Lusaka - Johannesburg

I slept really well last night and didn’t particularly need that hot water bottle, but at least it kept my feet warm.

Breakfast

It’s a bright sunny day today, and the staff kindly put an umbrella up for us by the pool.

David at the buffet

David has cornflakes followed by a Full English breakfast

I choose fruit and yogurt, and while I order egg and toast, I somehow end up with a couple of sausages too

We sit on the balcony while we wait for the pick-up to the airport.

Kenneth Kaunda International Airport

Check-in is easy, and despite our luggage being 3kg overweight, we are not charged for the excess. I am even more grateful that they don’t weigh the carry-on, although they do suggest that I may have to check one of the bags in. Until I mention that it is all camera equipment.

Waiting for the flight

Airlink flight from Lusaka in Zambia to Johannesburg in South Africa

Some of you who have read my previous blog entries may remember that we received an email a few days ago from South African Airlines to let us know that today’s flight was cancelled. Instead of rebooking us on another airline the same day, they transferred us onto another flight tomorrow. Fortunately, Mark from Undiscovered Destinations came to our rescue and rebooked us on this flight with Airlink. Similar time and the same conditions. This is why I would rather pay a little more and have an agent arrange the flights for us.

The flight is pretty non-exciting, it’s a small plane with a 2-2 configuration and a little cramped side-ways. The highlight is the in-flight meal, a beef pastrami salad with fusilli pasta and almonds, which is absolutely delicious. This is accompanied by a honey and mustard-flavoured savoury snack, and some Turkish delight. The first time I tasted Turkish Delight, I was convinced I’d opened a packet of soap by mistake. I am sorry to say that I still think it tastes like soap.

Johannesburg Arrival

The service offered by Airlink on arrival at Johannesburg falls way below par. Having pre-booked assistance, I am dismayed when having walked down the stairs, I have to continue across the tarmac onto a crowded bus, where the flight crew has to turf someone out of a seat so that I can sit down. At the terminal, I have to walk up a ramp before I can find a wheelchair.

Approaching Johannesburg

The Special Assistance immigration counter has a much shorter queue than the others where passengers are snaked around the hall. It does, however, move considerably slower, and in the end, we are amongst the very last people to enter into South Africa.

Apart from the flight, this part of the trip was not booked through Undiscovered Destinations, so we made a point of pre-booking airport transfers. A very sweet driver is waiting for us just outside customs and takes us to our hotel.

Haughton Hotel

Being told that most of the lodges on our safari trip are going to be fairly basic (to be fair, they were better than expected), we have booked ourselves into a luxury hotel for the two days we are here in Johannesburg.

To get from Lusaka in Zambia to Maun in Botswana (where the next part of our adventure starts) involves two long driving days, or flying via Johannesburg: there are no direct flights between the two, which I think is crazy!

Instead of just flying on to Maun the same day, we wanted to have a couple of nights here in Jo’burg to catch up with laundry and meet up with some friends who live here and who we haven’t seen for a long time.

As soon as we exit the taxi, the porter grabs our bags and passports and proceeds to the reception desk, where we are offered a sparkling wine welcome drink and I am given a long stemmed rose.

The hotel lobby

The Piazza Penthouse

My thoughts for this section of the trip were “Go big, or go home”. So we are going big.

We are heading for the third floor!

What can I say? The penthouse is everything I expected it to be, and more. It is as big as our house at home.

The room is on two floors, with two bedrooms on the lower floor, each with an en suite bathroom.

The master bedroom

The bathroom has a large bathtub with a crystal chandelier hanging over it and a separate shower.

The sitting area features a stand-alone corner suite, a couple of swiveling armchairs, a coffee table, and a huge TV.

The electric curtains are operated remotely, and it takes us a while to figure out how to close them.

The open-plan room also has a dining area with seating for eight people.

To one side of the dining suite is a small kitchen, as you can see in this rather confusing photo below (it’s a panorama from my phone and went a little odd in the middle).

The kitchen viewed from the dining table end

I love the set of crystal glasses

My welcome drink and rose

Lots of fabulous artwork in the room

Off the kitchen is a utility room with a washing machine and tumble drier, which we will be taking full advantage of tomorrow, and behind the kitchen is a guest toilet.

Just inside the door, the stairs lead to the upper floor.

Stairs on the right with the entrance hall behind it.

Upstairs

On the upper floor is another lounge area with some quirky seating, another kitchen area, another dining table that can accommodate ten people, another toilet, and an outdoor balcony with a hot tub and a private swimming pool.

The stairs leading to the upper floor

The lounge area

The dining table

The kitchen and breakfast bar

The Hot Tub

The Private Pool

The outside balcony has part decking, part artificial grass, a couple of sun loungers, and a great view over the hotel grounds and apartments opposite.

Dinner

Having paid a small fortune for the room, we really do not want to leave it to go down to the cafeteria for food this evening. The main restaurant is closed for restoration, so the café is the only choice. We consult the room serve menu, and order in some food.

The food arrives on a trolley, and each dish is covered with a silver dome.

My prawn curry. I am disappointed that the poppadom has gone soggy by being left to touch the curry sauce

David is very pleased with his cheeseburger, however

We usually take a few cappuccino sachets with us on our trips, for those rooms that have a kettle.

I love the shape of the cup and saucer

It is nice to relax in these comfortable surroundings, and we retire to bed happy.