The Photos
I didn’t really get out and about much, partly due to my health and partly because of the miserable weather. I did catch a taxi down to Port Louis to visit the BA office where I collected my AONE RTW ticket.
The office is in quite a nice area on the water front and there are several shopping malls located in the area. I pottered a bit in these and managed to find an optician who repaired my glasses that earlier in the day had seen the lens go flying across the bathroom when I picked them up.
With the repair job done I walked back over to where my taxi was waiting for me.
The taxi situation around the Le Meridien was quite interesting. There was a taxi stand just down the road that had fixed price fares to various destinations on the island. All prices were quoted in Euro. The fare to Port Louis was cheaper as a round trip and included up to 3 hours when the driver would wait for you. It was around a half hour drive to get there.
I spent most of my time just chilling out reading in my room or on the balcony.
On the Sunday I ate a late breakfast and went back to my room to shower and get ready to leave. I checked out and was waiting for my driver in the lobby area when I noticed a familiar face taking advantage of the free wifi in the lobby. Sure enough it was fellow flyertalker
yyzlhr who was working in MRU. The people you meet!
My driver showed up at the appointed time and we headed out in the rain towards the airport on the far side of the island. It was little quicker getting back as the traffic was lighter.
He dropped me off at the Premium entrance to the terminal which is to the left of the main entrance. I am not sure who can officially use this entrance as there was no check to see if I was entitled or not. On entry you need to pass all your bags through an x-ray machine similar to what they do at NRT and some Middle East airports.
After collecting my bags again I went in search of the BA desks which were at the other end of the terminal. At this point I noticed the main entrance area and a long queue of people waiting to have their bags x-rayed.
I approached the Business Class desk and dropped the wad of tickets on the desk along with my passport. I received the first of no doubt many comments about the number of flights on the booking. After confirming my window seats the agent printed the boarding cards for MRU-JNB and JNB-LHR. She also wrote out an invitation to the VIP airport lounge. She wished me luck on my trip and sent me over to immigrations and security.
There was no wait at either and I was through and into the lounge in a few minutes. The lounge is downstairs from the departures area and has views out over the tarmac.
It is invite only and several BA Gold card holders attempted to gain access but were tossed out unless they were willing to pay the 30 EUR fee.
Let me digress a little back to the Le Meridien. I noted that the taxi prices were in Euro, well so were some of the prices at the hotel. It was a very confusing mix. Mini Bar – Mauritian Rupee, Room Service Menu – Euro, Restaurant Menu – Euro, Bill in Restaurant – Mauritian Rupee.
I gather there are quite a few European tourists that visit the island. Strangely enough the official language is English but everyone speaks French in their day to day lives. The ethnic mix includes a lot of Central Asians – every taxi driver I met was from that part of the world.
Anyway, back to the airport where for the first time in my entire time on the island, the sun came out.
The lounge has some snack foods, wine, beer, some sprits and mixers. It was a pleasant enough place to while away the hour or so I had to wait.
I was able to see my aircraft land only 3 minutes after its expected arrival time. Obviously Comair who run the service as a BA franchise have not learnt from their big brother how to be late all the time.
It pulled up at a gate that I could see from the lounge and I noted that there were not that many people disembarking from the flight and up the jet bridge. It was quite a contrast to the very full SA plane I had arrived on 2 days before.
I went up to the departure gate and boarding commenced a few minutes later at 15:50 with no priority boarding for Business or OW Elites.
Flight BA6398 MRU – JNB Seat 2A
Aircraft: 737-300
Departure time: 16:00
Once on board my jacket was swiftly dealt with and I settled into my seat. The cabin is the same seat and layout as the Club Europe cabin from the UK. The only difference was that the seat covering was cloth and not leather.
OJ, water and champagne were offered as pre take off drinks. I took champagne of course. It did not take long to board the plane and it was lightly loaded again for this return journey. There were 8 passengers in the 4 rows of Club. The seat next to mine remained empty.
I mentioned that there was some dead heading flight crew on my outbound SA flight; well it was quite a surprise to see the captain of this flight was one of them.
Once again we were sprayed with insecticide prior to pushing back.
We pushed back at 16:04 and taxied out to the far end of the runway passing an Air Force One which was sitting in the tarmac close to the terminal.
There was no IFE on board the aircraft so no entertainment for the passengers on a long flight which is not all that good. The crew did hand out BA branded Sudoku puzzle booklets which came with a BA pencil and eraser.
After the seat belt signs went off the crew came around with hot towels and the drinks trolley to offer a pre lunch drink. I opted for a G&T which was Tanqueray Gin. The captain announced it might be a little bumpy for a while as we had to fly around the cyclone that was about to ravish Madagascar.
The lunch service began next with the trays being handed out with a plated salad some vinaigrette dressing and some blue cheese & crackers. I was offered my choice of two white and two red wines they had on board. I opted for a very nice Brampton Cabernet.
After the salad plate was removed one of the crew came around with a tray showing the three main courses they had on offer. There was a vegetable lasagne, a chicken breast dish and a mixed seafood plate. It was nice to be able to see what was on offer before having to make the choice.
I went for the lasagne which was very tasty and much more filling than the SA flight meal on the way out.
After finishing the main a dessert of a citrus tart was offered and accepted. I asked for more of the red but they had run out as the pax on the way out had drunk most of it. I switched over to a very nice sauvignon blanc for the remainder of the meal.
Coffee and tea were offered after this, in real china. After I had devoured the meal and they had removed the tray the crew came around again with an offer of a small Magnum Ice Cream bar which was very nice!
After this there was no real service unless you asked for it until we landed at 18:15 local time in Johannesburg.
We pulled up to a stand with an air bridge but had to walk down the stairs of the bridge and get on a bus to be taken to the terminal.
I followed the transfers signs and cleared security before climbing a couple of flights of stairs and popping out on the departures level of the terminal. I went down to the Terraces lounge and waited out the hour before my flight was due to board for London.
The terraces was much like most of the non UK based terraces I had been in. There was minimal food, wine, spirits etc. It was quite warm in there and the AC was either not working or hopelessly inefficient. It was also very crowded and I was soon sick of the place and went back out into the terminal to wander down to the gate.
I made it to the gate at the time my boarding pass had the Gate Closes time which was 19:30. Of course they hadn’t started boarding the flight. After a couple of minutes waiting they did just gesture people forward and didn’t even make any announcement. I had my ticket swiped and the coupon collected from my wad and headed onto the plane.
Flight BA56 JNB – LHR Seat 1A
Aircraft: 747-400
Departure time: 20:15
The CSD greeted me at the door and pointed me to the left. Once I got to my seat I was quickly attended to by the delightful Dawn who introduced herself and took my jacket.
I stowed my bag in the closet and sat down at my seat. Dawn came back and asked if I would like some PJs and I asked for Medium and surprise, surprise they had some! Wonders will never cease. Were BA going to redeem themselves in my eyes on this flight?
I was asked by the purser if I would like a drink and I of course asked for champagne. This was delivered soon after along with a bowl of macadamia nuts. The menu cards were handed out and a post takeoff drinks order was taken.
We were again sprayed with insecticide prior to push back which was at 20:26.
After the belts sign was switched off I got up and changed into my PJs. When I got back to my seat my Johnny Blue was waiting for me along with some appetizers that consisted of a chicken on a skewer arrangement, a mini spring roll and what could only be described as prawn wrapped in prosciutto on a skewer.
I was asked what I wanted for dinner and when I would like it. I made my choices and said as soon as it was ready was fine with me.
The menu:
Starters:
Balsamic-roasted salmon served with Mexican salsa
Roast pepper with tomato, anchovies and garlic
Green pea and avocado soup
Fresh salad leaves with your choice of balsamic vinaigrette or lemon and ranch dressing
Main:
Grilled fillet of beef with honey-roasted potato wedges, roast vegetables and green peppercorn sauce
Masala stuffed breast of chicken with roast red pepper sauce
Seafood au gratin served with roast vegetables and herb butter
Warm lamb kofta served on a fresh tabouleh salad with lemon and mint
Dessert:
Warm chocolate coffee fondant
Blackberry ripple cheese cake
Cheese Plate:
A selection of cheese
A basket of fresh fruit
Snacks:
Bacon roll served with tomato ketchup
Fresh pasta with your choice of tomato and olive or blue cheese sauce
Duchy of Cornwall biscuits
A selection of cheese and fruit
Wine List:
Champagne:
Lanson Nobel Cuvee Blanc de Blancs 1999
White:
Meursault Clos des Meix Chavaux 2005, Jean Latour-Labille & Fils
Soave Classico Vigneti di Foscarino 2006, Azienda Agricola Inama
Mulderbosch Sauvignon Blanc 2007, Western Cape
Red:
Chateau Batailley 1996, Grand Cru Classe Pauillac
Barbaresco 2005, Bruno Rocca
Thelma Shiraz 2004, Stellenbosch
Dessert:
Saussignac Cuvee Flavie, Chateau des Eyssards 2005
Warre’s 1988 Colheita Port
My table was made up by the lovely Dawn, who by the way, never failed to use my name throughout the entire flight. My salmon starter was quite nice although a touch dry, but nice none the less. Next up the salad which as usual was over dressed for my liking.
The main course was a disappointment but I am used to being disappointed in the food offerings from BA in their First class cabin. The meat was over cooked and tasted a little funky. The green peppercorn sauce I think somehow missed out having the vital ingredient added.
The crew made up for this with a very attentive service, filling my wine and water glasses several times during the meal. After I was done with the main I was asked if I wanted dessert and I said I would hold off for a while until I had finished my glass of red.
A while later one of the crew came back and asked me if I wanted dessert and I said the chocolate thingy sounded nice. He said there was one with my name on it in the oven.
Dessert was then presented before me and I asked if I could try some of the dessert wine.
The chocolate cake type pudding was not what I was expecting from the menu description but went down well with the dessert wine. After I finished the purser asked me if I would like more of the wine. I had noticed that I was the only one drinking it as it had been freshly opened for me. I said since no one else is drinking it I should have some more, otherwise it would be a waste. Needless to say the crew picked up on this and that was not the only refill I was offered that evening.
I decided I should get some sleep on the flight and declined yet another glass of wine. I started to set the seat down into a bed and Dawn came rushing over to offer to make the bed up for me. I declined and said I don’t like the under blanket things as I get too hot. A bottle of water was given to me and I tucked in for a good 6 hours sleep.
At around 90 minutes out of London breakfast was served but I had a lie in for another 45 minutes or so before getting changed back into my clothes. I was asked if I wanted some breakfast but declined and opted for a cup of peppermint tea instead.
Breakfast:
Starters:
Chilled fruit jiuce
An energising fruit smoothie
A selection of yoghurts
A selection of cereals
Fresh seasonal fruit plate
Bakery:
A wide selection of breakfast pastries and rolls
Main:
Scrambled eggs, mushrooms, bacon, sausage and tomato
Roast pepper frittata
Bacon club sandwich
We over flew Heathrow and came in to land from the West and taxied to our gate where we had to wait a minute or so before the guidance system was switched on.
Then a few more minutes until someone bothered to push out the ramp.
I was off quickly and walked a million miles, past travelators that were not working, and reached the immigrations area. I walked down to the far end and miracle of miracles the IRIS machine was working. Again the luxury of no checked bags allowed me to exit customs and head up to the arrivals lounge and be in the shower within maybe 15 minutes of walking out of the plane.
A lovely warm shower, a light breakfast and juice and I was on my way to the HEX station. The train came along just as I walked onto the platform. Fifteen minutes later I was at Paddington and ready to catch my two tube rides home.
The first part of the journey has ended on a high note. Of all the flights this final BA First was by far the most memorable, in the most part because of the fabulous crew. I never did get to speak to the CSD, the food was so so, but all in all the brilliant crew saved the day.
Well there you have it. Why take two direct flights when you can take five instead? Addiction or Passion?
I feel my style is a little dry in these first few reports. Hopefully I will get back into form next time.
See you soon and happy travels to you all
The Photos
Confused? I am.
Not a place i enjoy. 
