Change of Plans: From South Africa to Dubai & United Arab Emirates

After our European road trip, the next leg of our travels was set for three months in South Africa with departure December 1. But in times of COVID-19, plans can change with very little notice.

We had it all planned out and booked: flights, car rental, two months accommodation in Cape Town followed by one month’s roadtrip across the Garden Route and safaris in Kruger National Park. We were excited to fly to the South African summer and have time to explore the rainbow nation in depth and really get to know the history, culture and people. That was the plan when we went to bed Thursday November 25.

On Friday November 26, we woke up to global news headlines about Omnicron and before long most European countries had issued travel warnings and airlines began to cancel all flights to South Africa. Our flights were cancelled less than 48 hours before planned departure.

We always knew that taking time off during the COVID-19 pandemic and planning to travel involved the risk of suddenly having to change plans and potentially not being able to travel – nonetheless it was a great disappointment to us all when this South African adventure came to such an abrupt halt just before it was about to start.

Plan B: What is Safe, Realistic and yet an Adventure?

Realizing that we would be unable to go to South Africa, we needed to come up with a Plan B – and quickly. We had already sublet our apartment, the fourth COVID-19 wave had hit Denmark and it was European winter, which we had always said we wanted to avoid in this year off.

While we wanted to travel, we were also very aware that it needed to be somewhere where we would feel safe in terms of how COVID- 19 was developing. We needed to go somewhere where the number of cases was low, vaccination rates high and the health system reliable in case of increasing numbers. And where travellers were allowed entry (Australia or New Zealand would have been on our list but unfortunately international visitors are still not allowed). Finally, we wanted to go somewhere warm!

New Destination: Dubai & United Arab Emirates

We discussed a few options but settled on Dubai and the United Arab Emirates. We have been to Dubai on holiday before and always enjoyed the great weather this time of year and COVID-19 cases are at a very controlled level. Now seemed a good opportunity to explore this part of the world in more detail. As Dubai is also a hub for many other destinations, it could also be a platform from which we could travel further once more was known about how Omnicron would develop globally.

So with little ado we booked flights to Dubai with departure December 2 and return end of February 2022 and embarked on this new adventure. In contrast to our detailed planning for South Africa, little planning is the keyword for Dubai. We took off with just our flight tickets, 10 nights of accommodation booked and some rough ideas of what we would aim to do in the coming months.

By now we have booked our accommodation until after New Years and will be spending Christmas and the turn of the year in Abu Dhabi. By chance, this gives us a chance to catch up with friends living in Dubai and friends from Bangkok who are visiting at the same time – sometimes it is indeed a small world we live in!

One week into our stay in Dubai and surroundings, we are enjoying the sun, swimming in the pool and wearing summer clothes and flip-flops while listening to Christmas music! More to follow on our stay in the Middle East in the coming weeks in this blog.