First of all, let me introduce you to the 3 men. Allan Pearson, Eric Perkin and myself. And as you may imagine, we are in India to visit a hospital and see if Allan and Eric can get knee replacement surgery done. As we are already a few days into the trip I will have to catch you all up to our present situation. Unfortunately we only thought of doing this blog now in order for all concerned to get updates as soon as possible. The internet connections here, although incredibly fast, can be intermittent and we are finding getting in contact with loved ones back home can become frustrating.
So here goes, a brief catch up session to bring you up to speed.
Day 1. Wednesday March 2014 7am.
Meeting outside the Rainbow hotel in Bulawayo we boarded the Citi Link bus and headed off to Harare. I must say the bus was very comfortable and well worth it. Unfortunately the trip did take a long time since all the road works, and there are many of them, can delay you up to 15 minutes at a time. Also, the road blocks are of no help. We arrive in Harare at around 2.30 in good spirits and are welcomed by a select choice of taxi drivers wishing to offer their services. Which is all well and good if they did not all stand right outside the door as you are trying to climb out. We were met by Ashok and various other members of our friends and family and whisked away for a later reunion at Harare International Airport. Checking in was quick and simple, we were led down the the departure lounge and had to wait around an hour.
Then came time to board and we found ourselves boarding a new Emirates Airbus A340-300. Wow! The last time I flew was in 94 and planes have changed, comfort-wise, a lot. Each seat has a small tv screen in front of it, and although there were some good movies on offer, most people loved the live route tracker, where you can follow your progress through the trip. Even more fun was the downward and front facing cameras, which are great fun to watch while landing. Boys and their toys. What can I say!
Anyway, back to the story. After a delay waiting to leave Harare, we made the short hop to Lusaka. Half the plane seemed to get off, and then half the plane got back on again. There was plenty of spare seats and the very efficient and friendly staff allowed us to move. We were on our way to Dubai.
So here goes, a brief catch up session to bring you up to speed.
Day 1. Wednesday March 2014 7am.
Meeting outside the Rainbow hotel in Bulawayo we boarded the Citi Link bus and headed off to Harare. I must say the bus was very comfortable and well worth it. Unfortunately the trip did take a long time since all the road works, and there are many of them, can delay you up to 15 minutes at a time. Also, the road blocks are of no help. We arrive in Harare at around 2.30 in good spirits and are welcomed by a select choice of taxi drivers wishing to offer their services. Which is all well and good if they did not all stand right outside the door as you are trying to climb out. We were met by Ashok and various other members of our friends and family and whisked away for a later reunion at Harare International Airport. Checking in was quick and simple, we were led down the the departure lounge and had to wait around an hour.
Then came time to board and we found ourselves boarding a new Emirates Airbus A340-300. Wow! The last time I flew was in 94 and planes have changed, comfort-wise, a lot. Each seat has a small tv screen in front of it, and although there were some good movies on offer, most people loved the live route tracker, where you can follow your progress through the trip. Even more fun was the downward and front facing cameras, which are great fun to watch while landing. Boys and their toys. What can I say!
Anyway, back to the story. After a delay waiting to leave Harare, we made the short hop to Lusaka. Half the plane seemed to get off, and then half the plane got back on again. There was plenty of spare seats and the very efficient and friendly staff allowed us to move. We were on our way to Dubai.
 |
| Allan enjoying the front row seat view of the bus ride to Harare. |
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete