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If you're planning on booking flights to Egypt, you may want to know that there's been a travel alert that militants claiming responsibility for a suicide bombing attack on a bus, have warned tourists to leave the country by the 20th February 2014.
Forward this to your friends to subscribe & they'll get a R50 flight discount voucher
Prices slashed! Bingo special on MSC Opera - Durban, Maputo, Portuguese Island. 3rd Mar 2014 for 4 nights in an ocean view cabin.
Book a ticket with Qatar Airways via their website between the 10th and the 28th of Feb and you could win a Maldive holiday package for two.
Motor around Cape Town in a Kia Picanto, available from the 14th to the 17th of March 2014.
From R2,950 pps*
From R605*
*Subject to change. Very limited availability
*Subject to change. Limited availability
*Subject to change. Limited availability
Try win a Mango Flight
This is the last way of entering our win a flight competition (the more ways you enter the greater your odds of winning). And actually you can try win 2 flights...2 Mango Airlines domestic return tickets (only the base fare, excludes taxes etc...terms & conditions apply including that South Africa Travel Online's say is final on any disputes):
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Email a flight-related photo to cheapflights@southafrica.to, with a sentence or 2 describing the occasion.
Mango Happy Day Sale
Seems like we have had a shift to Wednesdays in Mango Happy Days sales. Last week we were caught out by surprise when the sale was on the Wednesday (usually Tuesdays), and this is the 2nd week in a row it's been on a Wednesday. The Mango March special runs from 9am on the 19th February 2014 for 36 hours until 9pm on the 20th February 2014 or until the limited number of flights on special sell out, whichever occurs first, and is for selected flights until the 31st March 2014 (not all flights and not all dates).
Cheapest flights (1-way)
Here's the cheapest flights that Mango was offering. *As mentioned it's not available on every day, and is subject to change or errors by us humans, who try our best not to make them. No group bookings allowed at these rates. Most of the fares have inched up over the last few weeks, and this is a result of Rand depreciation increasing the price of avgas and the cost of US dollar denominated maintenance costs. We've seen the same concerns about inflation voiced at the Reserve Bank, which recently increased interest rates.
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JNB-DUR from R585* (increased by R10 from last week and R545 at the start of 2014)
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JNB-CPT from R865* (down from R875 at the start of the year)
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CPT-DUR from R865* (up R40 compared to 3 weeks back)
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BFN-CPT from R835* (up R10 from last week)
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HLA-CPT from R725* (went up a couple of weeks ago from R639, now stead at R725)
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CPT-HLA from R825* (increased from R729 at the start of the year)
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JNB-PLZ from R995* (up from R899 3 weeks ago)
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CPT-PLZ from R995* (up from R899 3 weeks ago)
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JNB-GRJ from R825* (up from R775 3 weeks ago)
Bookings
Bookings can be made at www.flymango.com. Good luck & Godspeed :)
The Purple Shall Rule!
We cruised for 2 days during which we relaxed by spending time in the Turkish baths, reading, eating and going to the live shows. We arrived early morning at St Helena and we were up on deck to take pictures and be available for the first tender ashore. The Captain first went ashore to assess the safety of getting the passengers ashore. Well we waited, the captain spent over an hour on the jetty and in the end an announcement was made that the landing will be too dangerous, as the swell was too great and we will be departing immediately. There was a great moan and we were disappointed but this is the chance one takes. The captain negotiated with the island and MSC head office, and a decision was made for us to wait until the Monday morning as they expected the weather would improve. If this was the case, we could go ashore for a half day and we would sail back at top speed so as to get back to Cape Town on time. From the ship one could see the waves crashing against rocks and shooting up about 5 metres. I monitored the waves all day and they did not seem to be getting less and I was quite pessimistic about the shore excursion the following day. After a frustrating day and another queue for tender tickets, I managed again to get ones for the first tender. Once again up early and we got dressed and up to the top deck for breakfast but before eating, we had a close look at the waves against the rocks and it did looked a lot calmer than yesterday. The shore excursion was on! We had breakfast and were ready for the first call which was before 06h00. We boarded the tender and motored to the jetty at St Helena. When arriving at the jetty we realised how bad it must have been the day before, the tender was running up and down the jetty at least 2 metres and changing in height by about half a metre. We were assisted ashore and then I quickened my pace so I could organise a car, etc. My wife and our friends continued at a more sedate pace. As last tender was to leave at 12h30 we wanted to get as much done in the shortest possible time. As I walked, I took photographs of anything I thought was interesting. I arrived at the tourist information half expecting it to be closed but "The Saints", what the islanders call themselves, pulled out all the stops and the office was open and they phoned the guy hiring the cars and he said that he will be there in 30 minutes. Next I needed a temporary driver's licence but the police station was closed. I went to the Jail and they sent me to the post office. This might sound like a run around but all these premises within 100 metres of each other. I found the rest of the group and updated them then and went to the post office where they were setting up extra tables for the sale of stamps. I spoke to one of the ladies and she said she would arrange it and I went back to the St Helena Tourist offices to look at their maps, etc. and collect as much info as possible. While there the lady from the post office came to me and said I could come and get a temporary drivers after filling out the form and paying my ten pounds. It cost more than my 5 year licence in South Africa! Then back to the tourist office where I filled out an insurance form for the car. St Helena Information office site is The car arrived; it was a Ford Focus, a comfortable car for 4 adults. Our plan was to take a quick drive around a circular route and visit Sandy Bay a beach on the other side of the island. Stephen
Off we went through the town and up out of the valley on the left side. The road is narrow and there are places where the down going cars would wait while the upcoming cars have right of way, this is one of the St. Helena Rules of the road. Although we did not plan to stop at Longwood, we ended up doing so and spent a few minutes looking around the house. You realise there how short Napoleon was and the way they slept half sitting up! We then travelled on through winding roads and lush vegetation to a village shop on Silver Hill. One is never far from the sea and the rugged coast and each mountain has an English name like Sugar loaf, The Barn, The Haystack etc. We drove through the Diana's Peak national reserve on a windy road, the vegetation was lush. The turnoff to Sandy Bay was a sharp left hand turn which I needed to carefully negotiate; the road ran down hill through many tight bends and towards Lot and Lot's Wives (peaks).
We stopped to have a look at Sandy Bay Baptist Chapel with Lot in the background.
We drove on down the valley with Lot's Wives high on the right side. Sandy Bay landscape was created by the South–Western volcano and carved by physical elements. Around the bay is fortifications that were built in Napoleon's time and during the Second World War. It looks like there are some interesting walks in the area but our time was limited. We drove out of the valley and continued on our circular route to the governor's house and although we managed to see Jonathan, a Seychelles Giant Tortoises. We then drove up to High Knoll Fort built in 1796 to protect the population in case on invasion. Unfortunately it was closed. Next stop was on top of Jacobs Ladder (Ladder Hill), where we had a quick look at the fort. Our final leg was downhill and back to the jetty to drop off our friends. We then returned the car. The car hire total car hire including fuel was £20. This was very reasonable for a morning outing for 4. We boarded the last tender to return to the Sinfonia after a great visit and we would love to go again and if possible spend a few more days. Once on board they soon weighed anchor and we started our return trip to Cape Town. I stood on the deck and watched as we sailed away from the Island and hoping that I will have an opportunity to visit again.
Prices subject to change, perhaps even by the time you read this. Errors & omissions occur from time to time
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The bottom line: Business Class Flights to London : If you're tired of sharing a plane with economy class passengers, then you may be interested to know what Qatar Airways are introducing a business class only flight from Doha to London. That's half the problem solved, you'll still have to share on the way from Johannesburg/Cape Town to Doha.
It's amazing how we know more about what some foreign carriers are getting up to than any domestic South African airline : Thai Airways has reported a 1% drop in the percentage load factor on its Johannesburg to Bangkok flight route, from Jan 2013 to Jan 2014.