Report on the Airbus 380

First, this is just a gigantic airplane.  Our first A-380 flight was last night from Frankfurt to Johannesburg on Lufthansa.  Lucky us, we were in business class, upstairs, where there are 92 business class seats and 8 first class seats, not all full.

The downstairs holds over 400 economy seats--crowded conditions even in this huge aircraft.  Because we entered on a jetway attached to the upper deck, I didn't have the chance to see what things looked like downstairs.

Unlike most U.S. long haul flights, and even most of the European carriers I've flown on overnight in business class, this plane has very unconfortable seats in business.  They don't fold down quite flat, instead prodruding at a downward angle under the console in front of you so that your feet are considerably lower than your head.  It is like trying to sleep on a concrete slab set at an angle.  I don't understand why the design is like this because there is room to have a comfortable flat seat.

I have flown Lufthansa's subsidiary, Swiss, to Africa several times and loved it.  Comfortable seats and really good service.  Excellent food.  Not so on this flight to Johannesburg last night.  Though the flight crew was exceptionally helpful and cordial, the food was awful as were the choices of food.  Nonetheless, the high quality of the crew made up for the annoyance of paying a lot of money for another bad meal and miserable seats.  Next time Lufthansa orders a 380, I hope they'll consider better seats for their passengers.  If they're this bad in business class, imagine what they're like in economy.

Now, we're in Johannesburg awaiting our flight to Walvis Bay, Namibia, to see the Skeleton Coast and the huge dunes Namibia is famous for.  If I can get this blog program to work even marginally, which it prefers not to do on an iPad, I'll add lots of photos to my blogs and commentary about what we're seeing and doing, what local people are thinking and talking about, and great places to visit and stay.

Packing list for Botswana

Our bush planes in Botswana, the ones that take us to the Okavango Delta safari camps we'll be visiting, limit luggage to 44 pounds, soft-sided duffels only.  No wheels, not hard frames, no larger than 10" X 12" X 24".

That's because the luggage compartments of these planes are only 23" high, so pilots must stuff soft-sided duffels into tiny spaces.  If you don't comply, they'll refuse to take you or sell you an additional seat to hold your bags or book you an expensive charter flight to haul you and your excess bags wherever you want to go.  Too expensive for our taste, so here's what we ended up with--2 duffels (Don's larger than mine!) and 2 backpacks.  Unfortunately, that also means we are using one of those old and awful wheeled luggage carriers, but better (barely) than carrying our stuff through airports.

Here's what I packed, in case you need to travel lightly to this part of Africa:

2 pairs hiking pants with zip off legs
2 pairs dressier hiking pants (probably one more than I need)
3 long-sleeved safari shirts for fending off the sun and looking a little more presentable at night
4 T-shirts, one long-sleeved
bathing suit
6 pairs of underwear and socks
toiletries, including critical meds like malarone for malaria and lomotil for diarrhea (hope to avoid that one)
Go Lite down sweater
light rain jacket
1 pair sandals
umbrella
lots of mosquito repellant
anti-bacterial wipes and hand sanitizer
binoculars
camera and extra battery and disk
iPad
phone
all the requisite cords and adaptors for fuel these devices
Kindle plus magazines I haven't had time to read
itinerary and other documents for travel
what I'm wearing on the long trip--basically 2 days of travel (T-shirt, knit pants for plane comfort, fleece sweater)
5 bars dark chocolate
small down travel pillow

This is all stashed in my 18" duffel and day pack.  We always travel with only carry-on luggage, but this is a reduction from there, which I think will be just fine.  We can get laundry done everywhere (except "ladies' underwear" which offends local sensibilities in Botswana).

D

Checking out Southern Africa

We're headed to Namibia, South Africa, Botswana and Zambia on April 23 to check out great places to visit, the best hotels, camps and lodges, and wine and food pairings for a group trip in May or June of 2015.


After a ghastly flight from Denver to Frankfurt to Johannesburg to Walvis Bay, Namibia, we'll be thrilled to finally drag ourselves into our rental car and head to a village on Namibia's Skeleton Coast where we'll spend a couple of days sea kayaking and touring the 2 national parks along the Coast, reported to be magnificent.  Will let you know.


From there, we move on to Namibia's splendid red dunes near Sosusvlei for 2 nights in a desert lodge where we expect to sleep on the flat roof of our "kulala", a canvas and thatched cabin overlooking the dunes (you can also sleep inside if the bugs bother you).  With minimal electricity, traffic, noise and pollution, the stars should be unbelievable and the sounds of the desert ever-present.


We'll return to Cape Town, one of the most beautiful settings in the world, to select the hotel we prefer for our trip next year and to visit the key tourist venues such as Table Mountain and Robben Island, Nelson Mandela's prison for 2 decades.  Next year, we'll add in a day of business visits to learn more about the political and economic life of South Africa and a boat trip to the seal islands, swarming with seal families and overwhelming you with their potent odors.  We'll drive in our rental car to Franschhoek, in the heart of South Africa's wine region and report back on South African wines and food.


Next to the enormous Okavango Delta of Botswana to check out 3 different types of camps.  Because the Okavango Delta is flooded during the rainy season and quite dry during the dry season, we wanted to see what the camps were like in 3 different ecosystems, along a river, over the water and in the savannah.  The wildlife is extensive in the Delta, so we're excited about watching the animals and birds on our boat and jeep safaris.  Hope to ply you with some wonderful photos.


Our final stop will be at Victoria Falls in Zambia.  These are spectacular falls, which we've visited before.  Next year, we'll expect to spend 2 days at the Falls to allow plenty of time to enjoy their beauty and the nearby town of Livingstone.


I'll be blogging with photos whenever internet access is available, so stay tuned for the sights and sounds of Africa and for an extraordinary Southern Africa trip next spring.