Preface: This two weeks on the road started because of Etihad’s Christmas Day mistake fare last year when I booked a trip to South Africa for $315 out of JFK. As I got through the year and allocated out vacation time, I realized I wouldn’t have the time to take the day off to fly up to NY on the day of my trip, so I figured I’d go up for the Labor Day long weekend and enjoy the city and work out of our office there on my dime. That was all well and good and then work told me they wanted me in NY for the two days after I got back from my trip. So they picked up the change fee on my UA positioning flight and I would now spend Sept. 18 and 19 on their dime. Good deal, all things considered.

So at the end of the day, I’d be in NY from Sept. 5-9 for fun/work, South Africa with a layover in Abu Dhabi from Sept. 10-16, and then NY for work/work Sept. 17-18.

FYI, pictures are mostly from my good Sony digital camera, and a few from my crappy Moto G cell phone for when the full camera wasn’t practical

I should have this posted pretty quickly as it’s almost all written and I just have to mess with the photos. I also want to get this done and posted quickly because I am home for only 5 days before I take off to Russia with a bunch of friends for a trip we booked with the $400 IAH-DME deal on SQ that popped up a couple months ago!

Sections

NYC part 1: hanging out in the city (the Met, Central Park, US Open)
The long way to South Africa: EY JFK-AUH, a night in Abu Dhabi, Hilton Capital Grand, EY AUH-JNB, MN JNB-CPT
A few days in Cape Town: Doubletree Cape Town, game driving, wine drinking, cheetah petting, and lots of good food
The long way back to NYC: MN CPT-JNB, EY JNB-AUH, EY AUH-JFK
NYC part 2: Hilton NY Fashion District, expense account eating, Centurion Lounge, and UA LGA-IAH