Day 1: Via Istanbul to Dakar

October 20, 2023

day 1

Short night, the alarm goes off at 3:45. Stand up!

Washing our hair, closing our suitcases, having a quick coffee... we must have forgotten something. After the airport disaster in the summer with KLM (after 2 hours our suitcases still hadn't been checked in and then there was a delay and we missed our connecting flight by a hair), there's no way we'll be "too late" at the airport today.

The taxi arrived at 4:30 sharp and 15 minutes later we were at Frankfurt Airport, Terminal 1. Contrary to expectations, there was nothing going on at the Turkish Airlines counter. Nothing at all!!

After 5 minutes the luggage was handed in and the boarding pass was printed (we were already checked in). There's nothing going on at security either. We've probably never been to the gate so quickly. Must be because of the early time!?

We find free lounge chairs to put our feet up and chill out next to the departure gate. We go to boarding at 6:30 a.m. and everyone is on the plane at 7 a.m. That's what I call super punctual! Fortunately, even the Turkish Airlines short-haul airliner is equipped with in-flight entertainment. Lufthansa can learn a lesson here.

At 7:15 we taxi to the runway, let's go! Bye bye rain (you can hardly see anything through the window), off into the sun. My preliminary research says that it is a whopping 33-38 degrees during the day at the vacation destination. Omg!!! I did not expect that.

We land in Istanbul at 11:20. Bright sunshine and blue skies await us. Istanbul Airport is huge and we really like the design. Not Changi Airport, but definitely better than Frankfurt. In addition to fresh Turkish coffee, there is a variety of dishes and delicious desserts. Typical Turkish sweets, but very nice to look at (and definitely very tasty too 😅).

We drink a cappuccino at Burger King and sit on empty benches in Gate D area. Our gate for the connecting flight has not yet been announced.

Our next flight leaves at 2:10 p.m., so we still have some time.

After we've finished the coffee, we make our way to Gate F - a whole corner away from Gate D. I briefly see on the Departure Flight screen that our flight says "Last Call".

Hmm... I look at the tracker on my arm and says "12:35", then I look at my cell phone and say "13:35". Oh shh....!!!! The tracker didn't sync, we lost an hour on the flight to Istanbul. Now it's time to race!!!!

Our lungs are burning, we run across the airport to the other end. To make matters worse, Gate F 17 is also one of the last gates along the long terminal arm. Déjà-vu. That's exactly what happened to us in the summer! We almost missed the plane thanks to the KLM delay, but we also had to run to the gate. Oh man!!!

We arrive at gate 17, sweating wetly. We still had 13 minutes until the gate closed, the lady at the gate tells us, amused, when we present our tracker with the wrong time. Oh man. It's kind of part of it, we can't seem to start our vacation without stress and thrills.

On the plane (seating 2-4-2) the system assigned us two seats in the middle one behind the other. The plane is not full, many seats are free, so after the captain (yes! Female captain on the Turkish 😜💪🏻) said "Boarding completed" there is a wild change of seats among the passengers. Many families with babies and small children have not been able to get places together and are looking for free middle places. We give up 2 of our middle seats and move to the window opposite. Space with a view is much cooler! So everyone is happy. At 2:05 p.m. everyone has a (new) seat and we can get started. Hurray, what excitement. We taxi around the airport once, then join a departure queue of waiting planes in front of the runway. From the window I see how one plane after the other, who were behind us, now turns a curve earlier and takes off IN FRONT OF us. Huh??? While I'm watching the 3rd priority take off, the announcement comes that due to the increased number of aircraft there is currently no take-off window for us and we have to wait about 20 minutes. 🤦🏻 Oh man. Welcome to vacation...

At some point it's finally our turn and it starts. The flight is quiet and our captain rarely has to make an announcement. Captain, awesome... and at Turkish Airlines. I've flown a lot, but so far we haven't had a woman in the cockpit. Very cool!

Cheers!

We land at dusk at +32 degrees in Senegal at Dakar-Blaise Diagne Airport, which has replaced the city airport in Dakar since 2017.

Sweat...

The airport building is minimally air-conditioned. I'm sweating like hell. Immigration, picking up your suitcase, looking for a Tui man....!

We go to the hotel in a minibus with 3 other families. Our suitcases are strapped to the roof - the bus is full. That's probably how they do it here. The journey takes what feels like an eternity. Across the towns, one bumper after the other, past evening markets and the Senegalese nightlife.

Completely exhausted, we arrive at the hotel at 9:30 p.m., check in and quickly try out the buffet restaurant before it closes at 10 p.m. Afterwards we move into our 2 double rooms in the main house on the 2nd floor 250 (kids) and we (252). We are greeted by a swarm of beetles, bedbugs, grasshoppers, etc., swarming in the hallway, on the wall and around the lights. We can already see towels lying in front of the other room doors that are supposed to cover the gap in the door. Of course there is no towel in front of our room, but there are lots of bugs in front of it and in the room. Our rooms are on the 2nd floor on the open corridor, so there is a clear and open view of the fields opposite. An invitation for all crawling creatures. Yuck...

There are hardly any animals in the hallway of the main house in the middle because the hallway there is closed and not open like on our side.

There are a lot of beetles, bugs, etc. in the room... too many...!

I try to sweep the critters outside with the towel, but as soon as I sweep 10 out, 15 are back in. Impossible... I give up.

The kids are exhausted and just want to shower and go to bed. Showering sounds good, but so does a drink beforehand. We go to the bar alone and drink another mojito. It is so hot....

Then I try again to sweep the critters out of the room. Without success.

I'm too tired to worry about it. Take a quick shower and always keep your flip flops on so you don't step on any bugs with your bare foot. They are everywhere, even in the bathroom.

An oversized grasshopper awaits me in the curtain, which we quickly take out through the balcony door.

The room looks nice, but not much here is of 5***** standard. The sheets are dirty, the outside of the bed is dirty, hair from the last guests in the bathroom, the sink is still dirty, there is no shampoo/conditioner etc. in the shower and even though the hotel is only just over a year old, there is mold and dirty joints .

Cool....!!!

Plus the heat. It's sooo hot. So the air conditioning (to the chagrin of the husband) is at full throttle.

When we want to sleep, we notice that we don't have any pillows. What??? How can there be no pillows in a 5***** hotel???

I'll check on the kids. Luckily you have 4 pieces - more than necessary, so I'll quickly get two more. So that's really not a 5***** service.

We fall asleep flatly, then I wake up shortly before midnight. The bed shakes from the bass of the disco beneath us. Oh man... This could be something. I still fall asleep without earplugs at some point.

My first thought: hopefully the week here will be over soon....🙈