East Africa and Qatar Travel
While I have more travel tips to divulge, it’s time for me to take you with me on my month-long 2023 trip to Qatar, Tanzania, and Kenya.
Day One: Tuesday, May 30th
Why do airlines insist that people must be at the airport hours ahead of early flights? There is never anyone at the ticket counter until 8:00 or 9:00. But I don’t take any chances. Once at an airport in Denver, a snooty check-in person wouldn’t let me board a flight.
We had been chatting for at least 30 minutes about a suitcase that exceeded the 50-pound limit. The moment the clock hit the luggage check-in deadline, he smirked as he explained that I’d be spending the night in Denver. I was allowed to carry one more personal item. With a 5-minute warning, I could have created one from a sweater for the extra weight and been on my way.
My trip to East Africa was booked close to my departure date, so my 42-hour travel time was much longer than the 25-30 hours it would typically take to get from Savannah, Georgia, to Tanzania. But making lemonade out of lemons, and since I have friends in Qatar, my long layover included some tourist time.
After the short flight to Philadelphia, I had a 9-hour layover until my 9:30 pm departure. The Philadelphia airport has something I’ve never seen before - a machine that provides free poems and short stories.You “tell” the machine what you want, and it spits out something to read while you wait for your next flight.
Flying from the US to Doha on Qatar Airways is a slightly different experience. They have their own boarding passes. It was a good thing I had a long layover, as it took a while to find their check-in desk. I kept hearing announcements over the PA system warning passengers that they might miss their flight if they tried to use non-Qatar Airways boarding passes. Eventually, after going to more than one terminal, I found the correct location and got my new pass.
I’m not afraid of flying, and my red-eye trip was supposed to be for relaxing and sleeping, but there was severe turbulence for most of the 14-hour flight. Not fun. The plane had seats for approximately 300 passengers, divided into three relatively equal sections. The middle row, where I was seated, had five seats together. My seat wasn’t great but I smiled and made the best of it, thinking about my exciting adventures ahead.
Qatar Airways provides more amenities in the economy section than most other airlines. I appreciated that everyone received a large, fluffy blanket, a full-sized headset, earplugs, and a high-quality sleep mask. The plane was also immaculate. They fed us three times, not counting snacks. I was glad to have my large, blue, inflatable headrest, which goes on the tray table.
Day 2: Wednesday, May 31st
I arrived in Doha, the capital of Qatar. The airport is luxurious and enormous, rated #1 in the world in 2022. There are very fancy gold and jewelry stores, beautiful sculptures and artwork, gigantic smiling images of the handsome Emir and his lovely wife are everywhere, exotic cars on display, and every possible wealthy person’s favorite store.
I breezed through immigration. No smiles. But that’s ok. I’m an Army brat. I don’t expect to socialize with gatekeepers, and know better than to act too familiar.
I checked into the in-airport Oryx Hotel because it would be an exceptionally long time before my flight to Tanzania. After checking in, I made my way to the exit with my special Doha visa, which allowed me to leave the airport. It was confusing when, all of a sudden, every airport staff member left their station.
Thankfully, a man from London explained that when the call to prayer happens, every working person leaves their post for prayer. If you’re in line or in a hurry, you must be prepared for a delay until they return.
My friends picked me up in the large parking lot. Every car, truck, and van was white. I found out that white cars are cheaper and, of course, cooler in the heat. I’m sure someone in Doha has a vehicle that’s not white, but I never saw one.
The daytime temperature was 110 degrees, but it had dropped to a pleasant 80 degrees. Residents enjoy restaurants, exercise, and even family picnics in the dark. It was the middle of the night, but it seemed like the whole city was wide awake.
Our first stop was at the Souq Waqif, a fascinating, large marketplace with long, maze-like corridors. You can buy gold, jewelry, perfume, beautiful clothing, shoes, birds, rabbits, turtles, domestic pets, exotic spices, handicrafts and much more.
The market had distinct smells. 5 Spice in the spice section, leather in the shoe, wallet, pocketbook, etc. section, Shalimar dominated the perfume area, and the outdoor restaurants smelled like a heavenly combination of spices and grilled meat. Our delicious dinner of beef and chicken kebabs, with a side of fresh hummus and pita, was only $14 for three people. One of the most intriguing areas was where they sell falcons and falconry accessories.
A highlight of my visit was riding a camel. Getting up was a little scary, but coming back down – gasp - was like a zippy-fast elevator drop, and I felt like I was going to fall off. Slightly terrifying on the way down, but I loved it.
My friends told me they enjoy living in Doha. The cost of living is affordable, and they said wages are excellent. Just about everyone speaks English.
Approximately 88% of Qatar’s 2.5 million population (Wikipedia, 2017) are foreigners. Qatarians do have legal protections in place to ensure that non-Qatarians can’t have full ownership of any businesses. You can have a company, but only if you share ownership with a Qatari native. Some Qatarians who aren’t even interested in involvement in your business will let you pay them to be “co-owners.” Interesting.
We rode around Doha. I saw the FIFA World Cup Soccer stadiums. Doha is an exciting city, even when it’s not possible to visit museums or other daytime tourist attractions. There were tall purple buildings and large, beautiful mosques, lush parks and playgrounds, and maybe there’s a reason for the color purple? In Doha, with a large non-Muslim population, expat favorites such as gin and bacon can be found outside the regular shopping areas.
I didn’t buy any luxury items, but there were many things I would have liked to take home – spices, beautiful leather, fabrics. I hope I can return to Qatar and stay for more than just a day. What a whirlwind adventure!
Tamela Maxim was previously the assistant publisher of Realtor Listings magazine, editor of Bluffton Breeze and Premier Lowcountry magazines, and occasional contributor to local newspapers and magazines. She plays the role of the assistant art instructor on the YouTube channel Art Posse, a local reality TV show. www.artposseproductions.com She recently edited and published two books, Et Cetera Y’all, Volume 1 by Annelore Harrell, and From Jellybeans to a Nobel Prize Nomination by Arthur V. Martin, Ph.D.
