I’m finally home after two full days of travelling to get back from Victoria Falls on three flights via Johannesburg and Dubai. I haven’t slept much since I left Victoria Falls so I’m completely exhausted, but I have some good memories.
From Johannesburg to Dubai
Last night I was on a night flight with Emirates from Johannesburg to Dubai and, as predicted, I barely slept at all on the entire flight. Part of that was because I never sleep on night flights and the other part was because the two people in the row next to me were only a couple of steps away from joining the mile high club in their seats for the first few hours of the flight, after which I just gave up and watched movies.
Luckily my layover in Dubai was long enough that I was able to have a power nap in the quiet lounge, although I did make sure that I had some coffee before going in there so that I didn’t fall completely asleep.
Dubai is another airport that has undergone major expansion since I was last here. I transited here on my way to and from Beijing in 2010 but at that point they had not yet opened the concourse that I was transiting through. This new concourse is a lot less spacious, and feels a bit claustrophobic, so had I not been so tired and in need of a power nap I probably would have gone over to the old concourse to spend my transit there.
From Dubai to London Heathrow
I had a window seat for my flight from Dubai to London so that I could enjoy the landing but this was another annoying flight since the person in the middle seat next to me had no sense of personal space and kept leaning into me, having his arms in front of me, and just generally being annoying. Luckily this was my final flight of the trip so I just focused on the food, the in flight entertainment, and the great views out the window.
Other than the passenger next to me the flight back to London was fairly uneventful and we landed around 30 minutes early.
After going through passport control and collecting my bags I made my way home, via the office to collect my laptop and a few things that I left there when heading to the airport to start my trip, and I walked through the doors at around 7pm.
I’m going to well tonight due to that long journey home but I had an amazing time so it was all worth it.