We spent most of the day overnighting on South African Airways. ✈️
South African Airways has a bidding upgrade process where you can throw in a bid to get upgraded to business class. Given that this was 1) an overnight flight 2) an airline I have never flown on and 3) on the trip of a lifetime that i have saved a long time for…i thought it would be nice to treat the family. So i put in a bid that gave me a “good” chance to get an upgrade and sure enough it got accepted. 🎉 🎊
So we all got spoiled in the Lufthansa lounge before takeoff. We all had a snack and a final drink before taking off.
With the exception of one flight attendant who wore 2020 glasses, the crew barely even smiled and it was by far the least attentive flight attendants I have ever seen. The guy assigned to us served us as needed but wasn’t proactive at all. He was very good with the kids however.
We tried to be as nice as possible and engage him in conversation but we just couldn’t break him until the very end we got a smile. The food was fairly mediocre but the South African wines were some of the best I ever had. The Syrah was delicious and just the way I like them — fruity flavor but not sweet, and strong without being too dry. I am glad we did it though as everyone (except me of course) got multiple hours of sleep so we landed in J-berg well rested.
We had a two hour layover so we went in some gift shops and went to the South African Airways lounge.
It was fairly large but the food selection was basic breakfast foods (eggs, sausage, and bacon). All drinks except water had to be ordered from the bar which was a little annoying. The furniture seemed really dated and the power outlets were difficult to use even with the UK adapters. It was fairly open though and the staff were very pleasant.
We also bidded on the upgrade to Victoria Falls and won that too. It was an hour and 15 minute flight and this time the cabin crew was very happy and accommodative.
TRAVEL TIP = our guide told us to do this but when flying in to Vic Falls you need to sit as far front of the plane as possible. The line at immigration is very long and you have to fill out the forms there on a staircase which was fairly difficult. You also have to pay a visa fee of $30. You have to bring crisp and clean dollar bills. They rejected half of the ones I gave them because they were either faded a bit or folded in certain places. We paid our bill got our bags and met our driver Tanaka (he was given a Japanese name from some Japanese tourists that met him when he was a baby).
Our first sleeping spot is the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge.
What a beautiful and awesome spot. It felt like we were in a Disneyland hotel. Much of it is open air, has great views of the forest, and a watering hole.
We spent the rest of the day looking for wildlife around the lodge. We saw elephants, monkeys, and antelope.
We took a sunset cruise on the Zambezi River Cruise.
We had a wonderful time on the top deck, eating appetizers, and ordering all sorts of beverages.
We enjoyed getting to go on the river which actually took us in to Zambia.
We saw a ton of hippopotamus in different parts of the river. I have never seen this manny hippos in my life. We probably saw at least 50 of them. The boys were ecstatic and excited to find each of them. We also saw several crocodiles (one eating a dead hippo 🙁), different types of birds, and an elephant bathing. It is so peaceful and quiet here. We loved just talking, taking pictures of the animals, and toasting a place of the world we never dreamed we would see.
We had dinner at the lodge which had fairly western food and went to bed early.
Even more fun for tomorrow!
Richey's Travel Adventures 