swingaling

gpy

I was on mobile and didn't mean to commit such a sin. Sorry to offend you so deeply.

Tocsin

Not offended, merely slightly irritated - thanks for editing.

swingaling

Kigali Marriott Hotel
Part Two

Back at the hotel after a long day, I had some dinner and went to bed early.

I was quite disappointed with the hotel's food offerings. Despite being the most expensive hotel in the city, they really dropped the ball. Specifically, there were essentially zero options for people who wanted to have a taste of the local cuisine. The hotel itself housed a pricey (by Kigali standards) Italian restaurant and some other restaurants that solely offered Western food. I really don't understand why hotels do this. Sure, it makes sense to offer foods their clients are familiar with, but that doesn't mean they should ignore the local cuisine entirely.

Taking the Italian restaurant as an example, I've never had excellent pasta in any city that doesn't have a Italian community. Unless they've spent time in Italy or among an Italian community, their cooks wouldn't even know how a bowl of pasta all'amatriciana should taste. The ingredients and techniques just aren't there; I suspect sourcing ingredients like guanciale and Parmigiano Reggiano in Kigali is difficult. It's like trying to a good plate of la zi ji in Nowhere, U.S.A -- not gonna happen. I just wish these hotels offered the types of dishes that their chefs would cook for themselves at home. Rant over.

So I ordered a greek salad, hamburger and fruit plate. It was ok at best. They forgot to put dressing on the salad and the burger was enormous, just a huge meat puck.

Greek Salad minus Dressing


Burger
Looked good, taste was mediocre



In Rwanda, they have a fruit called the Tree Tomato (Japanese Prune or Tamarillo), which is not commonly available where I live. It's the round fruit with black seeds in the picture below. I gave it another try, but I really hated it. One of the only fruits I've actively hated, the other being the durian. The rest was pretty good.

Fruit Plate


After a long sleep, I awoke the next morning and headed down to the hotel buffet for breakfast. I was the first person there. There was a large variety of food offerings; they even had African, Indian and Chinese breakfast offerings. The Chinese offerings consisted of a "Noodle Station", though I suspect the hotel chefs have no idea what's commonly served for breakfast in China.

Breakfast Buffet


Breakfast Buffet


Breakfast Buffet


Breakfast Buffet



Fruit and Juice
The passion fruit was good, but a bit astringent. Strawberries were delicious.



Fritter, Bread Pudding and White Bun
All quite good, especially the bread pudding


I did make a small mistake when I ordered the omelette. I asked for some birds eye chilies in it, but the cook went a bit overboard. This was too spicy to have more than a few bites.

Omelette


After having a few bites of everything, I headed back to the room to pack up and check out.

swingaling

I caught a taxi to the airport and it took around 20 minutes to get there. Upon arrival, there was a new, very annoying security process. Before being allowed to enter the grounds of the airport, every car wishing to enter was stopped. Passengers and drivers were required to get out and proceed through a metal detector. The now empty cars were then fed one by one through a large vehicle x-ray scanner and/or subjected to sniffer dogs. Security personnel then sometimes searched bags that remained in the car afterward; this happened to me. Overall, the process added 15-20 minutes to the airport experience. Thankfully, the airport is small and not very busy. I can't imagine this process being carried out successfully at a busy airport. Frankly, I found the entire process absurd and a huge waste of time and money.

Once inside the airport, check-in, immigration and security were a breeze. The lounge was very full and solidly average. Unfortunately, my flight was delayed by almost an hour due to late arrival of the incoming aircraft; it had just come in from operating CAN-BOM-KGL. Despite the schedule padding, we ultimately were unable to make up all of the time so we arrived at JNB 25 minutes late. No big deal.

Post-Security Waiting Area


Gate Areas



When we eventually boarded, there was no bus from the gate to the plane. Instead we walked the short distance across the tarmac to the A330 parked nearby. It was really cool to walk right up to a widebody at ground level. It seems so much bigger than when boarding from a jet bridge.


9XR-WN



Despite the late departure, one of the pilots came through the J cabin and explained the reason for the late departure and personally apologized to each passenger individually. While entirely unnecessary, the gesture was very much appreciated. Frankly, I was shocked, especially since the delay was entirely beyond his control. Additionally, the crew apologized for the lateness over the PA each time we took off or landed. The crew was really great and they definitely took a great deal of pride in their airline.

Once inside the cabin, I finally got to test out the hard product and it was excellent. This plane was not yet 3 years old and it still felt quite new. While I do slightly prefer a reverse herringbone layout or, ideally, an enclosed suite like the QR Qsuite, this seat was quite good. Lots of storage space, fully flat, decent sized foot well, brand new IFE system. Kudos to WB for choosing a good hard product.

J Seat


J Seat


I'll concede I didn't love the lack of haptic feedback on seat controls. The seat cushion wasn't padding, but an air bladder, which was a bit weird. I wouldn't want to sit in this seat when the air bladder breaks. Additionally, the IFE controller was a pretty basic and outmoded design. Not major issues.

However, there were 2 USB ports and a power socket. Plus good storage space.

Storage and Controls


Big Screen


Sharp Display
Unfortunately, the IFE wasn't really overflowing with choices. There were around 30 episodes of TV and a similar number of films. Not terrible, but perhaps not enough for their flight to CAN.


Legroom and Foot Well


The cabin crew then handed out menus and explained the sticker system. The sticker wasn't really necessary on a short morning flight, in my opinion.

Sticker


Menu


Menu


Menu


Menu
Breakfast was served on the KGL-LUN segment


Menu
Snack was served on LUN-JNB segment


Storage
The pocket next to the display easily fit my iPad



Once airborne, the meal service began. There was a single FA who took orders and brought food for the entire cabin. I believe there was 1-2 additional FA(s) in the galley preparing everything behind the scenes. I wasn't really hungry, but I wanted to see the meal and taste a few bites.

Breakfast
Fruit was good. Passion juice so-so. The fresh squeezed passion fruit juice at Marriott was way better.


Omelette
I had a couple bites and it was so-so. The dodo was the best part.


After a short while, we began our descent into LUN.

Approach into LUN


LUN is also getting a new terminal. Not ready yet, but it looks really nice.

New Terminal at LUN


We stopped for almost an hour taking on new pax and letting others off. I remained on the plane during the stop. Mercifully, the captain kept the APU on, so A/C flowed the whole time.

Old Terminal


Once airborne again, the lunch snack was served. I elected the veggie option and it was actually quite tasty.

Snack


Bread
A roll like this was also served with breakfast, though there were several different types to choose from. This seeded roll was pretty tasty.


This was a great flight. Bottom line: I'd definitely fly WB again without hesitation, especially their A330 product.

Eventually it was time to land at JNB. We disembarked from 2L onto a jet bridge. Immigration was a breeze; there was no one else in the "no visa" lane. The longest part of arriving was walking. I went to get cash from an ATM in the arrivals area. The ATM I went to happened to have around 5,000 ZAR just sitting in it; apparently the last person to use it had forgotten to take their cash. Luckily, the ATM belonged to a currency exchange desk, so I gave them the cash to return to its owner.

Once I got my own cash (only needed 1,000 ZAR myself), I headed to the Gautrain and caught the train to my hotel.

swingaling

Hyatt Regency Johannesburg
Club Level Room

I chose this hotel for a few reasons. First, the points rate was a reasonable use of Chase points. Second, I'm Explorist with Hyatt so I try to stay with them when possible, as I get freebies like fast internet, late check-out and room upgrades. Third, its location is very location. Only a few blocks from the Gautrain and some shopping malls. There's also an Avis located in the hotel, which is really nice.

I arrived at Rosebank Station around 4:45PM (only an hour after landing at JNB), then headed top side through the North exit. Once on the street, the hotel is a 2 minute walk away. Check in was very quick and I noticed I'd been upgraded to a Club Level Room on the 8th floor. Unfortunately, the room was located right next to the elevators and the very open club lounge. Not ideal, but fine for a night.

The room itself was clean and everything worked. However, the design was dated and quite old, and definitely not an outdated but charming vibe. The hotel is definitely in need of a complete renovation.


Room


One issue I encountered with all the hotels in Africa was a relative lack of bathroom amenities. Specifically, none of the hotels provided shaving cream in the bathrooms. The GH Incheon (not in Africa) had shaving cream in the mini bar, but it was a big can that cost around $10 US -- no thanks. I don't shave my face daily or pack shaving cream, so I usually count on getting it at hotels. No such luck this time.

Bathroom


Bathroom
The shower door looked precariously mounted.


Room
First Nespresso machine of the trip, but I didn't use it


Room


Room


Room



After putting down my stuff, I went to the adjacent shopping mall in search of some nail clippers. My pair of travel clippers broke in Korea and I'd thus far been unable to find a suitable replacement (or clip my unkempt nails). After finding clippers, I walked around a while and bought some drinks and snacks from the grocery store for the following day. Cans of Red Bull were amazingly cheap, only 20 ZAR (roughly $1.30 US). I was hoping to get some prepared non-meat foods from the grocery store for dinner, but it was all meat so I headed back to the hotel. In retrospect, I should have grabbed something to go from Food Lover's Eatery.

I was a bit tired from the previous day and the following day promised to be a long one. So I headed back to the hotel and got some room service. I really just wanted a decent pasta dish, so I ordered the penne arrabiata. However, I had an inkling that the pasta might not live up to my (low) expectations, so I ordered a couple appetizers just in case.

Unfortunately, the pasta suffered from the type of issue I alluded to in the Kigali Marriott post; pasta cooked by someone who doesn't know what pasta should taste like. In this case, tasteless and overcooked. Going in, my expectations were low, but the pasta still failed to meet expectations. Oh well. I guess it's probably unreasonable to hope for al dente pasta at a Hyatt in South Africa. It's all part of the experience of traveling.


Penne Arrabiata
Terribly bland, with baby corn (ugh, why?), severely lacking salt. I guess chefs don't taste the food before serving. Nor did room service provide salt & pepper shakers.


Mini Boerwors
These were delicious, if a bit lacking in presentation


Fried Cauliflower
These were pretty good too, though frying makes everything better.


After dinner, I went to bed and slept well despite a bit of intermittent noise from the hallway.

allset2travel

Great TR, covering many countries that I have yet to visit. Thanks for sharing.
Was credit cards widely accepted in the cities outside of major hotels?

kevincrumbs

I felt the same way looking at the menu for your ET flight from ICN. That menu looked like it could've belonged to any Western airline and had nothing besides the coffee that was remotely Ethiopian.

I had to look this up because I had no idea what dodo was (surely not the bird!). Turns out it's amaranth leaves.

swingaling

Johannesburg, South Africa

I was up early the next morning. I was due to get my rental car from Avis at 8:00AM, so I went down to breakfast at 7:00AM. The breakfast buffet was good, though not overly large. However, definitely enough to choose from.

Hyatt Breakfast


Hyatt Breakfast


After breakfast, I check out and walked down the hall to Avis where I picked up my rental car and then set off for Hartbeespoort.

Rental Beater


First stop was a 90 minute horseback "safari". While I had a relatively good time, it felt a bit like a canned experience. We saw some animals fairly close up, but I greatly preferred the game drive in Kenya. I suppose the animals here were essentially wild, but they were definitely used to seeing people and horses so it didn't really feel like we were seeing wildlife. It felt more like visiting a zoo or an amusement park ride than a safari.

That said, I only had a day in Jo'burg and was struggling to find things that looked interesting. This seemed a good option at the time and it was a decent way to spend a couple hours. The price was also quite reasonable at around $20 US.

Arriving at Horse Safari



Arrived a bit early



Horses



Horses


There were a fair number of people booked for the same time slot, so they broke us up into several groups. I was put with a family of five from Texas who were all accustomed to horse riding. They also declined the helmets, I wore a helmet though. This was my second time on horseback, so I was at a bit of a disadvantage. We set off and we saw a single giraffe a few minutes later.

Giraffe in the Bush


Giraffe


Giraffe



Giraffe


Group



Wildebeest



Wildebeest


Wildebeest


Wildebeest



Wildebeest


Wildebeest


Group


Game


Game


Impala


Reindeer


Kudu


Oryx


We eventually found the zebras. The guide Blessing called out to Jeff the Zebra and Jeff came trotting over to greet Blessing. Jeff was a bit skittish around new people, but he was fairly brave for a zebra and obviously habituated to meeting people.

Jeff and Blessing


We then each had the opportunity to pet the zebra, though I declined the selfie.

Jeff the Zebra


Lurkers


Jeff


Kudu


The "safari" ended at the start point. Below is my horse Sugar. Sugar was stubborn and independent, but I good horse.

Sugar



Next up I'd booked an elephant interaction at a place 30 minutes away. I arrived a bit early again, so I waited around while the rest of the group showed up. I should have done more research before I chose this activity. There were at least 50 other people in the group and the whole thing was more a petting zoo than anything else. The tour began with a spiel trying to get us to buy a DVD of ourselves with the elephant and went from there. It took about 2 hours and most of that time was spent waiting around for everyone else to have their turns. It was a bit boring.

It was also relatively expensive for what it was. The activity cost about $55 US. By comparison, I had a private encounter (feed, then brush/wash) with an Asian elephant in India for about an hour last year and that cost $65 US.

Then there was another fellow there around my age who decided that since we were both there alone that we should be best friends. I tried to be friendly, but they guy was a bit annoying. Anyway...


Elephant Sanctuary


First activity was feeding the elephant a handful of food pellets.


Elephant Feeding Time


Elephant Feeding Time


Elephant Feeding Time


Elephant Feeding Time



Next up, we got close up to the elephant and were allowed to touch their trunk, tusk, elbow, tail, etc. That was pretty cool. Meanwhile the handlers encouraged the elephants to participate by bribing them with food. No whips, crops, etc.

Touchy Feely Elephant Time


Touchy Feely Elephant Time
Annoying dude in blue


Touchy Feely Elephant Time


The final activity was walking with the elephant while holding the trunk. I didn't really like the idea of this one, so I passed when it was my turn. I was ready to be done.

Elephant Walk


Elephant Walk


Toilet Break


We passed through the monkey sanctuary on the way out and saw a ring tail lemur from Madagascar. Also saw this small deer-type animal (name escapes me).

Monkey Sanctuary



Since I was at least 90 minutes away from the airport, I decided to head to JNB for my flight. I went via the Hartbeespoort Dam, which was a bit of a cluster f*. Being a single lane, traffic takes turns. That's how it's supposed to work. So I arrived and stopped at the very long red light. As soon as it turned green, 5-6 cars came through from the other side. Nice.

Once they'd passed, we went through. However, when we got to the tunnel (still one lane), there was a line of oncoming cars blocking the way. I don't get why, but people were freely running the red light from the other side. Traffic was snarled for about 10 minutes while the other traffic reversed back out to the main road.

Hartbeespoort Dam


Hartbeespoort Dam


The rest of the ride was uneventful and pretty pleasant. I arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare before my onward flight, which would give me time to do some gift shopping.

swingaling

swingaling

British Airways
Business Class
BA Business Class Ticket
BA213: LHR-BOS (London to Boston)
28 July 2019
Airbus A380-800
G-XLEF
Seat 53K
Departure: 11:15AM
Arrival: 1:35PM


After a shower, I hung out at the lounge until the gate was announced. Since we had a C gate, I headed there an hour before departure to find the gate area absolutely mobbed. At this point I should mention I'd gotten the dreaded SSSS on my LHR-BOS boarding pass, so I went to the head of the line and showed by pass to the GA. They escorted me to the waiting area and downstairs to complete the secondary check. After doing the explosive residue test on my stuff and person, I waited for a few minutes before boarding at the front of the pack. That's one upside to getting SSSS.

However, I wasn't exactly looking forward to my reception in from CBP in BOS. I was dreading the worst: cavity search, electronic device search, public ridicule, etc. I wasn't all too worried, as I had absolutely nothing to hide. Back to the flight. I boarded and found my seat on the UD. The luggage bins against the fuselage were smaller than those on the B744, so I had to mess around a bit to fit my stuff.

As with the previous flight, the hard product was so-so but the soft product was solid.

Hello Neighbor
Face to face for take-off and landing. Basically my worst case scenario.


Good Legroom
Tight seat entry and dogleg


Apron


Despite being a only 5 years old, the IFE felt quite outdated.

Seat and Outdated IFE
Yes, that bin wouldn't stay shut


Menu


Menu


Menu


Fizzberry and Nuts


Soup and Salad


Beef
I pre-ordered the beef. Seemed the best choice given the other options. It was decent, if a bit tough.


Lemon Cremeux


Mid way through the flight I got up to use the forward lav. Getting out of the seat, I tripped over the foot rest in the tight dogleg to the aisle. A FA happened to be coming through at full speed from the galley (couldn't see her) and I ended up hip checking her into the seat across the aisle. I was mortified and apologized immediately. Luckily she was fine, but I still feel badly about the incident. At least I didn't get arrested.

One hour before landing, the snack was served. It was ok, but nothing special.

Tapas Snack


Once on the ground in BOS, I used the GE kiosk and was asked to wait for someone to come fetch me. A CBP staffer brought me to the customs area where they x-rayed my bags and asked if I had anything to declare. I declared my activities in RW and ZA and then they sent me on my way. I was expecting the whole hassle of device searches and cavity checks, but this was painless. The CBP agent conducting the search was very friendly and professional. With that, the trip was done.

swingaling

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.

I really couldn't say what credit card acceptance was like. I mostly paid for my tours in cash (or prepaid with card) and most of my non-hotel incidentals were paid in cash. I suspect credit card acceptance was only possible at larger retailers in upscale or touristy areas. In smaller towns like Kisoro, zero chance of using a credit card, though there were ATMs here and there.

Agree completely. The ADD-ICN flight definitely features Ethiopian food. The junior FA originally passed out the wrong menus to us, so I was able to snap a photo of it. Frankly, I'd have greatly preferred to have that menu on my flight. See below.

ADD-ICN Menu


Thanks on the dodo. I had no idea what it was. Tasted vaguely like creamed spinach.

kevincrumbs

Interesting! So I take this to mean that ET doesn't trust (and perhaps with good reason) outstations to make Ethiopian food so they only offer it on the outbound sector. I'm not sure if I've ever seen an airline do that. I guess the closest example I can think of is that SQ's famous satay isn't available on all flights, eg SFO - HKG.

fotographer

a very nice way for me to spend Saturday morning... what a wonderful time you had .
nice pics, and wordage ...

lamphs

Very interesting report. Diverse locations. Excellent pics!