Welcome to The Legend Safari Tour 2010
It's that time of the year again when we start to pack our bags and think about where we are heading to this year on our annual African safari. This will be about the 14th trip for Keith and Anne together, and  another of numerous visits by Keith.
JUNE 1 AND 2
Once again we ignored the 'hang-dog' expressions on the faces of Sallydog and Deefadog, loaded our luggage into our friend Rob's vehicle and travelled the 35km distance from Narromine to Dubbo airport to catch the 12:10, 55-minute, QANTAS flight to Sydney.
On arrival we caught a shuttle to the Ibis Sydney airport hotel, the reservation of which was booked online. Compared to some of the other airport hotels the charge of $149, excluding breakfast,  for a double room is quite reasonable. This year, instead of having drinks and a meal there we walked into Mascot CBD  and ate at a Portugese 'burger' place then had a couple of drinks at the local pub: a great saving as the airport hotel meals and drinks are quiet expensive. Fortunately, and for a change, the weather conditions were perfect for the 20-minute walk to Mascot, a very multi-cultural suburb of Sydney.
An early night and we were up with the birds to catch the shuttle ($12.00  a person each way) to the International terminal and our 10:00am QANTAS QF63 flight to Johannesburg. Once again we booked online, but through the South African Airways (SAA) site as the fare  was less expensive than QANTAS and for the same flight. This year we decided to lash out and travel business class and what a wonderful experience that was!  With this class of  travel you have express check-in, customs and immigration; then entry to the QANTAS lounge where we had a delicious breakfast and relaxed prior to our flight.
We were soon called to board, then thanks to the attention and care by QANTAS Customer Service Manager Russell Evans and his dedicated crew, truly delicious food and wines and great movie channels,  our 13.5 hour smooth fight was most comfortable and enjoyable. Anne once again went into an eating frenzy, something which occurs every time we take a flight; at home she eats like a bird and has to be virtually 'force fed'.
The only hiccup was on landing at Johannesburg when a warning light alerted the captain to a possible overheating of  one of the hydraulics in the landing gear. In the interest of safety he halted the taxiing and called for a vehicle to tow the aircraft in. This resulted in a half hour delay, but as far as we were concerned this wasn't a problem: better to be safe than sorry!
JOHANNESBURG: June 2 and 3
With  only a few days to the FIFA world cup we expected absolute chaos at Tambo International airport, however this wasn't the case and we were through all the formalities within a very short time, our luggage arrived safely and were were quickly on our way with Rynhardt to Le Chateau B&B.  We are always so grateful that, a few years ago,  Anne Googled 'Johannesburg accommodation' and chose Le Chateau. Run by Jeanne and her son Marius, this beautiful guest house is the epitome of friendliness, beautifully appointed rooms and home-cooked meals, set in the most magnificent gardens one could ever see. Our bill of R1145 included transport to and from the airport (about a 30-minute drive), our  accommodation (large room,TV,  huge bathroom with a bath and shower), evening drinks and a hot and cold smorgasbord breakfast, was well worth it and a great beginning to what we hope will be another enjoyable and interesting African safari.
After our delicious breakfast we were taken back to the airport, then quickly through immigration and customs, a short spell in the SAA lounge and we boarded our 9:45am SAA flight to Windhoek and the real start to our longed-for holiday on the magnificent continent of Africa. 


Choose a country by clicking the following, or use the navigation bar on the left:

A comprehensive guide to Africa	Everything you need to know about Namibia