Blogs from Africa - page 3367

THE GROUP.... I was part of the Indian delegation sent by the Spices Board to look at opportunities to export spices to South Africa. The delegation was headed by KPG Menon (Director - Spices Board). The other members included Mammen Verghese (Malayalam Manorama), Mathew Jr.(Bolst Condiments) and a couple of other exporters (Lalah's & Rani Food Products) - I forget the names. This was a nice group which made the whole trip more enjoyable. JOHANNESBURG We arrived in Johannesburg from Mumbai on South African Airways. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of service with SAA - it was really good. We were met by representatives from the Indian Consulate. KPG Menon as Director of the Spices Board (which falls under the Ministry of Commerce) ranked equally with the Deputy Consul and therefore we were in ... read more

Just out of Israel, we changed buses and drove towards Cairo.Our new Globus Tour Director took over from David (sob.....) and her first encounter with Steven was not very pleasant. As she led us to our bus with a cracked windshield on the right corner, Steven joked if she caused that crack. She was a little bit on the chubby side and didn't receive the joke, and the laughs it drew, very kindly. For that reason, I will not be mentioning her name here. After all, she was indeed a very competent guide. Maybe just a little too sensitive. The Best Hotel Ever The Hotel Mena Oberoi in Cairo, Egypt stunned us back to our senses. In a five star luxury way! We are indeed in Egypt.........as the luxury hotel was located right smack in an ... read more

This is one of those situations where after all is said and done you've earned yourself a traveller's stripe and you simply THANK-GOD that it's over. I still remember the smell of that bus and that old lady with the coke, priceless. "We leave at 8:00 am so be here about 7:30 to get a good seat" says the guy at the Jeefaro Empire Filling station as he hands me ticket #2037 and I fork over the 200 Kwacha. (I always did like saying that word.) Currently I was in LLongwe, Malawi and "The Destination" was Lusaka, Zambia. How long is the ride?" I asked. 8 hrs or so was the answer I received. I always try to take an earlier bus when going from one country to another so it would be easier to ... read more

Flew CPT to JNB on Comair flight MN702, a 737-200. I was in seat 12E. We had a few hours to kill at JNB airport until our flight home after 9pm. This flight would make a stop in Ilha do Sal. I remember seeing that and thinking Sal??? Are we stopping in San Salvador??? The actual code is SID and our flight would go JNB-SID-JFK. The stop was made due to the elevation of JNB airport. The flight was routine and soon we were all waking up to land in Sal. There was a quick crew change and a few people boarded. We all joked about getting pulled off here due to no space. At sunrise on November 5, we were in JFK. We had cleared immigration quickly and they went off to LGA to get ... read more

The taxi was there as promised and we did get on the first Comair flight that morning. The two hour flight on a 737-200 was just fine and the service was impressive. This was before they became linked up with British Airways. I was in seat 4E. When we arrived in Cape Town, I felt much better about everything. I think it was the weather. It was sunny and hot! While the guys were getting our rental car, I went over to the Comair office to check return loads. A nice girl named Nikki helped me out and was asking questions about the USA. We exchanged addresses and I told her that if she ever visited the USA, I would be happy to show her around. Little did I know that a long lasting friendship would ... read more