Another unpublished draft…

Our journey to Mozambique in 2015/2016 took us to three different continents, Africa, Asia, and Europe. Carlos might have missed having a Christmas tree, but he thought it was pretty awesome to be able to say he stepped foot on three continents in less than 3 weeks. We flew home from Johannesburg, South Africa via Dubai. We landed in Dubai after midnight and did not have to be back to the airport until about 11:30AM. So we made the most of the long layover. We went immediately to the hotel and slept for a few hours. We got up early and made our way to the world’s tallest building the Burj Khalifa. We arrived just as the elevators were opening for the day. We were only able to go to the 125th floor. Later in the day visitors can ride the elevators to the 148th floor. Throughout the visit we learned about the history of the building and the city. Although Carlos was actually quite interested in the history of the United Arab Emirates, one of the highlights of the trip was flying Emirates Air, a major sponsor of his favorite soccer team FC Barcelona!

I often hear people complain about long layovers. Because we went to Mozambique at Christmas time in 2015, the direct flights from NYC to Johannesburg were ridiculously expensive. Booking separate flights via Istanbul on the way to Mozambique and Dubai on the way home cut the cost in half, and we had the added bonus of visiting two places in the world we might not have otherwise. I didn’t see it as a nuisance. I saw it as an adventure!