I agree with you, Leslie - lots of fun stuff before the official safari begins. Have a wonderful time, everyone. May you see lots of animals, get great pictures and enjoy each other's company.

Despite multiple tries to get our outbound flight switched to Newark from JFK, we headed out at 11:30 am yesterday to take Lufthansa's early flight to Frankfurt. This meant a 15 hour layover, as our flight to Joburg leaves at 8:45 pm tonight. This was our first time on the A380. The upper deck is fitted out for first class (8 seats) and business (98 seats). Business is divided into four sections.

The last remaining two seats together (months ago) were in the second to the last row, in the last section of business class. Think of this as the equivalent of detention in high school. The overhead bins are half as deep as those near the forward section of the plane. Even worse, they have little depth, as they taper off quickly to fit the curvature of the fuselage. Our flight attendants took the rolling duffles & stored them in the wardrobe. Works for me! We squeezed our not very full backpacks into the mini-space provided.

I was struck by the significant majority of Germans on the flight. Fellow passengers and flight attendants happily started conversations in their lingua Deutsche, and were treated to our very best blank stares followed by "Bitte -sprechen die Englisch?". The service was efficient and the in-seat video had great choices. Seats are of the angled variety, so it's hard to get comfortable enough to sleep for more than an hour or so. The perfect way to get wedgies as you slide down the seat and have to hike yourself back up through perfectly aligning the extension of the footrest and the tightness of the seat belt. Sweet Karen, you'd have trouble getting the foot rest part short enough to slow the pull of gravity.

Would I choose an A380 again? Absolutely - it is the Ferrari of jumbo jets. We cleared Canada well ahead of schedule. Reported air speed was 668 mph. How cool was THAT?

We ROARed into Frankfurt at 4:58 am. We decided to skip breakfast in favor of the Lufthansa arrivals lounge. Sure enough, every German baked good known to mankind was available. Eggs, meats, cheeses, fruits and shower service. We had to wait until 5:30 am for the facility to open. After that, we trundled to the Sheraton at the airport for our day room.

The day room worked out really well. We were in our room by 6 am. I'd asked for a 'just in case' 11 am wake up call. Next thing I knew, the phone was blaring and the room lights had flashed on. Where had the time gone? Dang, that is the best wake up service! There's no chance you can fall right back to sleep with that kind of sound and light show wink.

We headed into Frankfurt for the afternoon to get some exercise and a late lunch. The weather was picture perfect today - high 60s and a light breeze. We strolled along both sides of the river. On the south side, sycamores line the path. Someone gave those trees a crew cut. It catches your attention - not necessarily in a good way.

It's May 1 - spargel (the German white asparagus) season has officially begun! We munched on a plate of spargel with a side order of sauerbraten outside at the Stork, which claims 'Goethe ate here'. It's near the main cathedral. We were treated to a 15 minute carillon concert. A simply magical way to enjoy Germany at its best. It was easy to catch the train back to the airport. All in all, the layover turned out to be a very good thing.

Time to power down, pack back up, slither over to the Lufthansa lounge and wait for the countdown to Joburg.

Cheers, Anne