Travel

We left for the Salt Lake airport around 6:30 a.m. We had a 4 1/2 hour direct flight to JFK, a 3 hour layover, 8 hours to Brussels, a 3 hour layover and then 12 hours to Nairobi. We stopped in Bujumbura for an hour and a half. We didn't get off the plane. People got off and others got on. They did a cursory and I do mean cursory cleaning of the plane. Airplane bathrooms are seriously nasty after 8+ hours. Ugh!!

Flight to NYC when we were still clean and full of energy.

When we got to JFK and asked security what terminal Brussels airline was the guard said he'd never heard of them. Nice! Eventually on our way out of security we found someone who looked it up and told us what terminal we needed to be in. We had to take the train and go through security again. It didn't take too much time but there was a lot of walking. But heck we were doing a lot of sitting so walking was good.

Brussels airport. Only 15 more hours to go.
I bought a bag of disposable tooth brushes. I loved them! You don't need water and can use them anywhere.

Brussels airport. Very disorganized on our way there. There are not enough flight boards to leave all the flights up so the gate information flits on and off before you figure out where you are going. It was early around 7 a.m. and there was no one available to help. We also didn't realize we were going to Bujumbura so we weren't looking for Nairobi on the board. Eventually we figured out we had to be in another terminal. This involved a shuttle which theoretically went every ten minutes but we waited 25. This picture is the shuttle. It wasn't a big deal because we had plenty of time for the layover. There was only one place to eat once we got through security again and into the terminal. I had an excellent croissant and a cup of $6 tea.

A strange thing happened in Bujumbura (and again on the flight back from Nairobi). Right after the plane took off they announced that they were going to disinfect the plane with a spray and assured us it was harmless. For some reason I pictured the Nazi's telling the Jews the spray in the showers was completely harmless. It took me by surprise as I had never been on a plane that was sprayed for disinfection. Heck, I saw how they cleaned the bathrooms and knew they weren't too concerned with cleanliness. It had a strong odor and I thought it must be about mosquitoes and not germs. I was worried it would give my son an asthma attack so I had him put his blanket over his head. After I got home I did a little research Why aircraft disinfection? Yep, it's a spray to prevent the inadvertent transport of live mosquitoes. The chemical is pyrethroid aerosol. The CDC has information about exposure Public health statement about pyerthrins and pyerthroids I'm guessing getting sprayed twice isn't a real big deal but I really wouldn't want to be a flight attendant getting sprayed all the time.

All this travel is exhausting!

The leg room in economy wasn't bad. The first flight we had the bulk head which was kind of nice for the extra leg room but a downer because people used it as a path to walk through. Hello, people these are our seats. The second flight we had regular seats which despite a little less leg room were preferable to being stepped on every five minutes. The seats were a lot more comfortable then economy Delta seats. Gee it sure would be nice to be able to afford first class but I'm just glad I can afford to travel at all.

They had lots of movies and games for kids. The movies and games kept Sean really busy and content. (Hey mean lady who yelled at my kid bite me!) On one flight there was a lady in front of us who got mad because Sean apparently kicked the back of her seat. I was asleep and woke up when she literally screamed at him. I was confused for a minute and had to ask my husband who was sitting on the row behind us if she touched him because I saw her hands awfully close to his face. He said she didn't. Lucky for her because there would have been an international incident. I told Sean to be careful and moved his feet on my lap so he didn't touch psycho ladies seat. A little while later I took Sean to the bathroom and when he got back in his seat he bumped crazy ladies seat. She turned around and started to scream but I beat her to it. I told her he was six and had been in a plane for 20 hours and was doing the best that he could and she needed to chill out! She turned around and shut up and didn't say anything the rest of the flight.

There are also charger adapters next to the screens so you can charge game systems or cell phones. We were able to recharge his Nintendo DS.

They fed us a lot! There were two meals on each of the international flights and an ice cream bar mid flight. (That was a nice treat) There was no charge for in flight alcohol. I've read some bad reviews about Brussels airline. Really I didn't think they were any better or worse than other airlines. Actually they were better than Iceland Air they fed us.