Birthday adventures in India – April 2017

Luke and I had a few days leave. We were thinking of the Philippines but ended up choosing Goa in India instead (as the flight is much shorter). We booked our accommodation more than a month in advance BUT we carelessly forgot to organize visas for India. So in a frantic rush the night before we were due to leave we went online and applied for an e-visa. We ended up having to pay quite a lot to expedite the visas within 24hours. The money was worth it because we received the visas by 5pm the next afternoon. Another thing for some reason Australians have to pay 100US Dollars more than South Africans for the visa.

We caught the Emirates flight to Bengaluru (aka Bangalore) and then we caught a domestic flight to Goa. Once arriving in Goa we had an hour drive to the area of Baga. Once we got to Acron Waterfront Resort we were exhausted! We had a nap and then went down to the beach and restaurant area. We went to the highly recommend Britto’s for drinks and the best palak paneer I’ve ever had in my life. After dinner we went for a walk down the beach and ended up stopping for a cocktail at a bar called Zanzibar.

The next day we hired a scooter from the resort. It was extremely cheap to rent the scooter for the day. We decided to ride to Ashvem beach for a day adventure. And an adventure it was. In that 45 minute scooter ride we rode over a snake that dropped from the trees above us, we almost had a head on collusion as the throttle got stuck while Luke was driving and we almost rode into a cow. The trip was worth it as the beach was beautiful and much more relaxing than the busy Baga beach.

The day after that we set off to do the parasailing on Baga beach. Now that was yet another entertaining experience. We had to sign these random forms and then we were suited up with life jackets. Luke’s life jacket was so loose he would have slipped right out if he didn’t tighten it. We were then pulled along to a boat, instructed to help push it into the water, and then had to hurry and get on the boat before the big set of waves came through. I had seen videos before of couples doing the parasailing in tandem. I couldn’t wait for me and Luke to experience it together. However once on the boat with all the equipment the guys said that Luke would be first and that we couldn’t go together. This was all communicated to us by another guy doing the parasailing. Luke went soaring into the sky as a gust of wind came through. I was worried the thin rope would break and I would never see Luke again. (Jokes) But I was worried. In the package we bought we also got ‘dunked’. I say dunked because it was like we were tea bags being dunked in the ocean. I thoroughly enjoyed it. All I could do was laugh hysterically.
We also booked a tour to go and see a waterfall. We got up early and drove for a couple of hours to this nature reserve. There were monkeys all over. We were allowed to swim and Luke dove in immediately but I was hesitant as there were huge fish everywhere! As we both got out the water the tour guide asked me if I had seen the snake. I replied ‘No!’ thinking the guy was joking but no… one metre away between the rocks was a water snake. That’s when I decided it was time to go back to the resort…

Here is a short video of our trip.

 

 

Zanzibar Holiday ~ Tanzania

So Luke and I tried booking our flights with Emirates however the flights we needed to catch were all over booked. We made alternative arrangements and ended up flying with Rwandair (Dubai – Kigali – Dar Es salaam). I was really impressed by the standard of service. It’s always interesting flying with a different airline to see how they do things. 

Once landing in Dar Es salaam we caught a taxi to our hotel in the CBD which was close to the Azam Marine port. That night we ordered room service had a few drinks and rested well. After breakfast we made our way down to the Azam Marine port where we then caught a ferry across to Zanzibar. We paid 35 US dollars per single ticket. We were picked up at the Zanzibar port by our hotels driver. This made the whole experience a lot less stressful. 

We booked our whole stay at Kendwa Rocks Beach Hotel. Both Luke and I had been told that the north side of the island was the best for holidays. Kendwa Rocks is rather popular for holding a full moon party each month. The day we arrived was the morning after so most of the party goers had left. 

During our stay we did many different activities here are a few:

• Sun tanning in the resort
• Rented bikes and cycled to Nungwi 
• We visited the Mnarani Marine Turtle Conservation pond
• We also visited the Zanzibar Caves. Directly off the main road just after leaving Nungwi.
• Couples massage on the beach
• Snorkeling safari (Dhow ride to two locations for snorkeling, braai on the beach with snacks and refreshments onboard)
• We got the half board so every morning we went from breakfast and then snacked throughout the day until dinner. 
• Luke also manage to get a tattoo on the last day from a professional Italian tattoo artist who has a hut on the beach. 

Below is a short video clip I made of our activists we did in Zanzibar. Please enjoy 🙂   ✈️🌍🇹🇿⚓️🌺🌴🍸🐠

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Dar es salaam

 

A snap from our snorkel safari

  

A few sun downers

  

Feeding the turtles

 

Please leave a comment below if you would like to see more videos x 

A wedding in Cape Town

Aurora and Darren’s Wedding
Ashanti Wine Estate ~ Cape Town

Meeting the parents

So mom and dad arrived in Dubai a few days before my birthday. They came to celebrate my birthday with me but the main reason was to meet Luke. 

On my birthday we went for a lovely dinner and I was spoilt rotten by my parents and Luke.  

 

Business Class ~ UPGRADE

So I am proud to say that I was SUCCESSFUL with my application for Business Class Promotion.

After flying for under two years I was able to apply for the Business Class promotion. I did my best and was able to keep a spotless record. To this day I have NO absents, NO sick days and only good reports. (Touch wood)

I must say I really did enjoy every minute of working in Economy there was never a dull moment. Always someone interesting to talk to. However you know when it’s time to move on and further your career one has to.

Below I have added a few photos from my business class training. I was fortunate enough to be put in a batch with my batch mate who I joined with (Mayumi from Japan).

 

Mayumi and myself

 

Business Class Training Batch

 

Brighton ~ England

I must apologize for not posting in such a long time. Time really flies when you on the go all the time.

I recently had an amazing flight to London Gatwick. I had already been twice before but I normally go shopping at Primark and have lunch at the near by mall. But this layover I was determined to do it ALL!

I chatted with the crew on the flight and I managed to rally a few of them together. One hour after checking into the hotel we all hopped on the train and started the journey to Brighton. I was very excited as I have family that used to live in Brighton,and I finally had the chance to see places like the Brighton pier in person and not just on photographs. The train ride took about an hour but it was all so worth it! When we arrived at Brighton station I realized we were extremely lucky because the weather was absolutely PERFECT! Not a breath of wind and there was not a cloud in the sky!

We stopped at the closest pub which was literally on the beach front. It was amazing sitting outside watching the waves crashing on the brown pebble beach, not a sight one gets to see every day. We then made our way towards the famous Brighton Pier. One of the girls was adamant that she wanted to go on the rides at the end of the pier so that’s what we did.

After watching the sun set we started our journey back to Crawley. By this time we were all starving so one of the crew suggested a restaurant they’d been to before. So on the walk from the hotel to the restaurant I was stunned when I looked down one of the roads and I saw a FOX creeping around! I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was a full on residential area. I don’t know what it is but all over the world I end up seeing the most astounding animals in the weirdest places.

The restaurant we ended up at was a full on Jamaican themed  place. It was amazing half price cocktails, the food was so interesting so different to the things I would usually eat and the staff were insane. While we were having our dinner the two waitors were having a full on rubber band war across the restaurant. It ended up being our entertainment!

The next morning I woke up bright and early to get as much done as possible. I set off for the mall where I had Costa coffee with breakfast and then nipped into Primark <3. After a good few hours there I then popped into Boots another favourite of mine!!  By that time I had to run back to the hotel with all my shopping so I would be in time for the wake up call. I made it with a good few minutes to spare!

Truly an amazing layover in England definitely ranked up in my top 10 layovers. 🙂

x

 

Lebanese, Portuguese, South African, Serbian and Italian

 

Brighton Pier

 

The view walking down to the beach

 

Brighton Pebble Beach

 

 

 

 

Mauritius

I was really lucky in the month of April as I got TWO Mauritius flights in my roster. So this post will be a combination of my two trips.

We arrived at the beautiful resort just before sun set. So as we walked through the lobby to check in we watched the sun slowly set over the lagoon and swimming pool. I was flabbergasted that it was my job to relax and enjoy an amazing resort in Mauritius for the next day and half!

While on board we all had made arrangements to meet for dinner. As we had spoken to crew who had done the flight before and most of them had only good things to say about the Buffet Dinner! And they were right!! It was amazing, they had such a large selection of food from Veal, calamari, salads, mussels and many more appetizing dishes! I think I have mastered the art of buffet eating. The trick is to have a small portion of everything then after that you can go back for seconds of the foods you enjoyed most! After dinner it was time for a well deserved rest.

The great thing about the resort is that all the water sports are included in the stay. That day I attempted watering skiing along side the boat in the lagoon. Everything was going well until we made a huge U turn and I ended up falling on my own wakes! The next activity was one of my favorites – Stand up Paddle boarding. The guy giving us all the equipment warned us that we must be careful as jelly fish had been spotted coming into the lagoon. We hopped on the boards and started paddling. I was about 200m out when I looked down and noticed that there were huge coral beds less than half a meter down. It was really crazy to see all the different colors and if I looked carefully I could see small fish darting in and around the coral. Next up was kayaking, a few of us decided to all go paddling together. After a good paddle around the lagoon and a few selfies we raced each other back to the beach.

After a very eventful morning it was then time for lunch. Lunch was divine as to be expected. I had seared tuna, salads and the most delicious desserts. It was then time to chill around the pool and catch some sun. I was really impressed with the weather as it was autumn and still really sunny. In our briefing before the trip the captain warned us to put loads of sunscreen on. Occasionally crew from other countries under estimate the strength of the sun down south. On the trip back to Dubai unfortunately there was one crew burnt so badly she looked like a cooked crayfish (lobster).

My next trip I woke up early morning to book the snorkeling with the resort! It so happens that most of the crew ended up booking the same trip. We all got kitted up with snorkels, flippers and  hopped in the water. Please take note NO WET SUIT as the water was so incredibly warm. That was a real shock for me because in Cape Town we have the freezing cold Atlantic Ocean. The most amazing thing was I didn’t have to check around every few seconds for great white sharks!! We have a few too many of them in Cape Town. I took my GoPro along and it was truly remarkable filming as there were fish everywhere! I must admit usually I’m quite scared of small fish that come up to me. But the great thing about these fish was as you swim towards them they scatter. Unless you holding a banana then they turn into little piranhas! Have a look at the photo below I was holding the banana under the water and they began to savage it. In a slight panic I threw the banana to the closet person I saw. After about 45 minutes in the water the skipper (captain) gave a call as it was time to leave. Myself and the two other crew were devastated that we had to leave. I could honestly have snorkeled for a good hour longer. Truly one of the most unforgettable experience in all of my travels. I can’t wait to go on holiday with Jeffrey and show him exactly what I was ranting and raving about.

Another activity one can do in Mauritius is book a tour to go and swim with the Dolphins. I have read up on it and you travel by boat to a bay. You then jump off the boat into open water and swim with the wild dolphins. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to arrange the tour but that just means I’m going to have to go to Mauritius again.

If you ever wondering where to go on holiday I would highly recommend Mauritius! It’s a beautiful place with so much to see and the locals are so friendly and inviting.

Stand Up Paddle Boarding

Crew Selfie

Snorkeling

SUP’ing

Feeding the fish the Banana

Snorkeling

Colombo ~ Sri Lanka

In my opinion Colombo is like one huge green house!

We arrived at the hotel and luckily there were a few other girls who had also not been to Colombo before.

On the flight we had decided to all get together and book the tour to visit the elephants. So that’s what we did! The five of us sprinted upstairs changed and came down 30 minutes later for the tour.

We jumped in the van and after a fairly lengthily drive along narrow winding roads we had a pit stop. We stopped at this little stall along the road where a young women was selling super fresh coconuts. We all got one and it was delicious! I could not believe that I paid under R3.00 for a super fresh coconut.

We set off again and about 20 minutes later we arrived at the Elephant orphanage. At the entrance we had to choose which package we wanted to go for. All of us opted for the short elephant ride and to pet the elephants in the river. It was amazing as soon as we walked through the entrance there were elephants slowly walking around the area. There were another two elephants down in the river having baths and playing in the water.

We got in line to ride the elephants and I was concerned that the elephants might be treated badly, however I was pleasantly surprised. The trainers were holding thin wooden sticks but I did not see them using them. Most of the time the trainers just shout sounds to guide the elephants. Our short ride around the garden was an amazing experience such graceful animals. My favorite encounter was when I wadded into the river while the elephant was lying on her side just cooling off. I had the pleasure of giving her a little bath. The trainer showed me how it was done. They use half a coconut shell and scoop water onto the elephants skin and give it a good scrub. It’s like a exfoliation massage at a parlour. I got the impression that the elephants love it!!!

After the elephant encounter we took a short ride to the tea factory down the road. There we were shown how they process the tea leaves and then we were lucky enough to enjoy an afternoon tasting the factory’s famous English breakfast tea.

We then made our way back to the hotel weaving through the lush forests of this enchanting city.

I am truly grateful to be able to experience these once in a life time experiences.

The elephant and I in the river

 

Riding the beautiful elephant

 

The Crew

 

Enjoying our coconuts

 

BANGKOK ~ Thailand

We arrived in Bangkok at 11pm so we only reached the hotel around midnight. A few the crew and I had arranged to go out as we arrived. So we quickly ran up and got ready to meet downstairs in 30 minutes. I was really excited for my Bangkok flight, because after 7 months of flying I had never been. This is a very popular flight many crew get two or three Bangkok flights a month. So I was really grateful to finally have one.

The five of us jumped into a taxi and set off for the famous Khao San Road. The closer the taxi got the slower the taxi driver drove as he had to weave through the hoards of people! It was INSANE the amount of people running around the streets having the time of their life! We hopped out the taxi and made our way down the road looking for an inviting bar to go into. There were bars open everywhere and right across the road was a massage parlour, with people having their feet massaged out in the open. Along the streets they also had the stalls with the cooked scorpions but none of us had the guts to buy one and taste them. Unfortunately there was a big sign saying no photographs allowed so I couldn’t take a shot.

We then decided to stop at a restaurant for a bite to eat and something to drink. Little did we know it was much hotter inside than outside. After an hour or two things start to die down. By this time we were all exhausted so we made our way back to the hotel.

Early the next morning three other crew and myself set off to do some sight seeing! We first had an amazing tok tok ride to the canals close to the hotel. We then decided to do a tour of the canals by boat which included a stop at the local temple. Along the way we met up with a old lady who was sitting in a small canoe alongside the canal. The driver of the boat then told us that this lady was actually a floating shop.

At the temple there were a number of stalls selling souvenirs. I bought my usual fridge magnet which is what I collect on every layover and I have also started collecting shot glasses for Jeffrey my boyfriend. I know it is quite the cliche however after all my trips it is quite satisfying to walk past the fridge and remember the story behind each magnet I’ve bought. After we had taken enough photographs we went back to the boat. The lady then dropped us off about a kilometre down the canal where she said we could catch a taxi to the MBK shopping centre/mall.

The four of us split up into two so we could get what we were looking for. I got a few bikinis, dresses and a few shirts. I was really shocked in a GREAT way how cheap everything was. A good few hours later Mariana and I set off back for the hotel. Something I do before leaving the hotel is take a card with address on it. Staying at so many different hotels it sometimes gets hard to remember the name. Another thing if it’s a destination where the locals can’t speak English at least you can just show the address!

When back at the hotel there was enough time to have a good rest before the night flight back to Dubai.

x

Paris – France

I never thought I would ever be traveling to PARIS! I was ecstatic when I saw CDG (Charles de Gaulle Airport) on my roster.

When we arrived at the hotel it was mid day. I knew I had to carry on with the day else I would fall asleep and not wake up till midnight. Another thing with Paris flights is that often most of the crew have already been to the city and done all the sight seeing. So luckily Yan and I, a Chinese girl decided to head out to the city as she had also never been to Paris before. Unfortunately the hotel is situated quite far from the city (ie Eiffel Tower).

Yan and I caught the shuttle to the airport and then the train all the way to the city. It was about an hour trip BUT it was so worth it! As we came out the train station we were right under the Eiffel Tower!! It was crazy both our faces lit up. And then the cameras shot out.

As we walked along the canal next to the Eiffel Tower we came to the bridge and we noticed there was quite a bit of commotion going on. Yan and I got closer to see what was going on. As we got closer I noticed that it was a game that people play to try rip off the tourists. It’s a game with three cups and they place a ball under the one and then swap the cups around. You have to keep your eye on the cup with the ball under it and then bet money on it. The lowest bid is 50 EUROS. IF you get it you double your money. We were watching and before I had said anything Yan had gone and pointed at one of the cups! They asked her to show the money and then flipped the cup over it was empty! She had lost her entire allowance for the trip. I carried on watching and then I explained the whole scam to her. There were about three people bidding each round but I noticed that all the people bidding were very tan from standing out in the sun every day. They were part of the scam. I had also seen a documentary on national geographics called Scam City. And this particular scam was one of the scams on the program.

After the drama we walked through the city, stopped off for lunch and then made our way to the Arc de Triomphe. It was quite the walk but once we got there it was insane cars zooming and hooting as they raced around the circle like it was a scene from an action movie! We then started the journey down the beautiful Champs De Élysées Avenue. It took us a good 20 minutes to walk half jog to the famous Le Grand Louvre. Unfortunately we did not go in and visit the Louvre Museum as we wanted to see as much as possible that day.

Yan and I really got a good work out doing all the sight seeing. We managed to get some great shots and a few selfies as well. We then made our way to the locket bridge the proper name is Pont Des Arts. I then bought a locket and placed it on the bridge with mine and Jeffrey’s name on it.

I found it really funny that I was in FRANCE, buying a lock made in SOUTH AFRICA and sold by a PAKISTANI.

After all the excitement for the day Yan and I decided it was time to head back to the hotel for a good rest before the flight the next morning. We found the closest metro station and hopped on the train.

I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in Paris! And I can honestly say I understand what people find so fascinating about the city. There is a vibe there that I’ve only felt in a few cities so far. It may be cliche;however, you will know what I’m talking about once you get there!

x