South Africa
So many new routes added by United this year - wasn't expecting a second flight to Cape Town, South Africa, to be one of them. Blocked in at 14 hours and 18 minutes flight time, covering 7934 miles, Washington, DC to Cape Town is marginally longer than United's existing EWR-CPT service. And despire being an inaugural flight, knowing that IAD-CPT was United's second route to Cape Town made me very surprised just how big a deal this flight turned out to be. It may not have been the biggest deal, but it was certainly up there with several other inaugural flights I'd been on.
Upon arrival in South Africa, decided to mix it up. Instead of heading to Cape Town proper, decided to go east to Stellenbosch to hit wine country. Cape Town is a lovely city but so is the rest of the country!
Day 1 - the big deal that is United's inaugural flight from IAD-CPT.
Day 2 - onboard UA 2222 and a celebratory arrival in Cape Town.
Day 3 - rainy day in Stellenbosch.
Day 4 - wine tasting before heading back to the USA.
Day 5 - arrival back in the USA and then one last flight home.