Deborah and Walt are also on the July 14,2018 T&K trip. We live in Gainesville, Virginia 5 minutes from Manassas Civil War battlefield. Really excited about trip. Went with Tauck to Australia in February 2017.
Hi Deborah & Walt! We're excited too. Just purchased our airline tickets yesterday. We are flying Ethiopian Air out of Dulles on the 12th. This will be our 7th Tauck tour. We're leaving for China (6th) at the end of September.
Hi John and Linda - Have you been on the Essence of Japan tour? We are planning that for 2019. Is your flight to Africa nonstop or are you stopping somewhere in Europe? We will also be leaving from Dulles and are arriving an extra day before the tour starts.
No we haven't been to Japan yet but are considering it for next year. We can't decide between the land tour and the cruise. Both have pros and cons. We're on Ethiopian airlines flt ET 0501 out of Dulles on July 12th. It leaves at 11 am and arrives in addis ababa aat 7:15 am on the 13th. Flt 0815 leaves at 10:20 am and gets into Kilimanjaro at 12:55 pm. The flight home on the 26th leaves Nairobi at 7:15 pm, and goes through Addis ababa again. The flight out of addis ababa stops in dublin with no change of planes. It arrives in dulles at 8:40 am.
The flight out of Addis Ababa stops in Dublin with no change of planes.
Unless things have changed, be aware that on the return flight the plane stops in Dublin for fuel only. Not only don't you change planes, but the plane parks somewhere on the tarmac away from the terminal to take on fuel so you can't get off.
Hi Peggy from Atlanta - what day does your tour begin? Ours begins July 14th, 2018. So far John and Linda from Delaware are on our tour. Walt and Deborah
Peggy - We'll save some animals for you!! Have a great trip. Walter & Deborah- I've started a link for the July 14th trip to avoid any confusion. See you there!
Delawaretraveler- are you flying business class (ET "Cloud Nine")? If so, please drop back here after you get back to tell us about your experience. Despite mixed online reviews (many/most of which are from coach passengers and often a few years old), we had a really positive experience with them when we did K&T in 2015. We are thinking of flying with them again on the B,SA,Z.
I forgot to mention in my earlier post that Addis Ababa's Bole Int'l airport is not bad but a bit 3rd world. It is ET's home base. The Cloud 9 passenger lounge and separate ShebaMiles Gold/Star Alliance Gold member lounge were redone in 2016. We used the bathrooms, Wifi had cokes, but did not try any of the food. We had an interesting experience however- first, when they announced boarding for the flight to JRO, there was a big line. There was a "Cloud 9" line sign, but no separate line and when we asked the 'line monitor', we were told to get in the back of the regular line. A alternate line to nearby area that would get us to the same place was just as bad- shorter but slower. We wouldn't have missed our flight, but we were a bit tired and have gotten used to the benefits of Business Class flying. As we were standing there, evidently looking a bit bewildered and trying to decide which poison to try, a nice ET employee came up to us and asked if we needed help. After we told her our situation she escorted us past the head of the line, right up the the entrance to the screening point/metal detector.
Everyone then made their way downstairs and waited in a small room to board a bus to the plane. When the bus arrived, we started to board, but were told "No, no, YOU are Cloud 9!" Another bus was summoned by radio and arrived almost immediately. We boarded the bus- we were the only people on it! The bus took us all of about 100 yds across the ramp to a waiting, brand new, Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. We also had a very new, very wide, covered boarding stairs all to ourselves. Unlike the IAD to ADD and ADD to IAD legs with full or nearly full Business Class cabins, there were only about 7 passengers in Business class on the flight to JRO! We had no problems on the return flight- we were experienced Addis Ababa travelers now! Bottom line, good service, good planes, good seats (terrible pillows :-) ), and as you already know, good price, reasonable layovers, and great departure and arrival times! No 'zero dark thirty' wake-up or after-dark arrivals.
But, again, let us know how things go for you. It is still a long way off, but have a great safari!
Thanks AlanS for the information about Addis Ababa's airport. We had read other reviews and decided for the price we could put up with it. We had a similar problem in Amsterdam last month. We were flying Saga class on Icelandair but we're given conflicting instructions in where to line up for checkin. Luckily our Dutch friends were with us and got it sorted out. Traveling is certainly an adventure and after visiting 7 continents and traveling to 104 countries so far we're still amazed and raring to go! Happy Traveling!
Hi,
I'm on the Tanzania/Kenya classic safari departing July 18 2018, travelling solo; would like to connect with any others planning that trip.
Marla
Philadelphia
Comments
Unless things have changed, be aware that on the return flight the plane stops in Dublin for fuel only. Not only don't you change planes, but the plane parks somewhere on the tarmac away from the terminal to take on fuel so you can't get off.
Our tour begins July 21, 2018. Guess we'll miss you by a week!
Have fun.
I forgot to mention in my earlier post that Addis Ababa's Bole Int'l airport is not bad but a bit 3rd world. It is ET's home base. The Cloud 9 passenger lounge and separate ShebaMiles Gold/Star Alliance Gold member lounge were redone in 2016. We used the bathrooms, Wifi had cokes, but did not try any of the food. We had an interesting experience however- first, when they announced boarding for the flight to JRO, there was a big line. There was a "Cloud 9" line sign, but no separate line and when we asked the 'line monitor', we were told to get in the back of the regular line. A alternate line to nearby area that would get us to the same place was just as bad- shorter but slower. We wouldn't have missed our flight, but we were a bit tired and have gotten used to the benefits of Business Class flying. As we were standing there, evidently looking a bit bewildered and trying to decide which poison to try, a nice ET employee came up to us and asked if we needed help. After we told her our situation she escorted us past the head of the line, right up the the entrance to the screening point/metal detector.
Everyone then made their way downstairs and waited in a small room to board a bus to the plane. When the bus arrived, we started to board, but were told "No, no, YOU are Cloud 9!" Another bus was summoned by radio and arrived almost immediately. We boarded the bus- we were the only people on it! The bus took us all of about 100 yds across the ramp to a waiting, brand new, Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. We also had a very new, very wide, covered boarding stairs all to ourselves. Unlike the IAD to ADD and ADD to IAD legs with full or nearly full Business Class cabins, there were only about 7 passengers in Business class on the flight to JRO! We had no problems on the return flight- we were experienced Addis Ababa travelers now! Bottom line, good service, good planes, good seats (terrible pillows :-) ), and as you already know, good price, reasonable layovers, and great departure and arrival times! No 'zero dark thirty' wake-up or after-dark arrivals.
But, again, let us know how things go for you. It is still a long way off, but have a great safari!
I'm on the Tanzania/Kenya classic safari departing July 18 2018, travelling solo; would like to connect with any others planning that trip.
Marla
Philadelphia