March 7, 2009 – Saturday – flying from Tamarindo to San Jose, Costa Rica
We are up early again this morning, and take one last walk down the beach looking for turtles. We find two dead baby turtles, however we also see 32 tracks leading to the sea, so most of them obviously made it early this morning after hatching.
I have an 11:15am flight with Nature Air (no longer operating) from Tamarindo Airport to Pavas Airport in San Jose. My friends are also leaving Hotel Las Tortugas this morning, driving to San Jose using transportation arranged through Swiss Travel. I try to get a ride to the airport, but their driver doesn’t want to cooperate, so I take a taxi instead…another US$30! My flight is delayed until 1pm (taking off about 1:15pm) however this is a direct 45-minute flight to San Jose. I add to my aerial photo coverage of the Costa Rican countryside on the flight, since there are clear skies.
The taxi from the airport to Hotel Casa Roland only costs 2,000 Colones (about $4). The hotel is really funky, with corridors and lobbies all over the place, the rooms are decorated with fine art, folk art and sculpture and antique furniture, and there are ceiling fans throughout the place, including one in my room. It is about 30ºC in my room – a welcome relief from the afternoon heat at Tamarindo, however I still want to cool things down a bit more, so I figure out how the air conditioner works and get the room temperature down to 25ºC. I then have a bit of a siesta and work on my computer afterwards, since the hotel has high speed wireless. It’s sure nice to travel in a country that is so well connected to the Internet.
I have dinner at Paragon Restaurante (now closed), which is recommended by the hotel, and is right across the street. It is a fancy place and they give a 10% discount for hotel guests, but the place is empty except for one couple. I have a glass of Chardonnay wine, a chicken breast with roasted potatoes and vegetables, and an Americano to finish. The total with taxes is US$15.29 after the discount – very reasonable! I leave the servers a couple of US$ as a tip and get out of there. The service is impeccable, the food is excellent, and yet there is nothing Costa Rican about the restaurant, so it doesn’t appeal to me. It’s as if I was in a restaurant back home.
This morning I share breakfast with several of the Southern Skies group before they leave for home. I also hook up with a couple from our group to share a ride with them to Pavas airport (Tobías Bolaños International Airport), where we catch a flight to Tamarindo. My friends I’ll be spending the next few days with in Tamarindo have arranged for a private driver and van to drive them to Hotel Las Tortugas. I’m glad to be flying to Tamarindo, since it takes about an hour, whereas my friends will be on the road for over four hours.
Nature Air (no longer operating) charges me US$25 for my overweight bag, which I expected since they have a strict 35lb limit for baggage because they use Twin Otter aircraft. They also weigh each passenger (including carry-ons), so they are pretty careful to avoid overloading their aircraft. Pavas Airport is small enough to make it easy to find the airline counter you are looking for, and the staff are casual, friendly, and helpful.
Flights versus driving San Jose to Tamarindo
Our flight leaves at 11:45am, which is a bit later than the 11:15am departure time printed on my e-ticket, but who cares since we don’t have to make any connections. I get some really nice aerial photos as we fly to Liberia, and then to Tamarindo. Liberia’s Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport has flights from American Airlines, Continental, and Air Canada landing here. If I had known that, I would have returned home from Liberia instead of taking an extra day to fly back to San Jose and having to stay overnight before flying home.
The taxi ride from Tamarindo airport to the hotel costs me US$30 – I think the taxi driver saw me coming on that one, since I was expecting to pay $20 for the short drive. The staff at Hotel Las Tortugas are very friendly, although not all speak English, they all understand some of what I say. I am booked into my room #10 as previously arranged, and have some time to settle in and have a shower before my friends arrive mid-afternoon. We have a beer and a chat before they go to their room to have a siesta.
I see the Sun setting at 6pm from my balcony, so quickly go out to the beach to take some photos of the beautiful panorama. There are quite a few people on the beach watching the sunset, which reminds me of Long Beach on Vancouver Island, Canada where my family and I stayed for a few days last September. By the time I return to my room, my friends are ready to have dinner. I take a photo of the Crescent Moon & Venus from my balcony before going to bed. I have turned off the air conditioner in my room, since I want to acclimatize to the local warm temperatures.
I am up at 3am this morning so I can get to the Victoria airport for my 6AM departure to Seattle, and then onward to Dallas/Ft Worth before finally arriving at 10:15pm local time in San Jose, Costa Rica. The Horizon Air flight from Victoria to Seatac is uneventful, with 71 people aboard the pre-dawn flight on a Bombardier Q300 – a big twin prop aircraft. Originally, a De Havilland DHC-8 Dash 8-400 was scheduled for this flight, but I guess they needed more capacity, so the Q300 was brought into service.
My flight to Dallas-Ft. Worth is overbooked, so American Airlines is offering a $250 travel credit to anyone who wants to reschedule. Obviously I don’t want to do this, since I have a connection to Costa Rica, although I do have a 3.5 hour wait in Dallas/Ft. Worth. I am seated beside a mother and her two year old boy, which she apologizes for before we even leave the gate, but the kid is fine throughout the flight to DFW. I catch a nice view of Seattle and Elliott Bay as we climb out of SeaTac (see banner image above), and later the snow-covered Rocky Mountains appear out the window. American Airlines uses a McDonnell Douglas Super MD-80 for this flight – a pretty old aircraft. The cabin is fairly new, but there are no services at the seat like I’m used to with more modern aircraft on Flight 1476. We are only served beverages – nothing to eat, so I break out a granola bar to tide me over.
My flight to San Jose leaves at 6:20pm after a three hour wait here at Dallas/Ft. Worth. We board Flight 2167 on time, but wait a minute…the captain announces over the intercom that he has left his passport at home. His wife is driving to the airport, so we will be delayed 45 minutes. Sure enough we leave 45 minutes late aboard our Boeing 757. We run into some pretty serious turbulence as we cross the coast of the Gulf of Mexico near Houston. Of course the flight attendants are serving dinner just as this happens, and have to stop their service until things settle down. We arrive in San Jose at about 10:50pm local time. I quickly clear customs and immigration, find my Swiss Travel rep, and catch the transfer van to the Courtyard Marriott Hotel. Walter, the bus driver from last year’s tour is driving! I think he remembers me, but his English is not good, so we have to keep it simple.
I arrive at the hotel at about 11:30pm, check in, unpack, and have a well-deserved shower. I have been travelling since 4am when I was picked up by the taxi in Victoria, to 11:30pm, losing 2 hours along the way by going to Central Time, making it about a 17 hour marathon. Not as bad as my past flights to/from Africa, but I’m tired.
So here I am in Costa Rica one year after my previous trip here. I’m looking forward to the next two weeks – the first week will be similar to last year at La Ensenada Lodge, and the second week will be something new, with my planned visit to Tamarindo on the Pacific Coast.
November 9, 2008 – Sunday – Cape Town, South Africa to Victoria, BC, Canada
I kill time in my hotel room until my 4:30pm transfer to Cape Town airport arrives. The hotel insists that I pay 450 Rand (US$54) for a late departure, and I have to change rooms, so I feel entitled to take full advantage of the facilities before I depart. I use the time to catch up on my travel journal, annotate photos, have a couple of naps, and have a shower before leaving for the airport. I will be traveling for over 30 hours before I arrive back home!
The South African Airways flight from Cape Town to London/Heathrow takes 12 hours. SAA serves a wonderful dinner and complimentary wine after we leave Cape Town, and then the cabin lights are shut off until a couple of hours before our arrival. As usual I don’t sleep during the flight. We are in a holding pattern over Heathrow since we arrive a bit early. Apparently they have a 6am curfew at Heathrow – no doubt to give the surrounding neighbourhoods a bit of respite overnight.
Cape Town to Heathrow flight map
South African Airways uses Terminal 1 at Heathrow and Air Canada uses Terminal 3, so I catch the shuttle. At least Terminal 3 is a more modern and civilized place to wait five hours for my 12:05pm departure, although I still can’t find any Wi-Fi networks. This is a prime people-watching place, since Heathrow is probably the busiest transfer point in the world.
After boarding my Air Canada flight to Vancouver, I notice right away the more “basic” service provided as compared with the full service provided by SAA on my previous flight. The 9-hour Air Canada flight departs on time and goes smoothly. I don’t see any aurora over the polar region this time, like I did on the Victoria to London flight at the start of my trip.
I only have an hour and forty minutes connection time in Vancouver, but manage to clear customs and immigration and board my flight for Victoria with time to spare. I’m home by dinner time on November 10th, having gained 10 hours as I cross so many time zones traveling in a westerly direction for some 32 hours elapsed time. The marathon flights are over, and I can finally sleep!
October 16, 2008 – Thursday – Johannesburg, South Africa to Livingston, Zambia
I am up at 6am this morning, since I really didn’t sleep much last night. I sort out the repacking of my bags once again. Breakfast is included in the room tariff at the Mondior hotel, and is sumptuous in their Oriana Restaurant. South Africans certainly eat well!
When I check out this morning, I ask about storing my big bag at the hotel until my return on October 25th, but they refuse since I’m not staying with them when I return to Johannesburg. So that was bad advice from Wilderness Safaris, however the front desk manager verifies that I can store my bag at the airport.
Johannesburg airport is being expanded, so it is chaotic and very noisy. They are gearing up for the FIFA 2010 International Soccer match. I find the baggage storage office and leave my big bag there – praying that it will still be there when I return on the 25th, and that my notebook computer will still be inside.
Zambian Airways Boeing 737-219 aircraft tail at the gate in Johannesburg airport
There is some high drama at the gate next to where I board my flight. A young couple show up extremely late for their flight to Mauritius and they are told the gate is closed, so they are refused entry. Lots of yelling and crying ensues, however the gate staff prevail, and eventually they shut everything down and walk away. I do love people watching!
I’m really early for my flight on Zambian Airways to Livingston, but that’s me: leave lots of time. It was a good thing, since despite this morning’s confusion with the bag storage; I still had time to deal with it.
I just experienced my first oh shit moment. I realize that I left my expensive Canon binoculars tucked into an outside pocket on the bag I checked at the airline counter. It will be a minor miracle if it appears at the other end…sigh!
Zambian Airways departs about five minutes late without incident. I say a small prayer for my binoculars as we take off. The aircraft is a Boeing 737-200, which appears to be in pretty good shape. The in-flight meal is a “beef” sandwich, which turns out to be pork deli meat.
Cataract islands in the Zambezi River above Victoria Falls as viewed from the flight into Livingston
This is certainly an International flight: there are two large groups aboard (Czechs and Israelis). There is thick air pollution obscuring the view outside for most of the flight, however I manage to pick out the lake behind the Shashe Dam in Botswana near our midway point. I take some good photos of the Zambezi River above Victoria Falls on our final approach to Livingston Airport.
After we arrive at Livingston Airport, I retrieve my bag, and to my immense relief my binoculars are still tucked into the pocket I left them in, no worse for wear! I pay the outrageous US$50 Zambian Visa single entry fee and meet Victor, our Botswana guide in the waiting area. There is a female guard with an AK47 rifle in the Zambia National Commercial Bank office in the airport!
We wait for the the second safari participant Ernst (from Austria), who arrives on the next flight a half hour after me. Apparently he paid no Zambian entry fee since he is a European. It seems the Zambians charge U.S. citizens even more than I paid for the fee – so the fee charged depends what country you are from! Jacob is our driver and guide while we are in Zambia, since Victor is not a certified Zambian guide, so he is just along for the ride until we cross into Botswana.
Victoria Falls viewpoint map
Jacob drives us to Victoria Falls where we go on a walking tour in the midday heat (about 38°C in the shade). Since this is the dry season, the water on the Zambian side of the falls is almost completely dried up, however the Zimbabwe side (in the distance) has lots of water.
As we walk the trail along the top of the gorge, we get good views of both sides of the falls . We encounter a troop of baboons along the way which I am wary of, however Jacob assures me they are not aggressive as we pass by. I get Jacob to take a photo and video of me standing against the rail with Victoria Falls in the background – two I was there moments.
I find it a bit surreal as I walk along the gorge. It’s as though I’m not really here…I can’t explain the feeling further.
100 Billion Dollar Zimbabwe bank note
Ernst and I each buy a 100 billion dollar Zimbabwe bank note from some young men hanging around the border crossing at the Victoria Falls bridge. Cost is US$5. The Zimbabwe government can’t afford to print the bills (which are virtually worthless anyway), so they use recycled paper from cheques. The bills have an expiry date of only a few months after their issue date!
We drive westward for about an hour on a good paved road. Along the way I see a roadside stand selling fish from a nearby stream, and we pass many Zambian villages along the way. Most people still live in round grass huts and keep their domestic animals near them in pens made from grass and sticks. After we pass Mwandi, we turn off on a sandy track that leads to Shackletons Lodge, located on the Zambezi River.
Sunset over the Zambezi River
My cottage overlooks a beautiful river vista. Ernst and I are the only guests, so we are treated royally. The lodge has two Jack Russell Terriers, so I feel right at home. Shackeltons is one of those places you file away, promising yourself you will return to one day.
October 13, 2008 – Monday – Victoria, BC, Canada to Johannesburg, South Africa
Native scupture in the secure departures waiting area at Vancouver airport
Today is my 56th birthday, and it is also the day I leave for Africa – what a birthday present this is! I am writing this entry as I sit in Vancouver Airport waiting for my flight to London/Heathrow. I had to take a 1:30pm flight from Victoria; however I don’t depart for Heathrow until 7:50pm, so I have five hours to kill. I also have another five hours to wait in Heathrow before I depart for Johannesburg. I left Victoria at 1:30pm on the 13th and I should arrive in Johannesburg at 7:10pm on the 15th!
At least I don’t have to clear security again here in Vancouver, however I’m in the area where Air Canada’s flight leaves and there are no shops open. At the moment, it is completely empty except for the odd passer-by. It looks like the Vancouver airport is being expanded in a fairly major way. Unfortunately, they have turned it into a maze of corridors.
People watching – I spot a woman packing her own pillow. I have to wonder if she is really going to drag that thing along with her wherever she is going. Another woman is wearing a small backpack which has a teddy bear in it. There appears to be nothing else in the backpack. She is busy on the Internet terminal doing her email. Perhaps the teddy bear has a large circle of friends?
It was drizzling when we left Victoria Airport, and it is raining pretty hard outside Vancouver Airport right now. It will be a welcome change to experience the hot and dry climate of Northern Botswana. By the looks of the climate tables, it should cool down a bit from the 40°C in Northern Botswana to the 25°C range by the time I travel down the South African coast to Cape Town.
I have a hot meatball sub from Subway for an appetizer around 4:30pm this afternoon after finding a food court about five minutes’ walk from where I had setup beside the gate. I am still in a secure area, so at least I don’t have to go through another security check just to have a meal. I’m not sure what Air Canada will serve after we are onboard, since our 7:50pm departure is well past the dinner hour. We are scheduled to arrive at London/Heathrow at 1:25pm local time, so I expect they will serve us a meal before our arrival. The stories about how Air Canada has cut back on in-flight services and meals makes me wonder what to expect on the upcoming flight.
There are a few dozen people in this area with the food court and shops, but the airport still looks pretty empty to me. There are only seven international departures up on the notice board for this evening: Amsterdam, two to London, JFK New York, Sydney, Taipei, and Hong Kong. I’m bored already, and I really haven’t started my journey. It seems everyone else is in the same situation: bored and killing time until their evening flights depart. One bonus: there is free Wireless Internet in the airport, so I can read and send email and browse some news and other online sources. I check my weather website: it is raining at home.
It is now 6:00pm and I’m back at the gate. There are sensible stout women waiting for the flight “home” to England (I assume). Almost all of them have a bag of duty free goods, and some of their feet are already swollen. The shops in the gate area are now open, so they obviously know there is little business when there are no flights scheduled (like this afternoon). It looks like the rain is settling in, so I will be glad to soon escape from this grey, cold and wet dreariness.
My time spent traveling is precious to me.
The holding lounge fills up by departure time. People are constantly after the gate staff to change their seat assignments, and they seem to good-naturedly put up with this endless parade. When I board there are no spare seats. I have a window seat and the seat beside me is occupied by a woman from Victoria. I’m happy she is quite small build, so we both have room to move. We will be over nine hours in the same seat.
Vancouver to Heathrow flight map
The aircraft pulls away from the terminal and then just sits there for about 20 minutes. The pilot finally tells us there is a mechanical problem, so we pull back into another gate at the terminal and spend the next two hours sitting around while they fix the aircraft. The crew and pilot keep us informed along the way, and we finally depart two hours late. It’s not a problem for me, since I have a five hour layover in London/Heathrow, but other passengers with tighter connections are justifiably worried.
Aurora over the North polar region out the aircraft window
Once we level out at cruising altitude, a nice dinner is served with drinks included. I am peeking out the window regularly, and I notice a nice aurora visible over the wing as we fly over the polar region. A couple of hours before we arrive, a nice breakfast is served. Thank goodness I managed to get a couple of hours sleep in-between.
We have a 100 knot tailwind for most of the flight which saves us a full 45 minutes, so we end up arriving just over an hour late at 2:00pm local time.
October 14, 2008 – Tuesday – enroute Vancouver to London/Heathrow to Johannesburg
It is 3:45pm as I write this in Terminal 1 at Heathrow. We arrived at Terminal 3, so I had to catch a shuttle bus to Terminal 1 and clear security again. Terminal 3 is modern, but Terminal 1 is decrepit by comparison. I can’t find any Internet connections – even if I am willing to pay. All I can do is wait around. They don’t post the gate numbers until 30 minutes before boarding time. When I’m in strange airports, I like to find a gate early so I’m not rushed, but I can’t do that here. Posting to my blog will have to wait until I get to the hotel in Johannesburg.
SAA A340 tail fin at the gate at Johannesburg airport
The woman with the teddy bear shows up at the gate for my flight to Johannesburg. I hope she’s not on my safari! There are a few empty seats on this flight; however most people have spread out to take advantage of the extra space so they can stretch out and sleep. The rest of us make do with trying to get some rest in a single seat. South African Airways in-flight service is very good – the meals are tasty, the cabin crew gives us good service, and the aircraft appears to be brand new (unlike Air Canada). We depart on time, and arrive early – what more could one ask for from an airline?
Heathrow to Johannesburg flight map
I rest fitfully throughout the flight, but I flip open the window shade regularly to see what is visible outside. The Orion constellation is lying on its side and is a pretty sight despite the illumination from the full Moon. Toward dawn there is a beautiful sunrise over Southern Africa as I am served breakfast just before our landing. The man sitting beside me is from Mozambique, and regularly travels to/from Johannesburg since he is involved with airport equipment. He is returning from a training trip to London.
October 15, 2008 – Wednesday – Johannesburg
Despite arriving at Johannesburg airport a bit ahead of schedule, Derek from Wilderness Safaris is there to meet me this morning. He suggests I get some South African Rands from the ABM in the terminal, and then he puts me on the shuttle to the Mondior Concorde Hotel. It is only a 15 minute drive from the airport. This hotel is part of a larger gambling complex called The Emperors Palace, which is obviously a direct copy of Las Vegas – including all the shops, the fancy concourses, and of course the noise! The hotel is nice and quiet, and although they don’t have any non-smoking rooms available at 8:30am, I take a smoking room in the interest of getting to bed as quickly as possible.
Emperors Palace Casino interior
I sleep for four hours and then get up to walk around the casino this afternoon – they obviously took liberal use of the designs of Caesars Palace or the Venetian in Las Vegas. I have dinner this evening at Squisto Ristorante in the casino mall area. It is recommended by the desk clerk, since their own Oriana restaurant is closed. I ordered a Spanikopita (spinach & feta pie) to start and Pescatore (seafood) pasta as a main. They only have a red house wine – no selection, but it was good (not too dry). This place reminds me of the Venetian in Las Vegas, except the prices are about a third of the Venetian’s. This evening’s dinner cost about 180 Rand (CD$23) including two glasses of wine and tip.
This evening I have to repack my two bags, since I will be storing the large one at the Mondior Concorde hotel here in Johannesburg while I take the small bag on the Botswana Safari. I’ll leave my notebook computer and some of the bulkier stuff here. All I need is cameras, clothes and my more compact electronic technology while I’m off on safari. When I’m traveling in Northern Botswana we will be transferred between camps in small aircraft. The maximum dimension for a bag is only 9″x12″x24″ due to the small cargo holds of these aircraft. It’s a good thing I purchased a new backpack MEC Fast-Track Roller from Mountain Equipment Co-op. It is actually two bags in one: a rolling bag with a handle that also has shoulder straps, and a smaller over-the-shoulder bag that is…you guessed it, only 9″ high. The small bag is is the one I’m taking to Botswana.
Speaking of technology, my power adapters all work here on the 220v 50Hz power. The 2 prong conversion plug I brought along works fine. My Rogers cellphone works from here – I call home successfully to check in with the family. I expect the next time I can use my cellphone will be when I return to Johannesburg on Oct 25th, since I’ll be staying in remote bush camps most of the next 12 days. Internet is not free from the Mondior Concorde hotel, but I purchase a low cost plan and the wireless connection works fine from my room. I post an update to my JoeTourist blog, and I also post a few preliminary photos on my Flickr space before going back to bed.
Tomorrow I start my safari adventure by flying to Livingston, Zambia!
Feb 15, 2008 – Friday – San Jose, Costa Rica to Seattle, WA, USA
Flight map – San Jose – Houston – Seattle
I’m up at 4am after about 4 hours sleep. I’m going to be beat flying to Seatac, so it’s probably a good thing that I overnight in Seattle to allow me to get some sleep before returning home. Diego and Walter are there at quarter to five to pick me up, along with another couple leaving on the same flight. I guess Diego and Walter will be going back and forth to the airport all morning as flights depart.
I pay my US$26 Departure Fee, clear security and wait for my Continental flight to Houston. There are only folding chairs in the departure area – I hesitate to call it a “lounge”, since there is no counter, and the gate itself is well-hidden. I start the waiting process by sorting through my photos after find a carpeted bench area to sit on so I can plug my notebook adapter into a nearby outlet. My friends soon show up, and we trade stories about the last week, since they went off on their own instead of booking the Volcanoes and Rainforest tour. My group certainly accomplished more, but my friends wanted some down time to just relax, which I can relate to.
Since I only slept four hours last night, I try to get some rest on this leg of the journey once we’re airborne. The breakfast bun Continental serves is dreadful, but I eat the egg and ham and drink the lukewarm coffee. Once we land in Houston at the George Bush airport, my friends and I take one of the golf cart shuttles since our gate for the flight to Seatac is a long way across the terminal.
Our flight to Seatac is full except for one empty seat which my friends happened to get in their row – a good thing. I’m seated in the third-to-last row, which is fine except for the deodorant smell emanating from the nearby washrooms. As on the previous flight, I zone out by listening to music through my noise-cancelling Shure earphones. That way I isolate myself somewhat from the stress of a full aircraft cabin, as well as from the noise of the jet engines. When I arrive at Seatac, I experience no ringing in my ears. Previously, I would normally have ringing in my ears for a couple of days, and have trouble hearing.
I like George Bush airport in Houston, since despite it is huge, it is well laid out and I find it easy to navigate. There is a good choice of services near each group of gates, and the airport staff are helpful and friendly. I find that Seatac airport is also improving as far as customer service is concerned, however the poor layout and those infernal trains between various terminals present challenges to passengers who have to find their gates.
When I arrive at Seatac I clear customs and immigration, retrieve my checked bag, and then proceed to the ticketing and check-in area at the front of the main terminal. I find the Horizon Air counter and ask if there is a seat available on the flight leaving this evening. They confirm the flight is fully-booked, so I then find the Continental counter and tell them I will need a hotel voucher, as instructed by my travel agency. After a short delay, the woman gives me the voucher for a stay at the nearby Clarion. I proceed to the hotel shuttle pickup area, call the Clarion, and shortly after the shuttle picks me up. This hotel at Seatac is not exactly a first rate hotel, but the room is clean and the bed feels good.
Feb 16, 2008 – Saturday – Seattle, WA, USA to Victoria, BC, Canada
I am up at 5am in order to be at the gate at Seatac for my 7:30am flight to Victoria. I am out the door at 5:45am and join several other folks in the shuttle to the airport. I check in at the Horizon Air kiosks that are located in the walkway between the drop-off point and the main terminal. I print my boarding pass and go to the baggage check-in area for Horizon/Alaska airlines. It is very crowded, but I get through after waiting only about 10 minutes and check my bag – no overweight charges this time thank goodness! The line to clear security is very long, but it moves quickly.
I find my gate with almost an hour to spare, get myself some coffee and sit down to work on my notebook computer for awhile. It is great to have my notebook with me, since it gives me something productive to do during the inevitable waiting time while travelling. By the time I get home I’ll have all my photos organized and captioned, which will be a big help to process them more quickly than my last trip, which took me many months.
The Horizon flight to Victoria departs on time, and the flight to Victoria is uneventful. Although there are lots of clouds, there are enough clear spots to give me opportunities to photograph the Olympic Mountains from my left side window seat. My checked bag appears on the baggage belt at Victoria airport, and I clear Canadian Customs in short order. The officer asks me about my farm stay, but wasn’t concerned since I say it was a week ago, and my shoes had been washed since that time. I find my vehicle parked in the long term parking, pay the fee and drove home.
Today I travel to Costa Rica. I’m up at 5:15am, do some last minute packing, say goodbye to my family, and I’m out the door at 6:20am. I drive to the Victoria airport, park in the long term parking, and check in at the Horizon counter. My checked bag is overweight by 5lbs, which costs me $25 extra – not a problem, since I can’t lug anymore carry-on luggage. The security guy asks me about the Astrotrac tracking mount for my camera, and we then get into the inevitable discussion about astronomy.
I find a power plug for my notebook in the gate area and sit down to write in my journal to kill a bit of time. My friends (who are also going to Costa Rica) arrive a few minutes after me. Our flight to SeaTac is delayed by about a half hour, but once airborne we are treated to a flight path that loops over Mill Bay, the Malahat and Victoria as we head southeast to Seattle, Washington. Despite the delayed departure, we arrive in plenty of time to find our bags, clear customs, and find the gate for our Continental flight to George Bush airport in Houston.
Our flight to Houston is also a bit late taking off, however we have a smooth flight – seeing Mount Rainier (see banner image above) along the way is a treat before the clouds close in for the last part of the flight. We have less than a half hour between flights in Houston, so Continental has a motorized cart waiting for us at the gate to ensure we connect with our flight to San Jose. The gate for the connecting flight is way across the terminal, however the nice lady driving the cart gets us there with time to spare. As we find our seats, the overhead bins are full, so I keep two carry-on bags on the floor under my feet for this flight.
I’m seated beside a huge guy from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who overflows the seat with his enormous tattooed arms and shoulders. I manage to survive by ignoring him as best I can, plugging into my music with some Shure in-ear earphones I bought awhile ago to use on this trip. They are fantastic at effectively shutting out the aircraft engine noise in particular, so when we arrive in San Jose my ears are not ringing as they normally do. The airport is controlled chaos, but we clear Costa Rican customs in short order, find our transportation, and are transferred to our hotel after only about a 20 minute wait.
The Courtyard Marriott hotel is pretty deluxe with North American style rooms with Internet connections, telephones, TV, wet bar, coffee maker and hair dryer. I take advantage of the free Internet connection to contact a few folks back home to let them know we arrived safely and will be on our way to the lodge tomorrow. Speaking about La Ensenada “Star” Lodge,I understand that it is more primitive, so it doesn’t have Internet, and even the telephone is not always working. I’m assuming my cellphone won’t work there, unlike here in San Jose where it roamed on the local provider right away.
My friends and I have some beer from the wet bar, and chat about a few things. We are excited about the astrophotography possibilities at the Lodge we are going to stay at starting tomorrow. I go to bed around 1:30am local time (11:30pm Pacific time).
April 14, 2006 – Friday – Flight from Athens, Greece through Milan to Toronto and onward to Victoria, Canada
My alarm goes off at 3am and I am picked up by Jimmy (Paul’s alternate) at 4am. It is a bit confusing picking out Jimmy, since there are so many cabs going by. Exarhia is still going strong at this late hour! Jimmy and I have a nice chat on the way to the airport, and I pay him the €500 I owe Paul for the taxi services over the last week.
As I board my Alitalia flight to Milan, it is raining lightly at Athens airport. We taxi over the airport’s main access road on an overpass to get to our runway. As we takeoff, the rain is increasing. What luck I’ve had on this trip. At most we had some overcast in Venice, otherwise it has been sunny every day. We fly the length of Italy’s east coast south to north, and land on time in Milan. I end up only two gates away from where my group left Malpenza for Tripoli three weeks ago! This is the old part of the airport, and it is very crowded. Destinations for the four gates include: Prague, Bucharest, Tunisia, Timisora, Cairo, Istanbul, Krakow, Dublin, and (of course) Toronto – my flight.
Flight map – Athens to Milan
The Tunisia flight seems to be popular with the Italians by the look of the passports. Lots of tired, squalling kids all appear to be waiting for the Toronto flight. I observe two types of passengers bound for Toronto: Indians with kids returning home (after already spending many hours in the air), and older Italians obviously going to visit their family in Toronto. We board Alitalia Flight AZ652, a Boeing 767-33A (ER) about 20 minutes late, then once we are aboard, another 30 minute delay is announced due to ATC traffic congestion.
Flight map – Milan to Toronto
I take some nice photographs of Lago Maggiore, where my eclipse tour group stayed in Beligerate on our last night. The Italian Alps are spectacular, as are the beautiful blue waters surrounding the Isles of Scilly off the south coast of Wales. I spot several large ships in the Atlantic shipping lane off the coast of England as we have dinner. Several hours later we fly over Newfoundland, revealing endless frozen lakes and not a tree in sight. I think the Italian woman sitting beside me is impressed, and perhaps a little worried about finding the same thing in Toronto! Unfortunately she doesn’t speak English, so I can’t reassure her about Toronto’s milder climate.
I’ve noticed as we fly over the Atlantic that aircraft in the traffic lanes fly very close to each other – at times I could almost make out the aircraft markings. One of the female Alitalia cabin crew sees my digital SLR, and tells me I can’t use it in flight. This doesn’t make any sense – it’s normal to prohibit use of electronic devices during takeoff and landing, but not during flight. Alitalia’s own announcement states this, but I wasn’t going to argue the point with her so I put my camera away. Despite this warning, I took some great aerial shots all the way from Athens through to the St. Lawrence.
After 9.5 hours in the air, we finally arrive at Pearson Airport in Toronto. Alitalia lands at a skyway equipped gate, but it is off in some remote area of the airport. Everyone has to get on a shuttle bus and go for a 20 minute ride to Terminal One, where we go through Canadian Immigration. There are a dozen officers, however two flights are being processed: ours from Italy, and one from China. The Chinese take a long time to be interviewed, since many don’t speak English, and it appears some haven’t filled in the form. Once I finally speak with an officer, I breeze through in less than a minute. I also am lucky to find the correct luggage carousel and grab my bag right away. Canada Customs decides they don’t want to talk with me, so that was easy!
I now have five hours to kill before my Air Canada direct flight to Victoria departs. I sip a Cappuccino Grande, which is my first cappuccino since we left Italy. While in Athens, I made brewed coffee with my breakfast in the apartment. I really didn’t feel comfortable spending time in the numerous cafés in Athens for some reason – perhaps it was all the smoking that put me off.
Pearson International Airport is quite impressive, now that the expansion is completed. The new Terminal One is grand-looking, with soaring ceilings and glass, new car displays, bars, restaurants, coffee bars, duty free shops, bookstores and all sorts of other shops. Even the cleaning staff are impressive: they wear black and white suit-like uniforms complete with ties, and the airport is absolutely spotless.
While I’m waiting for my flight, I call home and let them know I’m in Toronto and the flight appears to be on-time, so they should plan to pick me up at 10:30pm. After this call, I watch a young Chinese guy try to use one of the pay telephones without success. He then asks me for help, and I see that the number he is calling is Ottawa (long distance). I coach him through the process of using a credit card, but the telephone rejects his Chinese card. I then offer to let him use my cellular telephone, which works fine. He is very grateful, shakes my hand, and runs off to the gate to board his flight.
Flight map – Toronto to Victoria
I am extremely tired when I finally arrive at Victoria Airport. It takes me about five days to fully recover from the jet lag. The westward journey was certainly the killer. I wouldn’t let a travel agent talk me into a 30 hour elapsed time flight again. I should have stayed overnight in Toronto on the way back, as happened for the start of my trip.
April 7, 2006 – Friday – Milan, Italy to Athens, Greece & first day in Athens
My solar eclipse tour group returns to Toronto from Milan today, however I am going onward to Athens, staying for a week. We have a 5am wakeup call, and the bus arrives at 6:30am. We arrive at Milan’s Malpenza airport, where our airport guide takes us to the Alitalia check-in. He takes me to a different check-in, since I’m not going to Canada/US. After clearing security, I call Paul the Honest Greek taxi driver and confirm he will pick me up at Athens International airport upon my arrival there.
People watching in Malpenza airport:
Russian sports team – lots of hot looking, muscular young men
A woman with her Yorkshire terrier
A young Italian woman wearing sequined cowboy boots
A sports team from Tunis and another from Italy – young men & women – I thought the Turin Olympics were over?
Staff at an American Express booth stopping people to sign them up for the Alitalia gold card – a tough job
Several African men in traditional long robes and hats
My rental apartment on Exarhia Square
The Alitalia flight to Athens offers scenic views of the Ionic and Aegean Seas through the mist (see banner image above). After arriving in Athens huge international airport, I walk directly to the Arrivals area – no entry formalities thanks to still being in the European Union. My prearranged driver Paul is holding a “Mr. Carr” sign, so he is easy to find. He drives me to Athens (30 minutes by car), and drops me off at Harry’s apartment. Harry meets me at the door and shows me his rental apartment. It’s very basic, but clean, and has a small kitchen, dining room, bathroom. Despite the place having 3 bedrooms, I have the apartment to myself.
Harry recommends a local restaurant run by Albanians for dinner this evening. It takes me awhile to find it, despite it only being a block away. It isn’t fancy, but the food is good, and it’s not too expensive. I see lots of locals stop in to pickup takeout for dinner – a good sign! I have salad, a pork & spinach main course, and a Coke for €10.50.
