RAD and SAD

To bring Erika's use of 90's lingo full circle, I'm going to go even farther back to the ragin' 80s and wrap this up with a little post I'm going to call "RAD and SAD".

RAD is...

...Traveling the world for a third time with one of your best friends. Getting along every second of it and reaffirming once again that your relationship is indeed GREAT.

...Flying Internationally in an upgraded cabin. There are few things in life more miserable than air travel. Especially internationally when the flight legs are often in excess of 8 hours. We had two 16 hour flights and two 9 hour flights. All of them made virtually misery free by flying Business Class. It ain't cheap but it's 100% worth it.

This is what our seats looked like "up".

This is in "bed" mode. We also got mattresses to sleep on that filled in the gaps.

That thing on the right is a remote control for the TV and chair because with your seatbelt on, you are so far away from the TV, you can't reach it to change channels. 

 ...Access to Business Class Lounges due to the previous RAD item. Free food, drink, showers, wi-fi, massages, Playstations and XBoxes, magazines, and most importantly... Haagen Das.

 ...Grilled Warthog ribs at Arnold's on Kloof Street in Cape Town.

...Cage Diving with Great White Sharks in False Bay with the folks from Apex.

...Meeting other people and making new friends.

...Hearing a lion roar.

...Renting a car and roadtripping to Abu Dhabi and back which took us to...

For the most part, the roads were all this empty.

See? I'm not lying.

Crazy huh?

...Ferrari World and 0-240km/hr on the world's fastest roller coaster.

...And having the whole amusement park basically to ourselves.

...Feeding an elephant.

...Playing "what's that car?" in Dubai.

...The entire staff at The Pepper Club in Cape Town and Thanda Private Game Reserve. All were amazing.

...Plus the hotels and reserve themselves. The Pepper Club, Thanda Private Game Reserve, and Sofitel Dubai Jumeirah Beach were all top notch and amazing with a special shout out to the INCREDIBLE rainfall shower in our room at The Pepper Club and the beds at the Sofitel.

...Being in the beautiful Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi that holds 41,000 people with 7 other people.

...Lion babies!

...Watching the sun set on our last night in Dubai in the shadows of the Burg Khalifa.

... Hand warmers, foam ear plugs, and mesh packing cubes. Don't leave home without them. 

SAD is...

...Cold water in Cape Town. Skinny girl + cold water = hypothermia. Fat man + cold water = a lot of shark footage.

...The pillows at Thanda. Have to make special note of these due to how BAD they were. For such a beautiful place, I didn't know pillows could be that hard.

... AMERICANS!!!!

...The humidity in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Truly incredible.

...The car honking on Long Street in Cape Town until about 5am. What on Earth is that important that you have to lay on your horn for 15 seconds straight?!?! But foam ear plugs to the rescue and that was that!

...I lost my beenie and my travel pillow!!! R.I.P.

I'm really struggling to think of anything else. It was THAT great of a trip.

I can't wait to see where life takes me next.

Who needs cash when you can get....

GOLD OUT OF AN ATM!!!

LOST is the word

We've already covered WET and OPULENCE.

Today is LOST.

From getting lost in Cape Town trying to find a restaurant we didn't know the name of, the address it was on, or whether it even existed.

To getting lost in Abu Dhabi trying to find the damn entrance to the Sheikh Zayed Mosque even though we could see it from every road we were on.

Ending with the hour and half it took us to drive the normal 20 minutes back from the Burg Khalifa because the roads in Dubai make NO sense at all.

I suppose you could say it made us stronger people. I say it was just annoying.

Lambos, Ferraris, Skylines, McLarens OH MY!

With 1 day to go, I believe I've seen the elusive Dubai Big 5.

5) Ferrari 458 - The elephant of the desert. In large supply. Can be found grazing in most hotel car parks. Majestic but avoids confrontation from the others.

4) Nissan Skyline GT-R - The desert's water buffalo. Unassuming but deadly. The water buffalo is considered the most dangerous of the Big 5. The GT-R should be handled with the same care. Take it for granted, it will tear you apart. We stalked this beauty for several blocks before finding it parking in front of our hotel.

3. Lamborghini Gallardo - The rhino of Dubai. Lumbering but confident. Wide in the rear but quick. An endangered species. Last of the V-12s. A wide berth should be taken with the Lambo as he has a quick temper and dangerous charge. 

 2. McLaren MP4-12C - The lion of the desert. Graceful and deadly. Comes from a long pedigree of powerful relatives. We've seen 2 here. 1 parked and one cruising the palm islands. Should not be taken lightly. Sadly, no pictures exist of this elusive beast from our safaris so a stock photo has been used instead.

1. Mercedes SLS AMG - The ever elusive leopard. I heard it before seeing it then turned to only catch the tail end as it hurried from view. A true killing machine. The scarcity of this beast should be noted due to the price and exclusivity. Again, this one evaded my tracking ability and snuck off into the night. 

Other notables:
Porsche Cayenne. The wildabeast of Dubai. Plentiful and aggressive but no real danger.
Any non-S or RS Audi, non-M series BMW, or non-AMG powered Merc - The giraffe of the desert. Knows their place, minds their own business and will not antagonize the more powerful creatures.
Bentley Continental - The cheetah. Beautiful and graceful but simply no match due to it's size and weight. Would be eaten alive by the others despite being quite ferocious.

What a difference a bed makes

After a week in beautiful South Africa, it was time to move on to the final leg of our journey and hit up the Emirate of Dubai. We left Thanda late for a 3 hour drive back to Durban airport then a long 9 hour flight back to Dubai. We departed Durban at around 6:50pm and arrived in Dubai at 7am (with the +2 hour time change). We got through customs and immigration, grabbed our luggage, and headed out to meet our ride to our hotel.

Wet will be the first word of the day.

We exited the airport and I first thought we were passing through one of those water misters to cool you off. The mix of air conditioned air from the airport mixed with the hot air of the outside made it feel wet. But quite comfortable. Then we took 2 more steps. The air conditioned air was surpassed by the unbelievably humid air of the UAE. It was so thick, there is a literal cloud in the air. You can see it hanging above street level. 100% pure moisture. Thankfully the car was air conditioned and they took us straight to our hotel.

Opulence is the second word of the day.

We are staying at the Sofitel Jumeirah Beach. It's right on the Persian Gulf and we actually have a water view from our balcony. We checked in but since we arrived so early, our room wasn't ready yet. So we were invited to get some breakfast and hang out until 9am. We took the elevator to the 3rd floor and the doors opened to the most beautiful food spread either of us had ever seen. We were too overwhelmed to take our traditional pictures. Fresh fruit, egg station, pancake station, bread station, juice station, pastry station. It went on and on. Since Jurassic Park is a theme of this trip, I felt like the kids from Jurassic Park when they arrive back to the park lodge and wander into the fully stocked buffet with nobody to eat it but themselves. That was us. We ate our fill and at 9:10am went back to the front desk to get our room keys. A hot shower and a nap was #1 on the daily agenda. We came up to our rooms and opened the door to a magnificent sight. A beautifully furnished room with beautiful beds, cherry wood furniture, a magnificent bathroom, and a great view of the Dubai Marina. After taking long, hot showers, we fell into our beds.

You know the "AHHHHH" sound people make when describe something from heaven? Well picture that.

"AHHHHHH"

Beautiful beams of light shining down upon us. A warm (but air conditioned) glow cast upon our faces. It was bedgasmic. Even better w;ere the pillows. Up to this point, our pillows have been average to downright painful. The pillows in Cape Town were good. The pillows at Thanda were impossible. Imagine a pillow case filled with concrete, then rolled in broken glass. They were literally unsleepable. I made up that word, but it is absolutely true. We both abandoned them after the first night and instead slept on either our hands or just the mattress. The pillows here are clouds stuffed with a woman's bosom (strange analogy I know. Just trying to think of something soft and comforting).

Back to WET.

After taking a 4 hour nap or so, we got up and got ready to get some dinner. We were mentally prepared for what lay ahead, but were physically unprepared. We took 4 steps outside and our sunglasses immediately fogged up. We both cried out "I CAN'T SEE!!!!" like 2 blind idiots before realizing we just had to remove our glasses. We had earlier decided on a restaurant called Mom's Food about 1.5 kilometer from the hotel. By the time we got there, I was sweating through my shirt. Sweat was running down my arms and legs. It was incredible. I've NEVER felt anything like it. It's sweltering but not oppressive. You can stand to be outside, but just be ready to be wet.

Dinner was fabulous though. Hummus, grilled lamb, kebab, salad. It was a treat. We trekked back after dinner through the sweatbox and have spent the last hour or so planning tomorrow. A drive to Abu Dhabi. Africa was amazing and beautiful, but this place is turning into a beautiful adventure on its own.

Our Typical Day

Some of you might be curious as to what our days have been consisting of lately. It's pretty simple actually.

5:30am - Wake up call
5:45am - Pick up. That's right. We have 15 minutes to get up, dressed and ready to go. I suppose we could set an alarm to wake up earlier but that would be silly at 5 in the morning.
5:50-6:00am - Coffee, tea, and some biscuits/biscotti. We've learned it won't tide us over for the next 3 hours.

Sunrises in Africa are amazing

6:00-7:30am - Morning safari game drive part 1. Sometimes it's been action packed. Sometimes we don't see much. But either way it's spectacular. Fresh air. Amazing sunrises. Nothing but the sound of a diesel jeep rumbling along.

Our trusty Safari Land Rover

7:30-7:45am - Coffee break. These are more to rest our sore buttocks that have been slammed up and down on the jeep seats for the past hour and a half. Incredibly, the seats are really comfortable despite the terrain.
7:45- 9:00am - Morning safari game drive part 2. Same as Part 1.
9:00-10:00am - Breakfast. A nice spread of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, bread, cheese, fruit, cereal, yogurt, and juice. It's awesome after a few hours on a jeep.
10:00- 2:00pm - Free time. Some lounge by the pool. Some go to the main lodge and the spa. Some go on bush hikes or animal interactions. Completely open.
2:00-3:00pm - High Tea. Snacks/wraps/mini sandwiches with some cake to tide us over for...
3:00-4:30pm - Afternoon Safari Game Drive part 1.

Themba pointing out some hyena tracks

4:30-4:45pm - Wine break. Same as coffee break but with wine, beer, and sodas.

4:45-7:00pm - Afternoon safari game drive part 2.

Sunsets in Africa are even better

By now it's already dark so the tracker uses a HUGE spotlight to try to find animals. I don't know how he does it or what he looks for, but he's amazing. We got to see a baby rhino with his mommy and daddy this way.
7:00-8:00pm - Cocktails and dinner. Similar to breakfast but with some traditional foods (Springbok pie!!!)
8:00-9:00pm - Additional Cocktails by the firepit or turn in for the night. By then, it's PITCH BLACK out. We are not allowed to wander around camp on our own and must wait for a porter to escort us to our tent.

Repeat at 5:30am the next day.

The most amazing crew ever! Themba (Tracker) and Willard (Guide)

Ain't no mountain high enough

There literally are no words to express what it's like to be bushwacking for an hour not finding a thing then turning a corner and seeing a pride of lions laying out in the sun in front of you. Or locking up the brakes because an elephant is standing in the road a few yards ahead of you. Some of the highlights.

1) Big Kitty Cats

He roared at us to let us know who was boss. Hearing a grown male lion roar... O.M.F.G. Terrifying and exhilarating.

This guy was chilling out with his brother. Lean and muscular. Beautiful animal.

The cub in the middle really got curious about our truck. He stared back at us for a while. So incredibly cute.

Might be the best picture I've taken so far. Male approximately 3 years old. Gorgeous.

2) I will name him "Stampy"

This big fella walked right in front of our truck. We all sat VERY quietly. If he felt like swinging his head, we all probably would have been killed in a heap of twisted safari truck. MASSIVE and beautiful animal.

3) If my bowel wasn't frozen, I would have shat myself

I will never forget the first time I saw it. I literally forgot I needed to surface to breath. That's how hypnotic they are.