Our departure to Kenya occurred 8 months after its conception, in February 2004. Unlike birth, it took a hell of a lot of discussion and thought in its planning - cost, protocol, itinerary, all took a pummelling in the weeks preceding the final deadline. Yes, it cost a lot of money (although, for two weeks holiday, 10% of combined salary still seems fair to me). But as I kept reminding Marie, a 10-day 'venture' into the heart of Africa isn't a holiday; it really is the trip of a lifetime. And the justification was simple: we live in Western civilization, and could die tomorrow. I read of a boatsman in Norway who ran Orca whale safaris recently, who replied to the idea of snorkelling alongside them, 'There's no rush'. That may be in Norway, but this is in the here and now. Anything is possible, and that's why we explore.
As a six footer, my main concern was not the inoculations or the packing, but the flight. Yes, it's only eight and a half hours, but combined with the connecting flights both ways and travel between each end, it ends up being an intensive journey that needs to be made comfortable purely for the sake of maintaining good health throughout the rest of the holiday. I have a habit of contracting stomach bugs from every holiday I venture on, so starting out on a good note was imperative; we upgraded to World Traveller Plus instantly. (Not really; I did, it took some week of persuasion and a cramped EasyJet flight to Belfast to illustrate to Marie quite graphically what the problem was).
There is actually little luxurious about World Traveller Plus, it is simply a far more enjoyable seat to be in. There is much talk about DVT being caused by narrow leg room; I would postulate that that's one problem - the second is that people are so afraid of asking people they don't know, in their rows of 3-4 people, to get up out of their slumber to have a walk around, that they instead just sit there and suffer. This problem is immensely relieved when choosing seats in WTP for a couple, where the seat configuration is a 2-4-2. The extra room around the whole seat is wonderful, as is the smaller cabin with less noise and more personal service, but with recognition to the awful flight back, it really is the freedom to move which makes for a happy flight. Hopefully the new Airbus will be able to build on this ideal.
However, eight and a half hours ends up being nothing in this circumstance, and particularly with a daytime flight, you end up in the middle of Kenya feeling nowhere near as stressed as you would've done had you gone to work. And that, after all, is the point.