The journey of any RTW trip begins, well, in Mozambique?
We'll get to that soon enough. In the meantime, let's start where all began...at the beginning. Evan and I started out our trip in JFK with an award ticket to Johannesburg. We arrived midmorning to have plenty of time to give the agents time to be able to tag our bags from JFK, through Hong Kong, Johannesburg, and Maputo (Mozambique) to Doha, to then tag on to our RTW ticket. After a bit of system work, they were able to do so, and off we went!
Here are some photos of the journey. We flew continuously from JFK-Hong Kong-Johannesburg-Maputo-Doha-Frankfurt, just FYI. We left on 12/24 and didn't arrive Frankfurt until 12/27!
The first class lounge experience at the AA Flagship JFK
Cathay Pacific First Class...so roomy!
Look at all the places you'll go!
#firstclass #noclass
Such nice presentation!!!
Probably the best part of Cathay is the tea selection.
And then there was this moment with my Cathay PJ's.
HKIA...so pretty
Storm clouds to our left, but we were cruising.
Johannesburg airport flight "pool"
Off to Mozambique!
LAM Mozambique Airlines. First time. TM300
Small food option. Nice for a 1 hour flight!
Entry into Maputo
MPM Maputo Airport
Our first true stop was Frankfurt Am Main. We got to spend the day in town.
Early morning at the train station.
Finanical district.
It's a postcard-worthy shot!
Westend Synagogue of Frankfurt
We were supposed to do a walking tour, but we got so tired that we just went back to the airport to take a nap! And then off we went!
LATAM flight FRA(-MAD)-SCL
Nice lounge in Madrid!
Madrid Barajas Airport
Our #Dreamliner LA705
Tallest building in South America!
The day was interesting. We started out in the Central Market, in which Evan's things were stolen. So, the rest of the day consisted of a taxi ride to the U.S. Embassy, passport photos, and a new passport being issued on the spot that day (we were so incredibly thankful, since we had a flight to Punta Arenas at 7:00 P.M.). We made it okay, and most importantly, everyone was safe.
LA283
Phone worthy for sure
Descending into Punta Arenas around 10:30 P.M.
We stayed at an incredible hostel, which I recommend to everyone. Hostal Dundo Ivo Spa. The caretakers there are absolutely amazing, and they really made us feel at home and gave us a second start after such a sad and crazy day in Santiago.
My love.
Punta Arenas by day
Punta Arenas by night
Dockyards
New friends!
We took a bus (Bus Sur) from Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales on Sunday night, Puerto Natales being our jumping off point before beginning the Torres del Paine W trek. We got to celebrate New Years with all the other hikers before stopping at the Guanaco Blanco hostel for the night. A bit of sleep before the long trek ahead--always a good idea!
Happy 2018!
That's it for now, but looking forward to more updates in the near future.