Cruising the Scottish Isles from Glasgow, Scotland

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Top deck view on the Waverley

After the easy airport transfers in Doha and Dubai, the bus from London Heathrow felt unnecessarily difficult and like it took an eternity. First, the busses didn’t accept payment onboard because they have a prepaid system using Oyster Cards. Then, we learned that the bus station does not sell the Oyster Cards. We had to go down to the tube station to find a kiosk and then guess how much money we needed to put on a card for the one bus ride. With all the confusion, we missed the first bus and waited an hour for the next one. I don’t understand why some cities make public transportation so difficult for visitors. We had a similar fiasco with Sydney’s busses but eventually the bus driver let us pay cash.

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Broke out of the hotel for a pub meal in Croydon

We were headed to the Hampton Inn in South Croydon. Sara had some hotel points which we used for a three night stay. As a bonus, the room included breakfast which was a full buffet with everything needed for a proper breakfast. We locked ourselves in the hotel room until we were more caught up on posts from Africa. This website can be quite a bit of work, especially when Continue reading →

Admiring the Tallest in the World, Dubai, UAE

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787 Dreamliner Large WindowLeaving Doha, we were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves on a brand new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The inside was beautiful! There was a ton of overhead space and the walkways were not cramped. There were large windows that tinted for the sun rather than completely blocking the view with a plastic shade. The seats felt spacious and very comfortable. Too bad our flight to Dubai was only 45 minutes long! Once we arrived, we had another quick and easy transfer to our hotel.

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Dinner at Afghan Kabab House – mixed kebabs and chicken kadai

The heat was still present along with fasting for Ramadan. Our hotel, Landmark Plaza, was right across the street from a metro station so we only had to briefly brave the heat while crossing the street. We hid in our hotel room the rest of the afternoon while waiting for fasting Continue reading →

Fasting in Doha, Qatar

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The minute we landed in at Doha International Airport from Kenya to when we arrived at our hotel was quick and easy. As we left the cool air conditioning of the airport, we were greeted with a blast of desert heat. The bus we needed was outside waiting for us and we hastily made our way onboard. There was none of the usual hustle and bustle expected at an airport, it was eerily quiet and relaxed. Even when leaving the bus, the driver pointed out how to get to our hotel. These are the friendliest locals we have encountered on our journey sofar.

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Doha skyline

We checked into the hotel and relaxed until sundown. Qatar is an Islamic country with strict laws during Ramadan. We first learned that Continue reading →

Ending our African Safari in Nairobi, Kenya

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Day 29

After a night reminiscing about our time in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater, we woke for an early breakfast at the Ndoro Lodge. It was a quiet morning at the table assumably because it was the last day for most of us or maybe it was just too early. We all made sandwiches for lunch during the drive because we anticipated traffic as we drove back through Arusha and when we hit Nairobi. Will again felt sick when he woke up which made me worried for the long day.

As expected, Arusha was slow going but we made it through town and headed north as the sun began to heat up the day. Will looked uncomfortable during Continue reading →