Africa NW 2018: 1 Planning and getting to Africa

The idea for this trip started with an email from Chi Pham at Bestway Tours and Travel in Vancouver Canada, who have arranged many trips for us to some of the most difficult areas of the world. It will include parts of southwest Africa we have not visited, and will required planes, trains, boats and a lot of different ground transport to accomplish. The portion after the train trip and Victoria Falls was very well organized by Evi Marais of the South Africa Tourism Company.

We decided to go through South America so we could use accumulated miles on Avianca, however it proved not to be easy. When I had the four necessary flights put together, South Africa Airways changed their flight time from Johannesburg to Cape Town to leave before we arrived, so that was cancelled to be replace by a British Airways flight. Then Avianca changed its return flight to leave Sao Paulo before we arrived, so it had to be moved ahead a day and instead of a comfortable 2 ½ hour plane change we had to say overnight in Sao Paulo, adding to travel time and costs.

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

The first flight with Avianca was 2 hours on an Airbus 320 from Costa Rica to Bogota, Columbia. There were surprisingly few people in the airport, and we had checked in on line, so immigration and security were quick and friendly. This gave us time for snacks in the lounge before boarding. The flight was comfortable with excellent food and service.

In Bogota the lounge was right across from the departure gate. This 6 hour flight was on a well equipped Airbus 330-200 that had individual entertainment centres and flat beds. After a movie (2 for Marilynn) and a good meal accompanied by wines and port, we got some sleep.

There were not a lot of people in line at immigration at the Sao Paulo airport, however we picked an immigration lady who was definitely stoned – right out of it. By the time she stumbled through the process everyone in line behind us were processed by other agents and on their way. We looked for the hotel shuttle, but when we didn't see it we prepaid the taxi fare at a kiosk for transport to the nearby Matiz Guanulhos Hotel. The hotel has a bar and restaurant, and basic but comfortable rooms for about $US70 per night. We both slept well.

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

The hotel has a good buffet breakfast from 5 to 10 AM. As out flight is not until 6 PM tonight we got caught up on computers – the wifi was good. As we have a tight connection tomorrow morning in Johannesburg, I managed to check in on line for the BA flight to Cape Town and the hotel printed them.. Having no checked baggage and boarding passes in hand should put us in good shape to dash for our flight.

The hotel shuttle got us to the airport. For some reason LATAM Airlines was the only one that would not issue our boarding passes on line, so we had to check in. They had a great lounge with good food and drink, showers and all amenities, so it was a comfortable place to pass the day. As it got closer to boarding time I got an email from LATAM saying our flight would be delayed at least 2 hours due to mechanical problems. That blew our connection in Johannesburg. I asked the lounge attendants to notify British Airways that we would not make the flight and find us an alternate route, but they said we would get more information at the gate.

I called Expedia, from whom I purchased the BA flight, but their computers were down and they couldn't do anything, but after a second call they gave me BA's phone number. The BA call centre said that because I bought the ticket from an agency instead of the airline they couldn't do anything. A pretty lively argument ensued during which time the call centre fellow left me to tinny music on several lengthy occasions as he sought advice from higher authority. In the meantime we were called to the gate as they were getting close to boarding, so the computer still playing music accompanied me.

LATAM had promised to have something for us at the gate, but it wasn't a flight change, just a letter saying the delay was their fault due to mechanical difficulties so we could show it to BA after we missed their flight! Eventually boarding was called and I was still arguing with BA. Finally, just as the last people were getting on the plane BA agreed to change our flight from 10:30 AM to 2 PM for $301. I said I could not hold any longer without missing the flight, so they agreed to email the new arrangements.

The flight was on a clapped out Boeing 767-300. There were flat beds, but old style uncomfortable ones. Food and service were both bad, and little English was spoken. It was a long night.

Thursday, October 18, 2018

The day started with a not great breakfast, but a positive note was that the plane was still flying. A lot of things inside showed lack of maintenance. LATAM is definitely not a recommended airline.

On arrival in Johannesburg we cleared customs and immigration without problem, then had to go to the ticket sales counter of BA to confirm my credit card for the flight change payment. Once we had boarding passes we went to the very good British Airways lounge where a large array of good food and drinks made up for the lousy LATAM breakfast.

The flight to Cape Town on BA was comfortable, with very good food, drinks and service. Even economy was served lunch on the 2 hour flight, unlike North American airlines where one can starve.

A pleasant young taxi driver stopped by a money changer on the way to the hotel – I don't use airport exchange places as their rates are often outrageously unfavourable, including in Costa Rica. We got the driver's phone number for future services.

After checking into our room at the Townhouse Hotel we went to the beautifully furnished bar where they served meals. The food was disappointing – Marilynn had a very dry ostrich burger and I had duck that was cooked to death, however the room was fine. After a couple of drinks we headed back for a long, much needed sleep.