(co-written by Matt and Lisa)
Okay, so will I really blog from Russia?! I guess we all know the answer to that question.
In the off chance that I have fallen completely out of touch with you for the last six months, Matt and I had a wonderful time exploring Moscow and St. Petersburg, and emerged from the trip realizing that perhaps we had potential as more than friends. So….we’ve spent the last six months dating and traveling (to Seattle and Hershey and Houston and Heidelberg and Cologne and Vegas and St. Maarten and Vegas and Seattle again).
But next week we are off on a blog-worthy adventure: South Africa for Matt’s 40th birthday. Of course, it’s a bit of a redo for me from last year but this time we’re doing a luxury safari in South Africa - no need to revisit Zimbabwe. From Kruger National Park we will move on to Cape Town, where we’ll try out the famous Cape Grace Hotel in the V&A Harbor. We have tickets to Robben Island, which I missed last year as it was undergoing repairs. Thus, in addition to this being all about Matt’s first African adventure, the trip will be an upgraded South Africa 2.0 for me as well.
As usual, getting there should be half the fun. And thanks to Matt’s tenacity and perseverance in working the ANA award booking tool we were able to score two first class award tickets on Lufthansa IAD-FRA-JNB. That first class ticket includes a day room at the Kempinski hotel near Frankfurt airport since our flight arrives in the morning and departs in the evening. We’ll also both get to experience the legendary Lufthansa First Class Terminal http://www.lufthansa.com/online/portal/lh/de/info_and_services/at_the_airport?nodeid=1771144&l=en&cid=18002&blt_p=DE&blt_l=en&blt_t=Info_and_Services%3eAt_the_Airport&blt_e=Content&blt_n=First%20Class%20Terminal&blt_z=More%20information&blt_c=DE%7Cen%7CInfo_and_Services%3EAt_the_Airport%7CContent%7CFirst%20Class%20Terminal%7CMore%20information at Frankfurt airport for the first time, where international first class customers have an entire terminal dedicated to pampering them. The pampering includes a personal assistant and transfer to one’s aircraft via Mercedes or Porsche sedan. Our transfer day will be Matt’s actual birthday and he could not be more thrilled about how we plan on spending it.
Then we head down to Johannesburg for a day exploring South Africa’s amazingly sad history or apartheid. The next morning it’s a charter flight up to Sabi Sands, a private game reserve adjacent to Kruger National Park where we’ll spend 3 nights at the Exeter River Lodge http://www.andbeyondafrica.com/luxury_safari/south_africa/sabi_sand_game_reserve/and_beyond_exeter_river enjoying game drives and some very serious relaxation.
After that we charter back to JNB and then down to Cape Town. As a birthday present to Matt I’ve booked us into the Cape Grace hotel for our time there. I plan on showing him the sights, including Table Mountain. And of course, wandering the city and finding all the fun that we always seem to find while traveling.
We’ll return through JNB and FRA back to IAD, again in LH first class so that the journey home continues to be a big part of the vacation.
All in all, a pretty exciting way to share Matt’s 40th birthday with him. We leave on Sunday. We’ve gotten our shots, started our malaria meds, bought our safari gear and are counting the hours to lift off! Matt says he’ll help me keep the blog up to date this trip so hopefully I (we) will do a better job of it this time!
Here’s the itinerary:
Okay, so will I really blog from Russia?! I guess we all know the answer to that question.
In the off chance that I have fallen completely out of touch with you for the last six months, Matt and I had a wonderful time exploring Moscow and St. Petersburg, and emerged from the trip realizing that perhaps we had potential as more than friends. So….we’ve spent the last six months dating and traveling (to Seattle and Hershey and Houston and Heidelberg and Cologne and Vegas and St. Maarten and Vegas and Seattle again).
But next week we are off on a blog-worthy adventure: South Africa for Matt’s 40th birthday. Of course, it’s a bit of a redo for me from last year but this time we’re doing a luxury safari in South Africa - no need to revisit Zimbabwe. From Kruger National Park we will move on to Cape Town, where we’ll try out the famous Cape Grace Hotel in the V&A Harbor. We have tickets to Robben Island, which I missed last year as it was undergoing repairs. Thus, in addition to this being all about Matt’s first African adventure, the trip will be an upgraded South Africa 2.0 for me as well.
As usual, getting there should be half the fun. And thanks to Matt’s tenacity and perseverance in working the ANA award booking tool we were able to score two first class award tickets on Lufthansa IAD-FRA-JNB. That first class ticket includes a day room at the Kempinski hotel near Frankfurt airport since our flight arrives in the morning and departs in the evening. We’ll also both get to experience the legendary Lufthansa First Class Terminal http://www.lufthansa.com/online/portal/lh/de/info_and_services/at_the_airport?nodeid=1771144&l=en&cid=18002&blt_p=DE&blt_l=en&blt_t=Info_and_Services%3eAt_the_Airport&blt_e=Content&blt_n=First%20Class%20Terminal&blt_z=More%20information&blt_c=DE%7Cen%7CInfo_and_Services%3EAt_the_Airport%7CContent%7CFirst%20Class%20Terminal%7CMore%20information at Frankfurt airport for the first time, where international first class customers have an entire terminal dedicated to pampering them. The pampering includes a personal assistant and transfer to one’s aircraft via Mercedes or Porsche sedan. Our transfer day will be Matt’s actual birthday and he could not be more thrilled about how we plan on spending it.
Then we head down to Johannesburg for a day exploring South Africa’s amazingly sad history or apartheid. The next morning it’s a charter flight up to Sabi Sands, a private game reserve adjacent to Kruger National Park where we’ll spend 3 nights at the Exeter River Lodge http://www.andbeyondafrica.com/luxury_safari/south_africa/sabi_sand_game_reserve/and_beyond_exeter_river enjoying game drives and some very serious relaxation.
After that we charter back to JNB and then down to Cape Town. As a birthday present to Matt I’ve booked us into the Cape Grace hotel for our time there. I plan on showing him the sights, including Table Mountain. And of course, wandering the city and finding all the fun that we always seem to find while traveling.
We’ll return through JNB and FRA back to IAD, again in LH first class so that the journey home continues to be a big part of the vacation.
All in all, a pretty exciting way to share Matt’s 40th birthday with him. We leave on Sunday. We’ve gotten our shots, started our malaria meds, bought our safari gear and are counting the hours to lift off! Matt says he’ll help me keep the blog up to date this trip so hopefully I (we) will do a better job of it this time!
Here’s the itinerary:
1 comment:
Awesome!
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