East African Adventure Awaits, But First You Have to Get There

Travel notes: Air travel to Africa from the US: It may seem daunting, but when I think about what you will experience on the other side of the journey, it really makes it all worthwhile.

My favorite way to travel to Africa is on Air Emirates, hands down. This airline has it all going on and makes the journey there pleasant and actually quite enjoyable.

Pricing for flights from the US are surprisingly competitive and if you can afford to splurge on a Business or First Class flight, you will not be disappointed. Economy is really not bad either. Flights all go through Dubai so you will need to make a stop both ways, and depending on where in Africa you are going, the connection there may be quite long ( even possibly overnight). If it is a really long connection, it does give your body a chance to catch up and recuperate before hitting the ground in either Cape Town or Johannesburg in Southern Africa or Nairobi, Kilimanjaro or other connecting destinations in East Africa.

Should you choose this routing, you can either shower and rest in one of the gorgeous Dubai airport lounges, or take advantage of the layover by spending one or two nights exploring the city.

One of the advantages of flying Business/First on Emirates is that they do provide a chauffeur- drive to and from the airport to your home. It must be arranged in advance, but can easily be done in your booking. In addition, if your layover is over a certain number of hours, Emirates provides an overnight at an airport hotel and will shuttle you there and back to catch your connection after clearing customs in Dubai.

You will have another 8-9 hour flight to Johannesburg or Cape Town and another 4-5 hours flight to Nairobi or Tanzania. This will connect you into the camps in East Africa and the Serengeti .  

Of course there are many other acceptable airlines and routings including South African Airways, Qatar, Brussels Air, KLM and British Airways to name some with the most direct airline routings.

So, although it can be two full days of travel (+1 more for international date line) you don’t have to arrive feeling ultra jet-lagged and you can jump right into your Safari!

Below are some photos from our most recent flight to East Africa! Stay tuned for more tips and first hand adventure experience.

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