Saturday 24 October 2015

SA 2015 - AMS to Cape Town


I got to the airport in plenty of time for my flight at 10.00 which departed on time.  I was a bit grumpy at first because they moved my seat to the back of the aircraft . Bit they changed the seats for several people because they put on a bigger plane, so I got a whole row to myself.  Who cares if I'm a bit later getting off the aircraft.

The flight over North Africa has been incredible. The bleakness, and lack of signs of natural life seems harsh, though no doubt if you were to stop anywhere in the desert, a local would suddenly appear and try to sell you something. Gradually, as we reached northern Nigeria and the Sahel, you could see field structure appear. 

The Chott el-Gharsa in Tunisia









Nothingness of the Libyan desert










Nothingness gives way to low
intensity farming in Nigerian Sahel

I had a chat with Jared Wilson (Marine Scotland) during the flight who is going to the same conference. We arrived some 10 1/2 hours later in Cape Town - all a bit gruelling, but it could have been worse. I saw LEIF NILSSON and his wife and Steve Votier at passport control.  My pre-booked shuttle into town wasn't waiting for me. I gave them 15 minutes, but considering I hadn't pre-paid, I didn't feel too concerned about using one of the local shuttle companies.  That was an advert on behalf of Way 2 Go (not!).

I shared with a local medic and a woman from New York. The latter was being dropped off in Long Street right in the heart of all the bars.  Probably safe enough, but not likely to get too much sleep.

My apartment, which I will be sharing with Kerstin Kober when she arrives, is in Lower Long street and is nice and spacious with what should be good views over the harbour.

Sleep! Unpacking can wait until tomorrow.

Friday 23 October 2015

South Africa 2015 - Day 1 ABZ to AMS

I'm resuming my blog for this trip to Cape Town, initially to participate in the World Seabird Conference next week followed by a spot of birding in the Karoo and Bushmanland with Mark Tasker.

My first leg has gone OK.  I'm flying from Aberdeen via Amsterdam to Cape Town and stopping overnight at a Golden Tulip hotel at Sloterdijk which is midway between the airport and the city centre.  A younger Andy would have gone into the city to party, but I'm content with an early night having eaten a not unpleasant pizza at the airport. I'm using a fantastic app on my phone called Citymapper which guides you around public transport in even familiar cities. If it covers Cape Town as well as it does Amsterdam and London, then I'll be a very happy bunny.

It was all a bit of a push to get things done before I left and one of the things that got squeezed out was adequate preparation time for the trip. I've left lots of things behind. 

Top of the list is any travel plugs of any type.  Thankfully my room at the Golden Tulip has a UK socket so this will keeper going until I can buy an adapter at the airport.

My other mini disaster is that I failed to spot that my suitcase  was checked through to Cape Town complete with wash bag and overnight stuff.  You normally get asked if you want this to happen so I had a moan at the KLM service desk about that  (it would have been a minimum 1 hour wait for my bag to be retrieved) and they gave me an overnight wash bag which includes a t-shirt. I'm easily bought.

I'm quite impressed with the hotel. It's not in the city centre, but given the high standard of public transport, it would make a good base for an Amsterdam / Netherlands trip at a reasonable price.