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Home » Travel » Introduction: An Illuminating Trip To Kenya And South Africa
Travel

Introduction: An Illuminating Trip To Kenya And South Africa

Matthew Klint Posted onApril 24, 2023November 13, 2023 11 Comments

a boat on the water

Welcome to my next trip report, a recount of my journey at the end of last year to Kenya and South Africa.

Kenya And South Africa – An Illuminating Trip.

My trip was church-related and going forward I plan at least two trips to Africa per year for missions-related work. Over time, I hope to include my family on these trips, but for now my travel is with pastors who have made a life-long commitment to the people of Africa, particularly on the southern half of the continent (I spoke a bit more about the nature of my work in my prior report to South Africa).

This trip began in Mombassa, Kenya and then continued on a farm in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa outside of Middelburg. In addition to church-related activities, I went golfing and hunting for the first time in my life, which I will not write about further, but were both quite interesting (and probably not something I will do again for many years).

I’m going to tell you what this trip taught me: how incredibly spoiled I am. To see what young pastors are doing in Kenya with virtually zero resources is humbling beyond words. These young men work full time jobs to support their families, lead large church bodies, and do so without some of the very basic resources we take for granted, like the internet. Think about how instrumental the internet is in just about any research we perform. In Mombassa, many have mobile phones, but most of the pastors we met could not afford data plans for their phones, rendering these devices useless in terms of being able aid in research and preparation for sermons. The result is a lot of theological gaps, yet an absolute noble intention to get it right. How eye-opening that was for me.

Their churches, many in open-air venues or in crudely-built structures with dirt floors represent the gathering of believers in what seems to me to be a purer expression of faith and community than in the opulent churches that so often lack the shared commitment to one another that is a hallmark of the Christian faith.

a group of people sitting in a room

In this trip report, you can expect the following review segments:

  • A Beautiful 77-Mile Flight On United Express
  • United Polaris Lounge San Francisco (SFO)
  • Lufthansa A350-900 Business Class San Francisco – Munich
  • Lufthansa Senator Café Munich (MUC)
  • Lufthansa Senator Lounge Munich (MUC)
  • Lufthansa A320neo Economy Class Munich – Frankfurt
  • Lufthansa Bistro Lounge Frankfurt (FRA)
  • Eurowings Discover A330-200 Premium Economy Frankfurt – Mombassa
  • How To Obtain A Visa On Arrival To Kenya
  • Border Bribes And My “Invalid” Visa In Kenya
  • Mida Creek – Mombasa, Kenya
  • Great Coffee In Mombasa, Kenya
  • Seven Seas Lodge – Mombasa, Kenya
  • Mombasa Old Town
  • Photo Essay: Mombasa, Kenya
  • Safari Lounge Mombasa (MBA)
  • Kenya Airways Embraer-190 Economy Class Mombassa – Nairobi
  • Turkish Airlines Lounge Nairobi (NBO)
  • Kenya Airways Simba Lounge Nairobi (NBO)
  • Kenya Airways 787-8 Economy Class Nairobi – Johannesburg
  • Helicopter Ride Over South Africa
  • Steak Lunch At Rustique In Middelberg, South Africa
  • Breakfast At Ivory Manner Boutique Hotel, Pretoria
  • My First Time At Ocean Basket
  • Shammah Game Lodge
  • Great Coffee in Bedfordview, South Africa
  • The Tragic Squatter Camps Of South Africa
  • Marble Restaurant, Johannesburg
  • United Airlines 787-9 Business Class Johannesburg – Newark
  • Who Is That Passenger Giggling Like A Child In Seat 7L? Me…
  • United Club Fly Lounge Denver (DEN)
  • Sweetwater Taphouse Denver (DEN) – Priority Pass Restaurant
  • United Club “Pop Up” Lounge Denver (DEN – B59)
  • Vegan Lunch In United Airlines First Class
  • Polaris Lounge Nightcap At LAX

I paid $2700 for my ticket, issued on United -016 stock, which included premium economy from San Francisco to Mombasa via Munich and Frankfurt (plus a Monterey – San Francisco segment). I upgraded the Lufthansa longhaul flight to Munich using United PlusPoints (40) and would have upgraded the Eurowings flight, except that United does not allow upgrades on Eurowings segments. My return was booked directly into business class.

My Kenya Airways flights were booked with Flying Blue miles (22.5K miles and about $43 in taxes versus nearly $600 for a paid ticket).

Thanks for reading!

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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11 Comments

  1. vietri Reply
    April 24, 2023 at 4:39 pm

    Sounds nice. Hopefully more pleasant than the recent news coming out of Haiti. Ready to be illuminated and also now know the importance of 016 stock for mileage earning 🙂

  2. Tim Reply
    April 24, 2023 at 5:11 pm

    Looking forward to the series! One very important remark: I am pretty sure you traveled on Eurowings Discover and not Eurowings. These two airlines are completely unbundled nowadays! Eurowings Discover has taken over many leisure routes from LH and operates out of FRA and MUC while Eurowings is a low-cost shorthaul airline based in DUS.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      April 24, 2023 at 7:05 pm

      You are correct! I keep thinking of the shorthaul as Germanwings, but I don’t think that branding exists anymore.

      • Tim Reply
        April 25, 2023 at 1:19 am

        No, unfortunately Germanwings has ceased to operate years ago. Fun fact: Germanwings used to have the beloved code 4U but Lufthansa forgot to secure it before giving up Germanwings, so it was bought by someone else and I have not seen the code again so far. Eurowings has EW and Eurowings Discover tries to resemble that and now has 4Y…

  3. Jason Reply
    April 24, 2023 at 7:49 pm

    Marble Restaurant in Johannesburg! I had a great meal there in 2019. Look forward to your review!

  4. Andy K Reply
    April 24, 2023 at 10:58 pm

    Hunting trip, golfing, airport lounges and first class flights — I can see you are really suffering for the Lord.

    Matthew 19:24

    Matthew 13:9

    I hope you will take these verses into serious consideration.

  5. Alex Conway Reply
    April 25, 2023 at 10:30 am

    Hi Matt – what do you mean by -016 stock? I haven’t heard that expression used before.

    • Doug Reply
      April 25, 2023 at 1:03 pm

      Every airline has a 3-digit code for tickets that they issue. United’s is 016. You can see what airline issued your ticket by the first 3 numbers of the ticket number.

    • vietri Reply
      April 25, 2023 at 4:25 pm

      I had to look it up myself. With 016 he’ll earn points correctly to his MileagePlus account

      • Matthew Klint Reply
        April 25, 2023 at 6:20 pm

        Yes 016 is the ticket designator of United Airlines. For example, American Airlines is 001.

      • Matthew Klint Reply
        April 25, 2023 at 6:20 pm

        Yes 016 is the ticket designator of United Airlines. For example, American Airlines is 001.

        p.s. No links to the competition!

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