flights

DonQui Oaty’s missing day

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DonQui is leaving the Americas to cross the Pacific — eventual destination Bali.

It is a very long journey starting with a 6 hour drive from Sandy Valley Nevada to LA. The drive should have taken less 4 hours but the unusual cold snowy weather makes for treacherous conditions. DonQui also has to contend with several road closures. It is a good job he sets off early!

Finally making it to LA, DonQui returns his hire car and boards the evening Cathay Pacific flight which will take him to Hong King 16 hours later.

After a very pleasant light supper on board. DonQui prepares to sleep through much of the flight. He is one of those annoying creatures (in the eyes of those less fortunate) who can fall sleep almost instantaneously in any moving vehicle — especially aircraft.

When he wakes several hours later it is morning. It is, however, not the next morning but the one after that. Having crossed the international date line he has been transported into the future and completely skipped a day. He wonders to himself if he has missed an entire day from his life does that make him one day younger than he would have been otherwise?

After a four hour lay over in Hong Kong he is on his way to Bali — a five hour flight which he mostly sleeps through.  In stark contrast to California it is very hot and humid in Bali with threatening thunderstorms. DonQui is quite delighted with the Melati Balti Homestay in Canggu which will be his abode for the next seven days.

Feeling slightly bedraggled after his long journey he decides to just chill and not do very much of anything. There will be time later to explore.

Flying around Costa Rica

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Tortuguero National Park from the air

DonQui’s destination after San José is the nature reserve of Tortuguero on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast. There are no roads there. This leaves DonQui with two transportation choices: Four hours in a mini-bus followed by 1 ½ hours by boat; or a 20 minute flight from San José to an airstrip opposite the Tortuga Lodge where he will be staying.

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Sansa is Costa Rica’s domestic airline

Unsurprisingly DonQui thinks the flying option will be the least uncomfortable so he books a flight with Sansa, Costa Rica’s domestic airline. He is very glad he did.

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The domestic terminal of San José airport

Sansa’s 12-seater Cessnas fly to most places of interest throughout Costa Rica from San José Airport’s spanking new domestic terminal. The domestic terminal is just a couple of hundred metres from the international terminal.

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Check-in is fast and efficient

Check in is fast and efficient with careful attention being paid to weight due to the small aircraft. Each passenger is limited to 30 lbs (13.6 kg) including hand baggage. DonQui likes to travel light so this is no problem for him. Those who like to take lots of things on their travels will need to use other forms of transportation.

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Don’t check in too early as there is not much to do inside the terminal

The waiting area is comfortable but facilities are limited. DonQui checked in far to early and ended up sitting around for ages. One hour before take off is more than enough time to arrive at the terminal.

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Descending towards Tortuguero airstrip

The flight itself was quite a bit of fun with the small plane flying low enough for DonQui to get a good view of the country.  After 20 minutes he is descending towards the jungle airstrip.

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The Tortuguero airport taxi

There a small boat is waiting to take him to his accommodation across the river.

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The Tortuguero terminal

The check-in facilities at Tortuguero airstrip for the return journey are slightly less luxurious than at San José.

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The beach right beside the Tortuguero airstrip

But the view is much better.

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Tortuguero airstrip

And the flight just as much fun.

A Matter of Class

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DonQui Oaty is quite excited to be flying British Airways First Class across the Atlantic. Not business class but real proper first class!

‘Will it be worth it?’ He wonders.

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BA’s exclusive First Class check-in and security area at Heathrow

On arrival at London Heathrow terminal five he is whisked into the private First Class check-in with its own security screening area. With no queues DonQui thinks this is how flying should be like — no crowds and no stress.

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The Concorde Lounge

The British Airways Concorde lounge is quite a step up from the usual business lounges.

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So DonQui settles down comfortably with a glass of good Champagne and a few nibbles to await his flight in comfort.

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The spacious first class cabin on board

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There is plenty of room for a Donkey with relatively short legs to stretch out and have a good snooze.

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There are some seriously excellent wines on offer and the food it pretty good too. 

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Without a proper kitchen on board it is never going to be haute cuisine but they make a good stab at it.

‘So is it worth it?’

 

DonQui’s view is that it all depends on what you pay. First class  is marginally better than business class on board but the private check-in and superior lounge makes it much better. Bear in mind that these will not be available at all airports. 

Having now flown across the Atlantic on every class of BA cabin, his assessment is as follows:

Economy is no better and no worse than other airlines — long queues, cramped seats and rubbish food.

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The BA premium economy cabin

Premium economy is a big step up for not that much more money. With much more spacious seating and better food it begins to turn the flight into a moderately pleasant experience.

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DonQui buckles up in business class to enjoy a good night’s sleep

The big advantage of business class is the flat bed seat which allows for a proper sleep. You also get lounge access and priority boarding. The problem is that the cost can be be double or more that of premium economy.

DonQui prefers to book premium economy and snap up any upgrade offers if available as a full price business class seat is probably not worth the price differential.

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The first class seat takes up twice the space of a business class seat

The First Class experience is very pleasant but it is not significantly enough of an improvement on business class to warrant the sometimes eye-watering full ticket prices. It is really only worth it is you get a really good deal, or use air miles to get an upgrade which is what DonQui did in this case.

 

Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar

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DonQui is on his way to Zanzibar for the weekend.

He had a number of travel choices from Dar and has opted to fly rather than take the ferry. His main reason for doing so is to be able to get back to Dar es Salaam airport to connect with another flight on Sunday evening. If he took the ferry he would have to struggle through Dar traffic again and he would rather maximise his time on the beautiful island of Zanzibar.

He takes the evening Precision Air flight, the return portion being due to deliver him back to Dar 2hrs 30mins before his flight on Sunday.Precision Air

He hopes it will all work out as planned!

It was a bit of a struggle getting to the airport from Jangwani. Late Friday afternoon the roads are always clogged in Dar and his Tanzanian friends warned him of election rallies that were blocking the traffic and making the journey even more nightmarish than usual.road

Fortunately he had already struck an agreement with a local taxi driver who took him a circuitous route through markets and the down the dirt roads of the more ramshackle parts of Dar. Bypassing the stationary traffic on the main routes he got DonQui to the airport in plenty of time for $15 less than the official rate.Dan Air 2

Previously DonQui has taken the Dan Air flight to Zanzibar. Dan Air is a very small outfit flying very small planes.IMG_2375

The trip itself was great fun, flying low and slow over the Indian Ocean.

What DonQui did not know at the time was that Dan Air operates from a different domestic airport which is close to main terminal but far enough to make connections problematic. Precision Air, on the other hand, flies out of Julius Nyerere International.

Travellers Cafe

The hop over to Zanzibar takes only 20 minutes and before long DonQui is settled down at the very pleasant Traveller’s Café in Stone Town.Samosas

Here is sips a Serengeti, munches on some rather fine Samosas, listens to the sound of the waves and begins to feel quite relaxed.

DonQui recommends
Trust the taxi drivers in Tanzania. You need to agree prices in advance but they will always honour them. If you arrange a pick up at a certain time and place you can count on them being there. Completion is stiff and they will keep their part of the bargain to gain future custom. At the airport there is no room for bargaining — the rates are set, but if you make a private arrangement in advance you can lower the price considerably.

Make sure you have a plentiful supply of US dollars in relatively low denominations. Many places are cash only and many prices are set in dollars. Even hotels and airlines will at times take cash only and not credit cards.