Back to Back Tours: K & T Classic Safari and South Africa Elegant Adventure
Has anyone done these back to back tours? We are going in August 2018. Will appreciate any info, tips, etc.
Trying to find and schedule our flight from Nairobi (end of KT) to CapeTown (start of SA). We have one day free to do this. So it can be a post-night KT, or, a pre-night SA.
What is the actual arrival time of the flight from Masai Mara to Nairobi (last day of KT). Tauck brochure says mid-day arrival.
Arrival time information will help us find a decent flight to SA.
If we fly to SA on the same day we arrive at Nairobi...We need enough time to retrieve our luggage, check in our luggage for SA flight, go through security, and go to gate for boarding flight to SA.
Also, our flight to SA has to arrive at CapeTown so that we are at the Cape Grace Hotel in time for the 6:30 PM welcome and dinner.
Saw some shortest flight times from Nairobi to CapeTown (with layover in Johannesburg) offered by the following airlines:
EthiopianA, KenyaA, KululuA, South AfricanA, combo KenyaA with British Airways, operated by ComAir.
Appreciate any thoughts, tips, etc.
Thanks in advance!
Lynart
Trying to find and schedule our flight from Nairobi (end of KT) to CapeTown (start of SA). We have one day free to do this. So it can be a post-night KT, or, a pre-night SA.
What is the actual arrival time of the flight from Masai Mara to Nairobi (last day of KT). Tauck brochure says mid-day arrival.
Arrival time information will help us find a decent flight to SA.
If we fly to SA on the same day we arrive at Nairobi...We need enough time to retrieve our luggage, check in our luggage for SA flight, go through security, and go to gate for boarding flight to SA.
Also, our flight to SA has to arrive at CapeTown so that we are at the Cape Grace Hotel in time for the 6:30 PM welcome and dinner.
Saw some shortest flight times from Nairobi to CapeTown (with layover in Johannesburg) offered by the following airlines:
EthiopianA, KenyaA, KululuA, South AfricanA, combo KenyaA with British Airways, operated by ComAir.
Appreciate any thoughts, tips, etc.
Thanks in advance!
Lynart
0
Comments
- Saved on airfare compared to doing them at different times.
- Only one bout of jetlag to get over
- Tauck only charged us for trip insurance once
- Got Gift of Time for both tours
Good luck.
I really think you need an extra day between tours.
I don't have the link, but someone posted on the forum within the last year or so about their back to back planning (K&T + Botswana). Do a search for "back-to-back" or similar search terms. They were having trouble making it all work, but Tauck really came through for them, suggesting the right sequence and alternate dates that worked better than what they were trying to do originally. Call Tauck and tell them what you are trying to do.
Update: Found the link: https://www.tauck.com/yaf/default.aspx?g=posts&m=36489#post36489
I misunderstood your post. I looked at the K&T and SA-EA dates and realized the end of one and start of the next are not on the same day- you have a full day and a half to get from Nairobi to Cape Town- not without problems, but it might work. Probably too late to change tour dates anyway as all August departures for both tours are sold out. In any case, I would front load- try to get from Nairobi to Cape Town on the day you arrive in Nairobi, so the next day you can rest, do some laundry, go sightseeing, etc. in Cape Town before the welcome dinner. We flew Ethiopian from Dulles to K&T and back and thought they were just fine (fares, food, seats, etc.) at least in Business Class. We will probably use them again next year for our Botswana, SA, Zambia trip.
Unfortunately a quick check shows ET has no late afternoon flights, no direct flights, and all of them, even the early morning ones have a layover in Addis Ababa- kinda like going from DC to Chicago via LAX! : ( Everyone else on our tour had later flights, but we departed the Nairobi Serena about 2:00 in the afternoon for our flight home after showering, repacking duffels into our suitcases, and having a bite to eat. Even though it wasn't "rush hour," traffic was atrocious!!
Uh, Oh, I forgot another BIG CONSIDERATION- you will NOT have suitcases, just your duffels, when you land at Nairobi Wilson. You won't be reunited with your suitcases until you arrive at the Nairobi hotel!!!!* So, unless Tauck is able to make a special arrangement, you won't be able to go from airport to airport!!!!
My suggestion is to shoot for an afternoon/evening flight from Nairobi to Cape Town! Again, call Tauck. Maybe they can help with the flight, even if you didn't use them for the other flights.
A quick check of a few websites indicates it may be a long trek to get from Nairobi to Capetown with possibly a 6+ hr or longer layover in Johannesburg and sometimes two stops! Depending on when you get to the Nairobi hotel it might be possible to catch the 3:55 SAA flight (flights #185 & #377) with only a 2+15 layover in JNB. It gets into Capetown at 11:25 pm- that is the one I would opt for. But you would need to get to the hotel in Nairobi no later than about noon, quickly consolidate baggage and leave immediately for the airport via Tauck transport. Other than that combination of SAA flights, it looks like most of the other options would mean an overnight flight with very long layovers in JNB and/or other locations. Here is one example- there is an 8:50 pm COMAIR flight that has one of the shorter stops (6 hr) in JNB, but it doesn't arrive in Cape Town until 8:35 am the next morning! I would be reluctant to spend the night in the airport in JNB! There are just a few flights the next morning that get you to Cape Town at a reasonable time or in time for the welcome dinner. Whatever you do, figure it out and book it now- you should have done this a few months ago!
* After packing duffels for your flight to the Maasai Mara, your suitcases will be transported by truck from the Mt Kenya Safari Club to the hotel in Nairobi.
days between tours, say 4 because there is so much to see and do in Cape Town plus you really need some downtime between tours. There are so many early starts on the safaris.
Alan is totally correct about Nairobi, the traffic is crazy and the airport is horrible. I guess it is too late for you to change things now, but that is what I would have done and this could be stressful for you. Tauck should have explained logistics better for you. I know it saves airfare doing this all at once but I like to savor my trips to Africa.
Claudia Sails, yes we booked two back to back for the same reasons you've stated.
British, thanks. Wish too that we have more time (2-days at least) between the two tours. It was not available.
Alan S, thank you very much for your very detailed response. At the beginning/planning stages and before we booked, we did consult with Tauck and our TA. The two tour dates were fine, with one day in between, for a post or pre tour stay and flight. After review we were advised and booked a post stay for one night at the Nairobi Serena.
Our international flights were booked with Tauck as soon as they were available in 2017 October. The same with our NBO to CPT flight, by our TA with South African Airways for the 7:45 AM flight. Things unravelled after our TA told us that SAA cancelled the early 7:45 AM flight and next available choice is the 3:55 PM NBO departure, 11:25PM at CPT. It is a very late CPT arrival, and we'll miss the welcome event and dinner. That's when I got curious about the time of arrival from Mara. Of course I found out more information on where it will land, the traffic, etc. Tauck confirmed that our flight from Mara will land at 12:15 PM at Nairobi Wilson. We will not make it to NBO to catch the SAA 3:55 PM flight.
ATM, looking at Ethiopian Airlines 5:00AM NBO/7:15AM ADD (1-hour 10-min layover) 8:25AM ADD/1:55PM CPT
Not the best, but not much choice.
Keeping positive thoughts of no delay at NBO departure and short queue at ADD.
Thank you, again.
First, about ADD- it is the headquarters for Ethiopian Airlines, but is small and can seem disorganized and hectic. We flew Business, so had a nice flight from the US, but when it came time to go through security again for the leg to Arusha (K&T tour 2015) there was only one very long line and single scanner/metal detector. There was a sign for Cloud 9 (ET's Business Class) customers, but no separate line. I asked the "line monitor" where the Cloud 9 line was. He responded by summarily waiving us to the back of the regular line (while quickly turning the sign around so no one could read it.) (the 'land' side of the terminal is only separated from the 'flight' side by a short, 3' partition!!) Some yards away, facing in a different direction, there was another line/screening area that appeared as though it might end up at the same departure area. Though shorter, it was moving much more slowly. At the time we were about to toss a coin and pick a line, an ET hostess(?), noticing our obvious confusion, came up and offered assistance- she looked at our tickets then escorted us to the head of the security line and helped us zip through security. All cleared passengers then walked down a stairs to a second, small ground-level, waiting area before boarding buses to their planes- our aircraft was only a 100 yards away! But parked on the opposite side of the busy tarmac. We attempted to board the waiting bus, but were waived off by another hostess, who exclaimed, "No, no, you are Cloud Nine!!" We were puzzled. She made a brief radio call and in a minute or two a second bus arrived. We were escorted aboard and taken to our waiting, new, 787-9 Boeing Dreamliner, all before the first, nearly full bus had finished loading! We were the only passengers on this bus! We had our very own carpeted grand stairway to the Cloud 9 section! So, if you fly ET Business, make sure the ground people know you are "Cloud 9" and things should go very smoothly.
(Late edit added 2 Jun '18)I have also heard that in cases of a short layover/delayed arrival ET may transport you directly from one plane to the departure bus loading area or even directly to the second aircraft. (confirmed by at least two first hand accounts. But this may not be available on flights ending in the US) The airport is small, you don't need to walk far to get from the first gate to the last. You should be able to find historical stats for promptness for that ET flight online via FlightAware. Under normal circumstances 1+10 is possible at ADD. (To avoid JNB headed home from our upcoming B,SA,Z, I was actually considering an ET flight with only a 25 min. layover in ADD. That is a bit too close so I decided against it.)
I suppose Tauck couldn't arrange to have your bags delivered to you at Nairobi Wilson by the transfer company that picks everyone up, especially if it originates at the hotel and the bags are already there? I don't know where the vans are dispatched from and if the bags are stored at the hotel or somewhere else while you are in the Mara). Then it might be possible to get a taxi (or a transfer company) from Wilson to NBO so you could easily make the 3:55 ET flight. After all, you are taking another Tauck tour!!! How about a little help guys!
You didn't give us enough info in order to be specific with our help- dates of your trips, small group or regular and does it matter?, did I read somewhere, another post maybe, that you are giving a lecture/presentation- is that on a hard date?, must both trip(s) be in August? etc.
I never say never. Though I haven't convinced my wife to take a back-to-back, I have done a lot of what-ifs! Another option to consider which requires a bit of luck and possibly flight change fees, is to see about changing one of your tours:
First, don't mess with what you have now, but ask Tauck to put you on the waiting list for any SA-EA departures that might work better- after or even before the K&T tour (keep that as your anchor).
I got server error messages after two attempts to post. Had to email Tauck's E support.com. Quick response this morning from support. Hopefully this will go.
After talking to Tauck and our TA, we (my husband & I) and two other friends that will be with us in both trips, decided to stay the course!
AlanS...good read about your ETA and Addis Ababa experience, thanks. Fingers crossed that in case of flight delay from NBO/ADD, hopefully not a long delay, the connecting flight will wait for us, and that for short layover ETA will transport us direct to the connecting airplane. From ETA/s website's FAQ, these were mentioned also.
I checked FightAware....so far so good, both ETH309 & ETH847 departed/arrived on time, data from January 12, 2018 to January 23, 2018.
Sorry, I thought I've included the two tours/dates in my first post. It will be KT Aug 4-16, 2018 & SA-E Aug 17-28, 2018. A Pre tour night at Lake Duluti and now, a Post Tour night at Nairobi, Serena. We will ask Tauck to arrange early check in at Nairobi, Serena. We'll definitely need the time to clean up, repack, catch a bite, sleep (maybe) and be ready for the early transfer to NBO for the 5:00AM flight.
Wish us ALL well. Thank you!!
I had a major problem signing in this evening, had to reset my password, too.
I heard about plane to plane transport, but did not see it in the FAQ. It won't help with the Welcome Dinner, but the ET published minimum connection time for international to international flights at Addis Ababa is 40 min. so 1:10 should be good and it gives you recourse if the inbound is late and you miss the flight. I really think you'll be fine. As I said the terminal is small.
The room will be ready, because Tauck provides everyone a day room which will be ready when you get there. I'm sure they will leave you in the same room for the few hours until you leave for the airport. I've read in the archives that everyone else had to check out by 8:00 pm. What time will the car leave for airport? I'm guessing between 1:00 and 2:00 am? Hopefully traffic will be nil (or not : )) at that time of night- it supposedly starts to ramp up between 5:00 - 6:00 am.
One other thing, which may have changed, but when we did K&T in June 2015, security at Nairobi airport was weird. All vehicles had to stop for inspection on the approach road some distance from the terminal. Passengers had to disembark from their vehicles and walk about 50 yards to a line for screening while the vehicle was inspected. After the vehicle and passengers cleared screening, we reboarded the vehicle for the short drive to the terminal. There were only two of us on this trip to the airport. In addition to the driver, we also had an expediter. He escorted us to the terminal door then departed. Another personal and baggage screening was done just inside the terminal entrance. As ET Cloud 9 passengers we we had access to a lounge (Kenyan Air?)- pretty dingy and not much more than a waiting room with maybe a snack counter (free? or fee?)and TV but still a bit nicer than the terminal. The year before there had been a fire and construction was still in progress, so things may be better now.
If you are flying Cloud 9 (ET Business Class) the seats on the 737-800 on the NBO to ADD leg will be typical domestic first class with decent leg room and recliner type seats (with foot rest). Too bad you won't be on their new A350-900! Great aircraft. You'll have fully lay-flat seats (some seat websites say they have angle-flat but that is old news- all were modified to lay-flat) with tons of leg room and storage in the 777-300 on the leg from ADD to CPT. The pillows were terrible when we flew ET- really small with a very coarse, paper-like pillow cases. You might want to think about taking your own cases. Bottom line, you should have an opportunity to get some sleep on the ADD to CPT leg and nap once you get to the hotel.
Be sure to let us know how it all works out. I won't be booking our B,SA,Z flights until Sep.
I have been to Cape Town twice and it is not enough, I could easily live there. Again, I think it is such a shame you have to miss a day of the tour you have paid for, but anyway, you are going to have a wonderful time once you can breathe again when you get to South Africa.
Lynart, I forgot to mention, according to your itinerary, Tauck provides lunch and dinner in Nairobi (both at the Serena Hotel). So, you can at least have lunch (I think it was a buffet) if you decide to try to get some sleep and sleep through dinner. Unless you are already on an "early to bed" schedule, my guess is it will be hard to get any decent sleep before you must get up and leave for the airport, so you might as well grab dinner at the hotel too. Then just chill out or lay on the bed. I am never able to "save up" sleep time; for me it is always "catch up!" : )
British, granting our NBO/ADD, ADD/CPT flights are spot on, we will NOT miss the start of the actual tour on Day-2, which is Aug 18th.
AlanS, yes, you are correct on our CPT arrival, 8/17, 1:55PM. Will have enough time to attend Welcome Reception & Dinner at 6:30PM. Noted your tips on lunch & dinner at Nairobi Serena on 8/16.
I sure will let you know how it all works out!! Fingers crossed!!!
Thanks again!
I hope you are still checking the forum.. I would love to hear about your experience traveling to Cape Town after the Kenya/Tanzania trip. I'm set to take the Classic Safari trip in July 2019 and then travel to Cape Town to tour independently (with 4 others). I would love to hear how you did it!
Thanks
Nancy
She doesn't go until August 2018.
Lynart: looking forward to your updates. Safe travels!