nequine

Great pics in those last few reports!

Bummer at the delayed luggage, its happened to us twice now and isn't nice but that is well off the bag being tampered with and stuff nicked!

Aww though at the steward giving you a rose to give to your wife. Romance isn't dead!

JohnRain

Very much enjoying this TR so far, worldtraveller73. ^
I share your view on DOH vs DXB & AUH.
Looking forward to the rest!

jdtravels

Interesting, but I would also suggest that the theft may have occurred in JNB/CPT. Transiting through DOH was never a problem in my experience - and it's not one of those 'beware of' airports in terms of luggage theft that often come up in Google. But yes, flying QR, one has to be aware of the non-existent customer relations department.

FlightNurse

Same guy?

dwugson

Enjoying your report, having just returned from that part of the world. Luggage 'delays' and theft are notorious in JNB and I try to avoid checking bags through there if at all possible.

As for biz SAA - don't kid yourself. They do not block the middle seat so if you're unlucky (as I was) you'll have a middle, economy sized seat, while ostensibly on a biz fare!

Mrtrash757

Love this TR!

Curious about the point you made about QR and AAdvantage rewards, can one not get a reward through Doha that involves another Oneworld partner flight? curious.

ExpatSomchai

Not unless he had a spare pair of flip flops with him

roadwarrier

I agree. The luggage could have arrived on the next flight, and Baggage Handling could have taken their time picking through the luggage.
Airlines have just given up on them it seems. Every now and again, there is an "expose" into baggage issues, but, like many of our Politicians, nothing happens.
In my previous life, I often took the late night KQ flight to NBO to connect to whichever African city, and KQ used to wheel in the shrink wrap units and wrap your luggage - for free!! I think that was the only pro-active way of sorting out the claims that were coming through.
Anyhow, I need to get to page 3 of your wonderful TR.

offerendum

Comair Club seems to be even a step down from BA Club

worldtraveller73

Thanks Cbear, jdtravels and MatthewLAX. The sleuth in me wanted to figure this out as well. When I checked the routing of the bag tag when the case actually arrived, it was put on the QR DOH-CPT flight, meaning that it would have skipped JNB all together. It seems luggage actually doesn't have to take inconvenient or dog leg connections unlike us reward ticket passengers - they get to fly straight on the most direct route. This is why my initial suspicions are on DOH. I suppose it could have also happened at CPT, although one would hope that the baggage services offices handled by the airline would have better integrity.

Thanks Fredrik74. Enjoy Namibia, its' definitely on the list of countries to return to. Your sediments for SAA may be spot on since it's tough to guage the local political temperature when you are overseas.

Thanks nequine - you are right. Romance isn't totally dead in today's modern world. We have adapted to the luggage by carrying a rollie with us that keeps us tied over for a few days on arrival.

Thanks JohnRain. I have enjoyed reading your F trip report and that funny photo of your wife in the cabin with the white sheeted dead man behind her. Ha Ha.


Good observation FlightNurse and ExpatSomchai - i'm amazed at the forensic analysis going on in the forum.

Thanks dqwugson - I've only flown their A320, A330 and A340 products. I didnt' realize that they still had some, err, older products that operated under these configuraiton.s

The travellingredhead, my understanding, and I am by no means an AAdvantage expert, is that you can't transit a third region on the way to your destination, even if it is a published routing.

For example, you can't travel North America to Australia via Hong Kong "Asia Region" on Cathay Pacific, since you would travel through the Asia region as defined by AAdvantage. This is even despite being able to purchase a regular ticket on Cathay if you wanted to. They publish a few exceptions to this rule, one of which is that you can fly Qatar via Doha where your flights have to be on Qatar in and out. Otherwise, I believe all award flights to Africa have to pass through Europe, unlike Alaska Mileage Plan that can allow you to use Cathay Pacific via HKG.

Thanks for your support roadwarrier. We usually use the bag wrap where we can. I think SAA Express is also offering this at JNB on a complimentary basis for departures ex-JNB. It is unfortunate that TSA does not support bag wrapping leaving the USA as they "reserve the right" to cut it open at their discretion.

It's an interesting observation offerendum. The aircraft that Comair seem to use appear to be much older B737-400's which are slowly being retired. They've had some wear and tear for sure.

worldtraveller73

The Westin Cape Town
Cape Town, South Africa

This time for our stay in Cape Town, we were splitting our time between Cape Town and the Winelands. We were also getting in a shark diving trip in Gansbaai so it made sense to have our own transportation. I booked with Hertz Gold Counter. However, when I declined the Hertz Collision Damage Waiver insurance, Hertz decided to place a 70,000 South African Rand ($4,900 USD) Charge (not a pre-authorization) on my American Express card. This was not a negotiable arrangement. It seems that the pre-authorization concept hasn’t hit the rental market in Southern Africa yet as we had a similar experience in Namibia. I was of course told that this would be “cancelled” shortly after the car was returned but I made a note to ourselves to get to the airport early to take care of the cancellation.

We self drove to the Westin Cape Town. We last stayed at this property on our last trip through town in November 2013. We really enjoyed the rooms. We had been upgraded to an Executive Suite the last time and enjoyed the Executive Lounge for brunch as well. I was able to locate a great paid rate and as a result, it was a no-brainer for us to stay there again. An old photo of the lobby.



Unfortunately, we missed out on the Platinum upgrade with lots of apologies from the front desk. This was likely due to a convention in the area at the time. A first for me, we received a SPG voucher good for 300 Rand of Food and Beverage as a result of missing the upgrade. The hotel continued to participate in Make a Green Choice. The hotel also now participates in the SMS service request feature.













With the smaller standard room, the initial impressions were not very good due to the room being a bit dark and worn. Despite full windows, we were on the north side of the building away from any direct sunlight. However, the place warmed up to us and its’ clear everyone is making an effort. The rooms are looking a bit worn (some stains in the carpet) with some maintenance issues (coffee machine inoperative, showers scalding hot no matter what temperature you set the dial). Despite this, the Executive Lounge Breakfast is excellent and without any additional payment for SPG Platinums, and the concierge desk did an excellent job of resolving the issue of MrsWT73’s lost luggage by confirming an arrival time and location of the bag when we failed to get a proper reference number from the carrier.

We had several breakfasts in the Westin Executive Lounge, which is situated on the 19th floor with spectacular views. Since our last visit, the Westin had re=purposed this space and it now doubles as “On 19”, meaning that part of the space is open to the public as a restaurant for lunch and dinner. The platinum breakfast is still available here with the usual Cap Classique sparking on offer at breakfast.









I have some old photos of the Westin Executive Lounge, to compliment the above that should give a general idea about the place.







All in all, it’s still my go to property in Cape Town, even with the Marriott acquisition of Protea Hotels in the Southern African area. In addition, the concierge here were super helpful in assisting with the return of our luggage, and that’s worth it’s weight in gold.

worldtraveller73

Wine Tasting,
Paarl Region,
South Africa

On our first day, we had a bit of a sleep in. We hit the morning breakfast for last call and drove to wine area of Paarl. It was Sunday so many of the tasting rooms were closed or had reduced hours. MrsWT73 had us booked in for a shark dive in Gansbaai the next day that started at 7 AM with an “easy’ 2 1/2 hour drive away so if there was ever time for an easy day after our international arrival, it was this one.

We headed up to Simonsig. The tasting room was a small area with a nice tasting room. There was a small 35 ZAR charge for 5 wines. We ended up outside on the patio once space opened up and enjoyed the fine weather and setting.

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After that flight, we headed up towards Glen Carlou, which is owned and managed by the Hess Collection. The setting here was particularly beautiful with a tasting room and restaurant on the hill overlooking the valley.





The tasting room was medium sized scale and occupied a third of the space. We had a nice leisurely chat with the wine host about apartheid and its effects on modern business.











We left Glen Carlou and headed on to nearby Nederberg. It was our second visit here and we’ve always been treated well given that it’s a large scale winery. Despite this, we were again the only ones here. We enjoyed an “executive tasting” on the patio. It’s another beautiful setting right on the vineyard with no traffic or highway noise.









We headed back towards Cape Town. We tried to get in for a tasting at Fairview but they had stopped serving by the time that we arrived. We headed back for a freshen up, a cocktail reception in the lounge, then onto dinner at Quay 4 at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. MrsWT73 was still really upset about her bag, which hadn’t arrived at of end of day 1. The phrase: “Thank you Qatar for ruining my happiness” became quite familiar to me over the next few days. Despite this, she was keen to get onto the shark dive the next day which was a bright spot on the trip.

chongl

How did I miss this?! Good thing I can follow along for the rest of the report

worldtraveller73

Shark Dive
Gansbaii,
South Africa.

On the morning of the second day we got up at 3:45 AM in order to participate in a Shark Dive at Gansbaai. Gansbaai is about 2.5 hours drive from Cape Town, and with excursions departing at 7 AM, we had to leave the hotel for 4:30 AM. The things we do for happiness. . .

We drove ourselves out to Gansbaai via the N2 and the R43. It was expressway for the first part, then it turned into two lane highway for the second part as it twisted and turned through the mountains. With sunrise at approximately 6:45 AM, it was totally dark and we didn’t get the opportunity to really see what we were driving through. The road was mostly unlit as well, and with my “worse than at home” headlights on the rented Toyota ETIOS (aka Yaris in the Americas - no HID headlights here), it was a little hard to see at times.



On arrival the to Gansbaai shark dive center, we had a great coastline and a nice view of the bay. MrsWT73 had done her Trip Advisor research and we booked through Great White Shark Diving Company. Our experience with them was quite professional and we would use them again.

We had the safety briefing and had to sign several skimpy legal waivers that were passed around in a general sense. The safety briefing included such sound advice as “never try to touch a shark”.















After that was completed, we headed out on the boat. Life jackets were not provided, but we were assured that they were on board. It was only a mere 10 minutes ride out into the bay. A view birds took interest in us on our way out.









They had cautioned us that it was sometimes challenging to find sharks, giving the usual “it’s nature” caution. However, we were able to see some within 5 minutes of arriving. The sharks are attracted by throwing “chum” (a seafood mixture) and a severed bloody fish head into the water. The technique seemed to work pretty well.





I don’t know whose idea it was to put a bunch of people in a flimsy cage but it seems to be popular. It’s an accident attorney’s dream. The process involved getting into the top of the cage and being fenced in an open area while the sharks swam in front and around the sides of the cage.

MrsWT73, ever the adventurer, had wanted to do this since our last visit in 2013. Time did not present the opportunity on those travels, thanks to the 5 hours of driving that was required. I can’t say that I ever had shark diving on my list of travel experiences that I missed. I’ve regretted not getting tea at the Burj Al Arab, or taking a power boat through the canyons of Queenstown, New Zealand but shark diving has never been remotely on the list. I ended up passing and capturing the whole experience from the top of the boat. I actually got much better photographs from the top where you had a better vantage point and could actually see into the water as the visibility was a bit suspect. Indeed, the underwater camera pictures came out pretty poorly due to opaque visibility.

Although it was a bit rough in the boat (I took several motion sickness pills) we were able to see quite a few great white sharks. It started with “attracting” them initially then involved viewing from the cage on a rotating basis. They are absolutely massive in person. We were also able to see them act in their natural state slipping around the water versus their “attack” mode when they decided to over power their prey.









The shark definitely enjoyed the nom nom’s, if his splashing is any sign.







It’s time for the cage. It still baffles me a bit why you’d want to subject yourself to this but it makes for some entertaining photos. You’ll note in the cage photos that, if you don’t hang on to the grab bar, and stretch your hand out in any means out of the cage, it is very easy to loose a hand.







I am sure there were a few terrified people in the cage when this happened. At least I would be if I saw this coming! By George, he’s coming right for us. And he’s hungry.















Show time.









And a small feeding frenzy at the end to celebrate the end of the shark dive. You can even see the eyes of the shark roll back into whiteness.







After seeing these creatures attack with speed and aggression, falling victim to a shark attack would not be something that would be ever on the top of the list. A short boat ride back and we were back on land.



All in this was a pretty entertaining experience and we got closer than we would have ever thought that we would have given the unpredictable nature of whether you will see sharks or not. There were no regrets on my part having not been in the water and MrsWT73 felt that it was worth every penny. We enjoyed the self drive aspect and appreciated not being stuck in a van or coach on the way back as we had the opportunity to plan the balance of the day.

worldtraveller73

Hermanus
South Africa

After the shark dive, we took the short drive from Gansbaai and spend the afternoon in Hermanus. Hermanus is the de facto southern whale watching city thanks to the bay where they seem to congregate. It was a nice and scenic drive down the Hermanus in the day light where we actually could see what we had driven through.













We did a portion of the Hermanus Cliff Walk, which is a long walkway that extends down the coastline along most of the town. We ran into an older man feeding Rock Dassies, which are a unique Southern Saharan animal. We walked for about twenty minutes, taking in the view and eventually wandering back to town. It was much less frenzied that the crowds that visit the Cape of Good Hope.

















We had eaten light in the morning, skipping a full breakfast so after the walk we wandered back into town and enjoyed lunch at the Burgundy Restaurant. It is one of the oldest buildings in Hermanus, circa 1925 era and has been declared a National Monument.

We had a seat on the nice patios outside overlooking the bay. I had a smoked salmon trout, cream cheese, cucumber ribbons and caper berries sandwich with garden salad with feta and shared a bottle of Haute Caribiere Pinot Chardonnay. It was lovely and a terrific value with the sandwich pricing at a mere 105 ZAR ($7.30 USD) and the wine for a bottle at 190 ZAR (13.20 USD).





All in all, Hermanus was a pleasant stop over on the way back from shark diving. We didn’t see any whales, but the walk was enjoyable with the usual terrific South African coastline views. Hermanus is a beautiful spot to stop off at if you happen to be through this corner of the globe.