture of the actual birth. We stayed and watched as the lioness cleaned and nursed and the cub took its first tentative steps. After a while, the other lions of the pride came by to meet the pride’s newest member. The most dramatic moment occurred when the dominant male lion sauntered over. It is not uncommon for the dominant male lion to kill a newborn cub if he detects that he is not the father. After a few minutes of sniffing, the dominant male appeared to accept the cub. All of us were relieved.

The next morning, we returned to the spot of the previous night’s drama and got to observe the cub during daylight. According to Mike, it is very unusual for a lioness to give birth to a single cub and he was less than optimistic about the cub’s prospects for long term survival. You quickly learn just how harsh an environment it is for the predators. While lions and leopards no doubt dominate their territories, being a predator is hard work. If they don’t make a kill, they don’t eat, the simple and harsh reality of life in the wild. Just looking at the animals reveals how hard their life must be. Unlike zoo animals, which look relatively pristine, wild animals bear the scars of life in the bush. It is really obvious when you see them up close.

After breakfast, I had time for a quick shower before my air taxi arrived for the flight back to Hoedspruit. You know it is time to head for the airstrip when the plane buzzes the lodge and, when this happened, Mike and I drove off to meet the plane. The same pilot (who, incidentally, looked to be about fifteen) from the other day was flying me back. On this flight, I was given the opportunity to take the controls and flew for about five minutes. Really, really fun.


[This message has been edited by PresRDC (edited Mar 15, 2004).]

PresRDC

Part VIII – Sabi Sands to the Western Cape (October 28, 2003)

South African Airways flight SA 8851 (operated by South African Airlink)
Departed: Hoedspruit (HDS) @ 12:40 PM
Arrived: Cape Town(CPT) @ 3:05 PM
Embraer ERJ-135 Regional Jet
Economy Class Seat 1A

After we arrived at Hoedspruit, I checked in for my flight back to Cape Town. As I mentioned earlier, I used a Delta airlines award for a roundtrip JNB-CPT-JNB business class ticket. I flew the outbound leg on my first day in South Africa and would fly the return leg of the award ticket when I fly back to JNB in three days. I paid for my CPT-JNB-HDS-CPT ticket on my own. Originally, this flight was scheduled to be operated by a CRJ and make an intermediate stop in Sun City. A few weeks before my trip, it was changed to a nonstop ERJ flight. If given the choice, I would always choose the ERJ over the CRJ for one reason. The 1-2 seating arrangement and the chance not to have a seatmate. On check-in, I was given my pre-selected seat, 1A (my preferred seat on the ERJ) and I checked both my bags to CPT. The passenger terminal at Hoedspruit is an experience. The waiting area is largely outdoors and looks more like an outdoor barbeque than an airport waiting area. Inside, are some couches which would look more at home in a premium lounge than in a general waiting area. It is quite a nice place to wait for a flight. Security is done when the flight is called. Passengers walk through a metal detector and all bags are hand searched (no x-ray machines). Mine received a very cursory check (did not look in any of the side pockets) and I was my way to the plane.

The load was very light and we were underway very shortly after boarding. The flight itself was nice, with the sole flight attendant making two drinks passes and a pass to serve a snack box, which featured a choice of sandwiches. It was good, if nothing special. Our arrival was somewhat less scenic than my previous flight, but was nice nonetheless. We arrived on time and, as I expected, we had to take a bus to the terminal. In the terminal, I met my driver from the Southern Touring Company and we headed off to Hermanus, home of the Western Cape Hotel & Spa.

PresRDC

Part IX – The Western Cape Hotel & Spa (October 28, 2003 – October 31, 2003)

The Western Cape Hotel & Spa is located near the town of Hermanus in the Western Cape region, approximately a sixty minute drive from CPT. The hotel is located on the grounds of the Arabella Country Estate, which features an eighteen hole golf course and a residential housing development in addition to the hotel.

The hotel is very modern and clean and gives the impression of modern luxury. As a Platinum, I was upgraded to a suite on the fifth floor of the hotel overlooking the golf course, some distant mountains and the water. In the room was a large fruit and chocolate basket and a complimentary bottle of South African sparkling wine. Throughout my stay, I was recognized by name by all the reception and concierge staff, which is something I had never before experienced.

My suite was located on the fifth floor, which is the top floor of the hotel (interestingly, reception is on the fifth floor and most of the rooms are on lower levels). The suite featured a couch that was a little warn and a nice lounge chair. There was a large desk with two chairs. The bedroom featured a king size bed with a duvet and four large pillows. It was separated from the living area by sliding wooden doors. The one television had both a DVD player and a VCR and swiveled so that it could be viewed from either the bedroom or the living room. There was a large walk-in closet. The bathroom was huge and ran the entire width of the room. It featured a separate shower (which had water jets coming from the side in addition to the hand held shower head) and a large tub with a separate television, allowing one to soak and watch at the same time. There were two sinks and a separate room with the toilet and the bidet. The room also featured a large patio running the length of the room, which had two lounge chairs and a picnic table. Overall color of the room was earth tones with black and white marble in the bathroom. Without a doubt, this was the best hotel room of the trip and is a very strong contender for the best Starwood upgrade I’ve received as a Platinum.

Golf was the big attraction for most guests (not me, however) at this hotel. In addition, there is the Altira Spa (there is also one at the new Cape Town hotel). I received a ninety minute deep tissue massage for six-hundred Rand on my last day. Room service breakfast was free and offered a large selection in nearly unlimited amounts.

The hotel has two restaurants, one is more casual and features an antipasto bar and a showplace kitchen. A three course meal without wine totaled one-hundred and sixty Rand. The food was good, but not exceptional. The other restaurant is more upscale and, I gather, more expensive. I did not eat there if, for no other reason, I did bring a jacket and tie with me on this trip.

Face to Face with the Southern Right Whale

I had initially planned this part of my trip to be mostly down time for relaxation purposes. That plan went out the window, however as I scheduled a morning whale watch trip with Ivanhoe Sea Safaris, run by Rudy Hughes. Ever since the sixth grade when we studied whales in a course of study based on the “Voyage of the Mimi” PBS series, I have harbored a deep affection for the world’s largest mammals. I have been on a whale watch in New England, but when I learned that False Bay is home to one of the largest populations of Southern Right Whales and that my trip would coincide with the peak time of year for the whales, I decided that I needed to go on a whale watch.

The sky was threatening and the sea angry when I arrived at Gansbaai for the whale watch. With Rudy as our captain and guide, we headed out into the choppy waters of False Bay. On our way to the whale watching grounds, Rudy provided some facts about the Southern Right Whale. It was named the “Right” Whale by whalers because its slow speed and deep blubber made it the “right” whale to catch (kinda like calling a cow a steak instead of a cow). Every year, the female Right Whales migrate between their feeding grounds near Antarctica and the waters of False Bay where they have their calves (not all whales go to South Africa, some go to Australia, New Zealand or South America – after all, they’re all north from Antarctica). Once they leave their feeding grounds, the whales will not eat again until they return in six months. When you consider that during those six months the whales will travel nearly 3000 miles, give birth and nurse without eating, you would excuse them if they were less than pleased with being watched by a bunch of stupid humans.

Of course, the whales exhibit no ill will toward humans and, during the course of the next two hours, we were treated to a brilliant display of breaching, fin splashing and other forms of play. Whales are naturally intelligent animals and many would come up to the boat, seemingly watching us as much as we were watching them. It was a truly memorable experience.

I would be remiss if I did not mention that it really is not necessary to go on a boat to see whales. This part of South Africa, particularly the town of Hermanus, is well known for shore based whale watching. Having had the pleasure of driving and walking in this area, you can indeed see the whales from the shore. That said, it just does not compare to the thrill of having a whale swim under your boat and pop-up right next to you. As such, I would recommend that you take a boat based whale watching trip.

Completing the Journey – To The Southernmost Point in Africa

As mentioned above, I am a total geography nerd. I am the kind of guy who gets excited at the prospect of straddling the Prime Meridian or the Equator and crossing the International Date Line is a thrill that goes beyond words (okay, I am exaggerating somewhat here, I am a geography nerd, but not a freak). As such, being this close to the southernmost point in Africa and not putting forth the effort to get there was unthinkable. Although the concierge at the Western Cape Hotel tried to talk me out of making the two hour drive (each way), I would not be dissuaded.

The next day, I headed out for the two hour drive through the towns of Caledon and Bredasdorp enroute to Cape Agulhas. The drive itself was quite scenic. I was somewhat nervous about driving in South Africa, but I found it not to be a big deal.. The roads were very well maintained and slower traffic seemingly had no problem with pulling over to let faster traffic pass (remember to flash your hazards as a “thank you”). Despite what some people think, the Cape of Good Hope is not the southernmost point in Africa, but the southwestern most point. Cape Agulhas was named by the Portuguese and means “Cape of Needles,” because of some anomaly that made their compass needles point due north. In addition to being the southernmost point in Africa, Cape Agulhas is the dividing point between the Indian and Atlantic Oceans, making this location a geography nerd’s nirvana.

I arrived at the Cape and made my way on foot the final hundred or so yards to the stone and copper marker. To my left was the Indian Ocean and to my right was the Atlantic. Having seen the Indian Ocean from its easternmost point on the western coast of Australia, it was nice to see it from the easternmost point. For a brief moment, I was the southernmost person in Africa. The thought of that really appealed to me and I found it a fitting end to a truly amazing trip.

PresRDC

Part X – The Long Road Home (October 31, 2003 – November 2, 2003)

Sadly, all good things must come to an end and it was time to begin the long journey home. After a free morning lounging around the hotel (and getting my massage), I left the hotel at 1:00 PM. After an hour drive, I arrived at CPT.

South African Airways flight SA 352
Departed: Cape Town (CPT) @ 4:10 PM
Arrived: Johannesburg (JNB) @ 6:10 PM
Boeing 747-400
Business Class Seat 1A

Check-in was much the same as the last time, meaning that it was somewhat disorganized and chaotic. Nevertheless, I was checked-in quickly and assigned my pre-selected seat, 1A. I again visited the Baobab Lounge, which was full of South African rugby fans busily watching the Springboks in the World Cup.

Boarding was once again done by airstairs and no priority was afforded to Business Class passengers. Fortunately, this time, we did not have to take a bus to the waiting 747-400, named Kempton Park, which, having arrived from JNB an hour earlier, was parked just outside the terminal. I boarded through the L-1 door and made my way to the first class cabin. Although this was only a two class service, SAA’s American office in Florida (which, by the way is an excellent and customer focused operation) came through for me and got me a seat assignment in the First Class cabin. Seeing as I was a status-less passenger traveling on an award ticket, I felt quite lucky. SAA’s First Class seats are, according to its website, based on the Swissair/Swiss First Class seats. They were quite comfortable and reclined fully flat, with a ottoman that moved back and forth with electronic controls, which I thought was cool. While the seats were comfortable, I found them to be just a little bit too exposed. I guess I prefer the more cocoon-like effect of the Cathay and Qantas First Class seats. That said, these are great seats and I would be thrilled to fly to London in one of them.

The meal service was very similar to that offered on the previous flight, featuring a hot snack of various hors d’ouerves and the ubiquitous biltong, which I still refused to eat as it still looked like freeze dried terd. The service did seem somewhat more personalized in this cabin, perhaps because the head flight attendant’s “Auntie” was among the passengers.

We landed on time and I was again transferred to the Sheraton Pretoria by the hotel’s car service/bodyguard company. I was again upgraded to a Towers room, which was exactly the same as my previous room, the only difference being that everything was on the opposite wall.

Cathay Pacific flight CX 748
Departed: Johannesburg (JNB) @ 1:00 PM
Arrived: Hong Kong (HKG) @ 7:45 AM (next day)
Boeing 747-400
First Class Seat 2A

I woke-up around 7:30 AM and, after a quick breakfast, checked-out of the hotel. The car I had arranged was ready when I was, and, after a quick stop to pick-up some additional money, we were on our way to JNB, which took about forty-five minutes. As we pulled into the airport I could not help but notice that there was no Cathay aircraft among the row of aircraft parked at the remote gates or at the terminal. I was not really worried as I had over three hours before the CX 748 was scheduled to depart and a very long layover in HKG. On arrival at the terminal, there were no carts around, so my driver went to fetch one. Unfortunately, he misunderstood me and retained a skycap, which is not what I wanted. Oh well, what can you do.

The check-in lobby of the International Terminal is arranged in a long row and passengers pass behind the check-in desks to reach Passport Control and the Departures Lounge. Cathay’s check-in area was second from the end on the left of the lobby (with your back to the curb), right next to Singapore Airlines. All checked luggage had to be weighed and tagged immediately upon entering the check-in area, which took some time as the scale was manual and the weight needed to be written on the tag (there was no mechanism for priority to be given to premium passengers at the weighing station). There was one check-in desk each for First and Business Class and the check-in staff, although, apparently not Cathay employees, wore Cathay uniforms. After a few minute wait, I was helped by a purple-coated gentleman at the First Class counter. My bag was checked through to New York and I was given boarding passes for both flights and lounge passes for both the British Airways lounge at JNB and the Cathay lounges in HKG.

After passing through the check-in desks, passengers are funneled toward Passport control, which, thankfully, was not busy. The Departures Hall was quite large with several stores and eating areas. I made my way to the British Airways Terraces Lounge, located one level below the main Departures floor. Although the Cathay Pacific website indicates that First Class passengers are entitled to use the SAA First Class lounge, I was not given this option, so I think the information on the website is inaccurate. The lounge was decent, with the standard Terraces décor and food offerings, mainly finger sandwiches and chips (crisps to those of you reading this from across the Pond). It was also busy as Comair, a British Airways franchise carrier operating domestic South Africa and regional African routes, also uses this lounge for its Business Class passengers. In the evenings, of course, it is used by British Airways for its two Speedbird departures to LHR. The lounge features shower rooms, bathrooms and various seating areas, including some with outdoor style lounge chairs. The biggest weakness of this lounge is that it is located in the basement and, thus, there is no view. Of course, Virgin Atlantic, whose lounge is located above the departure floor, has not let this escape its attention and has a cheeky reference to it in one of its advertisements!

Feeling as though I should have purchased more souvenirs, I left my bags in the luggage room and headed back upstairs to do some shopping. I spent the most time (and money) in Out of Africa, a general African souvenir store. I also visited a book store to buy a coffee table book on South African wildlife. I also had a look out the window to see if the Cathay aircraft had arrived. From what I could tell, it had not.

I returned to the lounge for a while, leaving at 12:15 PM. The CX 748 was scheduled to depart from Gate 1, which is where I headed. The gate agents had passengers form two lines, one for premium passengers and one for Economy Class, but we were not allowed to board. We ended-up waiting in that hot and stuffy area until 12:45 PM, when boarding finally got underway. I guess that I was correct that the plane was delayed on arrival from HKG. As the CX 749 is scheduled to arrive before 7:00 AM, the inbound passengers must have experienced quite a delay. It would have been nice had the gate agents made an announcement about the delay, so that we would not have had to line-up, but so be it.

Once I boarded, the typical Cathay service was very much in effect. You would have had no idea that the flight had just arrived and that it was catered late. On American, the flight attendants would have been visibly harried and there would have been no pre-departure beverages. As it was, we had a choice of beverages and a pre-departure snack of a butterflied shrimp.

Despite the late boarding, we pushed at 1:15 PM, only fifteen minutes behind schedule. Take-off followed ten minutes later and we were on our back to HKG, where we would be arriving in just over twelve hours.

Once at cruising altitude, we were given menus and asked our beverage choice. Unsurprisingly, I choose a Cathay Delight, which was served with the usual warm pistachios. Pajamas were also distributed at this time. Soon, the purple-clad Purser was taking lunch orders. Here is a transcript:

I opted to partake in the salmon and caviar course and the soup. For my main course, I selected the duck. The lunch service began as we were passing over the Mozambique coast. After my table was set with the usual bread dish, egg-shaped salt and pepper shakers, butter dish, toothpick and metal flatware, the caviar and salmon serving trolley came around. As on the previous flights, it was delicious. The soup was also good and was even better when served with warm garlic bread and other breads. My main course was a disappointment as it turns-out I do not like five spices sauce. Live and learn. Had I not been nearly full, I would have ordered something else. I elected to have the cheese course, which was presented on a wooden cheese board and cut to order. There were five cheeses, ranging from blue cheeses to soft cheeses to the usual cheddar option. I tried all but the blue cheese as I do not like the taste except in small amounts on salads. The cheese was served with crackers, carrot and celery sticks and some assorted nuts. I then decided to have the ice cream with the butterscotch and Smarties, which are little candies. I would have preferred a proper ice cream sundae cart, but I know many people find this tacky in First Class.

Being November, Cathay had updated its movie offerings and, during the meal, I was busy enjoying “American Wedding” on StudioCX. It might not be everyone’s choice for a movie to watch while eating, but I found it hysterical. Of course, I liked the previous two films very much. By the time lunch was over, it was already getting dark and many passengers had settled into sleep. Alas, it was too early for me to sleep, so I just walked around the plane and chatted with the flight attendants. Eventually, I got tired and slept for about three hours. This flight is clearly designed to depart at such a time that it arrives in HKG in the early morning. However, it leaves at such a time that sleep is difficult to achieve.

In addition to the lunch menu, there was a dedicated refreshment menu. Here is the transcript:

Our 747-400 took a more southerly route than the CX 749 took to get to JNB. After leaving the African landmass just north of Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, we proceeded across the Mozambique Channel and skirted the extreme southern tip of Madagascar. From there, our green, grey, red and white chariot took-up a northeasterly track passing over St. Denis on Reunion Island and Port Louis on Mauritius. After nearly eight hours over water, the CX 748 made landfall over the Indonesian Island of Sumatra and passed between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. After crossing the Gulf of Thailand, we overflew coastal Vietnam before entering the South China Sea north of Qui Nhon and south of Da Nang. After overflying Hainan Island, we began our descent into HKG, approaching from the southwest.

About two hours out of HKG, just as the sun was beginning to rise, breakfast was served. Here is a menu transcript:

I elected to have the fruit appetizer, some Corn Flakes and scrambled eggs with sausage, tomato and mushrooms. It was quite good and even better with a warm croissant. I found it interesting that there was no dim sum on offer on this flight. I guess they cannot make it in JNB.

Over the course of the flight, the CX 748 made-up for its fifteen minute departure delay and we began our descent into HKG at 7:15 AM while following the Baker One STAR. Our 747-400 touched down on Runway 7L at 7:40 AM and had a quick taxi to Gate 40, the same gate from which I departed for JNB some ten days earlier. In just under two hours, our 747 would be departing for Bangkok and Singapore as the CX 713. Later that evening, it would return to HKG non-stop from Singapore as the CX 716 where it, presumably, would depart for either Europe, Australia or Los Angeles, if not having a well-deserved break.

Seven Hours at Chep Lap Kok

I left the plane and recleared security at the W-1 transfer point and made my way to The Pier for a shower. The Pier is Cathay’s second and newest lounge, located one floor below the Departures Level in the Northwest Concourse. The Pier has separate First and Business Class sections and entrances. Although there are no Cabanas at The Pier, there are large shower rooms with rainmaker showerheads, so I was content. It was too early to have a gate assignment for my onward flight, so I decided to just go to the closest lounge. After a revitalizing shower, I checked my e-mail at one of the numerous computer terminals. As at The Wing, The Pier has roving waiters taking drink orders.

After an hour or so on the computer, I was getting hungry, so I made my way to the restaurant for some food. As in The Wing, the restaurant on the First Class side of The Pier is known as The Haven. By the time I arrived, they were just about to switch over from breakfast to lunch. As I really wanted some dim sum, I helped myself before they were removed. Big mistake. More on this later.

After my dim sum, I decided to check-out one of the Daybreak Rooms on offer in The Pier. These rooms serve the lounge/relaxation function of The Cabanas and feature a comfortable brown leather chair and ottoman, an LCD screen and a control panel from which one can select audio and video programming, set the lighting level in the room and summon for an attendant. There were no on-demand videos, which I thought was surprising, but one could choose several live television channels, including CNN. The audio selections were on-demand and arranged by genre. In fact, they were the same programming on offer on StudioCX.

About thirty minutes later, I started to feel sick. At first, I thought it was just from fatigue, but it continued to get worse and soon I was full-on sick. Although I do not know what caused it, I assumed it was food poisoning as I rarely ever get sick from germs. Of course, I blamed it on the last thing I had eaten, the dim sum. I guess it could have been something else, but I am blaming it on old dim sum.

At about 2:00 PM, after several bouts of vomiting, I was feeling a little better and decided to head down to The Wing as my flight was leaving from Gate 3, which is located across from that lounge (and is the same gate at which I arrived from SFO). I decided to walk there as I needed the exercise and I had time to kill. Once at The Wing, I just sat-around trying to get my strength back and trying to take my mind off the prospect of being sick for an eighteen hour marathon flight across the Pacific Ocean and North America. I was feeling much better, so I decided to pay a visit to The Cabanas, where I thought a shower would perk me up.

By the time I was done with my shower, it was just about time to head to Gate 3 for boarding.

Cathay Pacific flight CX 888
Departed: Hong Kong (HKG) @ 4:05 PM
Arrived: New York (JFK) @ 8:30 PM
Intermediate Stop in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (YVR)
Boeing 747-400
First Class Seat 2A

Boarding began at exactly 3:30 PM and I was among the first to enplane. On arrival at the L-1 door, I was greeted by the First Class purser and escorted to my usual place, Seat 2A. The flight attendants had set-out a large number of newspapers and magazines, which I pursued after storing my bag in the overhead bin. I was offered the beverage of my choice, so I selected a Perrier, which was served with an hors d’ouerves of pear slices poached in red wine. It was okay, but I would have preferred something protein based.

The First Class cabin eventually filled to capacity and the flight attendants handed-out pajamas to those who wanted them. I changed into my usual shorts and t-shirt before departure and most other passengers changed as well. The guy sitting behind me decided to wear a pair of Zumba pants and a sleeveless t-shirt. He then had to go into his bag in the overhead bin multiple times, meaning that I got the pleasure of having his hairy pits in my face on multiple occasions. Warning, here comes a rant. Unless playing basketball, I do not think that men should be allowed to wear sleeveless shirts. It really is gross and, especially in a first class cabin, is inappropriate. Now I know many of you think that wearing shorts and t-shirt in first class is inappropriate and that I am being a hypocrite, but at least I wasn’t exposing my fellow passengers to pit hair. Okay, rant over.

We pushed exactly on time at 4:05 PM and had a short taxi to the threshold of Runway 25L. We ended-up waiting for nearly fifteen minutes before we could maneuver onto the runway, as there was a lot of other traffic. After a FedEx MD-11, it became our turn to rocket into the sky. After a forty second takeoff run, the CX 888 lifted into the heavens and we were on our way to YVR. Presumably due to air traffic, it took us a while to reach our cruising altitude and, by the time we did, it was getting noticeably darker. The Captain announced that our flying time would be a long eleven hours and fifty minutes, which would put us into YVR about ten minutes late.

Once at cruising altitude, the flight attendants swung into action and I soon had a Cathay Delight with a plate of warm pistachios. We were also, of course, given menus. Here is a transcript of the dinner menu:

By this time, I was feeling fine and was pretty hungry, so I decided to order dinner. Big mistake, but more on that later. I decided to start with the caviar and salmon and then have the soup. The YVR based male Purser talked me into also having the salad. For my main course, I selected the stir-fried chicken as I had had it before on the CX 873 in August 2002 and loved it. Tables were laid and we were all given personalized cards from our three flight attendants wishing us a pleasant meal. A nice touch. The caviar and salmon were good as usual, but once again, my complaint about too little condiments still stands. The soup was excellent and was served with garlic bread or other bread items. The salad was pretty good as well. I liked that the salad dressing was served on the side in a little pitcher. My only complaint about the salad was that the tuna fish was canned. If Cathay really wanted to make it top notch, they would use ahi tuna seared rare. A guy can dream, can’t he? The chicken was delicious as it was the previous time I had it. It is a small portion, but after eating so much already, I did not mind. The fried rice was also excellent. I skipped the cheese, and asked for the chocolate cake with a side of the caramel ice cream. I was misunderstood and served both the ice cream and the cake. The cake was absolutely excellent and the ice cream was pretty good, but was too frozen, which is a common problem on Cathay Pacific. In case any flight attendants are reading this, please take the dry ice off the ice cream at least twenty minutes before serving. During dinner, I watched “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” on StudioCX. One of the best features of StudioCX is that it offers both current and classic films.

Our route to YVR was considerably more south than the route the CX 873 took to HKG. After departing HKG, we proceeded on course to Taipei, which we overflew about an hour and ten minutes later. From Taipei, the CX 888 took a northeasterly heading across the Ryukyu Islands, passing just north of Okinawa. Our mammoth flying machine then skirted the southeastern coast of Kyushu on the Japanese archipelago. After overflying the city of Yokohama on Honshu, we headed out over the Northwest Pacific, crossing the International Date Line south of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands. We stayed south of Alaska and made landfall over Canada south of the Queen Charlotte Islands. From there, we proceeded over Vancouver Island before beginning our approach into YVR.

After dinner, I reclined the seat and tried to sleep under my duvet. Soon, however, the nausea returned and I became quite sick. Being sick on an airplane is never fun, but, if you are going to be sick on plane, being sick while a Cathay Pacific First Class passenger is a pretty good place to do it. The flight attendants were genuinely concerned and even offered to summon an ambulance on arrival at YVR. I was not that sick, but it was a nice gesture. For the rest of the flight, I alternated between being sick and trying to sleep. It made for a long flight. Although I was in no condition to sample any of it, there was a separate snack menu. Here is a transcript:

By the time brunch was served, I was not feeling much better, so I decided to skip it. On flights to YVR, SFO and LAX, Cathay offers brunch as its second meal service. For all intents and purposes, this meal is the same as Cathay’s breakfast service, but does not feature freshly made eggs. Here is a menu transcript:

Let me tell you, the smell of food while you are sick is disgusting. In fact, it made me more sick. This time, however, the bathrooms were occupied as people were changing back into their street clothes. Fortunately, the flight attendants found me an empty bathroom in the upper deck Business Class cabin and kept it free for my use. It was very much appreciated.

Soon, thank God, it was time to land in YVR. We overflew the city and, on a clear day with the Canadian Rockies in the background, it looked beautiful. I will have to visit sometime. We landed at 11:20 AM, only five minutes behind schedule and were on stand a few minutes later. While disembarking, I thanked the crew for their help with my illness and, on the airbridge, Canadian health officials were taking our SARS declarations, but did not appear to be doing any temperature checks.

Doing Time at YVR

All passengers continuing to JFK had to disembark with all our luggage and wait in the boarding gate. There was no lounge access for premium connecting passengers, but passengers originating in YVR do have lounge access. There were vending machines in the lounge area and Cathay had set-up some free coffee and water. While in the gate area, I checked my voice mail and downloaded two weeks of e-mail onto my Blackberry. I also witnessed the arrival of the CX 838, an A340-300 operating the second daily service from HKG to YVR (actually this aircraft was parked next to us at HKG’s Gate 2) and the CX 828, the daily A340-300 service to Toronto. Up until a few months earlier, this flight operated via Anchorage. Then, the United States ended its policy of not requiring visas for transit passengers and Cathay moved the flight’s stopover to YVR. As such, by 11:45 AM, there were three Cathay aircraft docked side-by-side at YVR.

And Now, Back To Your Regularly Scheduled Flight

Soon, it was time to once again board the 747-400 for the final leg to JFK. Connecting passengers do not get new boarding passes for this leg and seat assignments remain the same. I was escorted to Seat 2A by the new First Class Purser, who asked me how I was feeling. Apparently, the previous crew left a note for the new crew informing them of my situation. This is a perfect example of what makes Cathay Pacific a unique airline, mainly attention to detail and genuine caring. As it was, I was feeling substantially better and was even getting hungry.

We were given a choice pre-departure beverage and I chose a Ginger Ale. There was no hors d’ouerves service on this leg. Nine First Class passengers reboarded the CX 888 in YVR and, although Cathay has fifth freedom rights on this route (meaning they can carry passengers only between YVR and JFK), there were no new First Class passengers. We pushed about ten minutes behind schedule at 12:35 PM and, after a fairly lengthy taxi, were airborne at 12:46 PM.

At cruising altitude, we were asked for our beverage and meal choice. I decided to stick with Ginger Ale, which would have been served with more pistachios had I wanted some. The menu for the YVR-JFK leg was included in the menu we were previously given. Here is a transcript:

Being hungry, but not wanting to overdo it and get sick again, I decided to just have the porcini ravioli. I really, really wanted to try the lobster, but I thought that might have been just too heavy. I did, however, take notice of the rest of the meal service. The antipasto course was served first and was plated to order from larger silver serving trays placed atop the serving trolley. The soup and salad courses came next. I received my ravioli with the main courses and it was pretty good. It consisted of four large red, white and green striped ravioli with a pink cream sauce. I skipped dessert out of an abundance of caution.

All the while our 747-400 propelled itself across the North American landmass. After departing YVR, we flew just north of the once contentious 48th Parallel before entering American airspace over the Hungry Horse Reservation in northwestern Montana. From there, we proceeded north of Great Falls, Montana and overflew Bismarck, North Dakota. Entering Minnesota over Moorehead and flew across the state enroute to Duluth. After crossing into Wisconsin near the Port of Superior (where, freshly loaded with 26,000 tons of iron ore, the Edmund Fitzgerald began its final voyage), we made a turn to the southeast enroute to Detroit. Overflying the Great Lakes, the CX 888 passed over parts of Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. Over Detroit, we took a more easterly course over Lake Erie and flew just south of the Pennsylvania/New York border before beginning the approach into JFK.

As the CX 888 neared the end of its eight thousand mile, eighteen hour journey, the flight attendants offered a final meal service, of which I choose not to partake. Here is a transcript:

We began our descent into JFK just after entering New Jersey. Flying south of New York City, we continued our descent and overflew Sandy Hook before turning to the north and approaching JFK. After intercepting the Canarsie VOR, we made a sweeping turn over Howard Beach and landed on Runway 13L at 9:05 PM. From there, we had a short taxi to British Airways’ Terminal 7 and were on stand at 9:15 PM. After a total elapsed travel time of nearly twenty-one hours, the CX 888 finally arrived at JFK. In just under two hours, our 747-400 would begin the return journey to YVR and HKG as the CX 889.

We deplaned through the L-1 door and, as on all over Cathay flights, Business and Economy passengers were held back until all of us in First Class had departed. There was no line at Immigration and I was at the baggage carousel within ten minutes of leaving the plane. Unfortunately, my bag was not among the other First Class baggage appearing on the belt first. It finally showed-up nearly twenty minutes later. Grr.

Thankfully, I got through Customs with no extra search and met my driver. After a fifty-five minute drive, I was finally home.


[This message has been edited by PresRDC (edited Mar 15, 2004).]

RTW Dreamer

This is an excellent post! I am drinking my morning tea and could not stop reading about your adventure. When I was 21, I backpacked through Zimbabwe,Zambia,and S.A. Your comments bring back a lot of memories. Thank you for the report.

IndyDavid

My god, man. What a trip. What a report! Bravo! Thanks for all that work... it's a jewel for prospective future travelers.

David

PS: Glad you enjoyed Chitwa Chitwa!

sq345

Do you have anything better than do than post lengthy trip reports!

Obviously, it seems like you have too much time and money in your hand.

sq345

However, I must say that I enjoyed reading your report, and think it is one of the best I have ever read on this forum.

I take my word back for being abrupt. My apologies.