South Africa and Abu Dhabi

So after the long overnight flight we landed in Johannesburg a little worse for wear but glad to be off the plane. For the day off we were off to Johannesburg Zoo.

A couple of us went and rented a golf cart which allowed us to get around the zoo quickly. Unfort it was a rather hot day so most of the animals were being rather lazy and hiding in the shade and rightly so. Although the gorilla decided he wanted get up and wander around a little for us. And a big guy he was too


Our hotel was quite remote unfortunately so it was off to Nelson Mandela square and shopping mall for some dinner and browsing about.


Next day was the first show day so we were off to the Coca Cola Dome on the outskirts of town for the first of 2 shows. I have been to this venue before with another tour and always had great audiences and this time was no different. We had 2 great shows especially as this was the first time the band had ever played in South Africa.
On the second show day we had a little time in the morning so we went to a Lion Park in Gauteng, a province just outside of Johannesburg.
It was a little like a safari where you get to drive through the park and get up close with the Lions and other animals.



We also got to go into a pen and see some tiger cubs up close.




Next day we were off to Capetown which is one of my favourite cities in the world. We had very little time off here so as soon as we landed we took a trip up to the top of Table Mountain which overlooks Table Bay.


The peak is only accessible by cable car but the view is well worth the trip.







I was quite happy to be able to do this as the last time i was in Capetown it was winter as was incredibly foggy so we were not able to go up to the top. On the way back down we passed through an area of bars and clubs where people apparently just park and crank up theire car stereos and have dance parties in the street.



I did find a local beer with a rather unusual sign on the side.....

....It is you know!!!



A couple of us wandered out for a few drinks and ended up in a "rock" club. Unfortunately i felt more like i was being trapped in a mix of a 30 Seconds to Mars video and the club from the Matrix movies. Felt like when i used to bluff my way into rock clubs when i was underage back home. Oh well, my good friends beer, jack Daniels and Jagermeister took care of the festivities for us.

Next day was show day at a winery just outside of town about 45 mins drive from the hotel.





Although it was a beautiful venue, it wasn'tt the most cleverly considered as there was only one dirt road in and out of the venue for 25,000 people in approx 18,000 vehicles. Myself and a couple of the rest of the crew left the venue within 20 mins of the show ending and it took us over 3 hours to get back to the hotel. The rest of the crew didn't get back until after 4am when the show ended at 10pm. we sat still in the car park itself for over an hour and a half. This was also possibly the worst catering we had for the whole tour. So bad that a few of us wandered out to the vendors in the crowd for a burger for dinner.

Oh well, the show was still worth it. A magical setting and a great crowd gave us great memories of South Africa to take home.
Next day we were off to the United Arab Emirates but not til late in the evening so i spent the morning wandering around the Bay area and hanging out at our fantastic hotel.

Check out the Apartheid Chess Board i found


We also had lunch at a belgian beer cafe where if you wanted a large beer in the custom glasses you had to surrender your left shoe as insurance that you would not steal the glass.



So after a rather uneventful 10 hour flight to Dubai and a 2 hour drive to Abu Dhabi it was straight off to the venue for load in.
The day went by pretty quickly in a jetlagged blur tho i do remember it being rather strange that 25 mins before showtime there was maybe 2,000 of the expected 12,000 in the venue then all of a sudden out of nowhere the rest of them turned up just before the band went onstage.


I did have to take a trip over to the band hotel to take a look around as it is the most expensive hotel in the world, apparently costing 2 billion dollars.

Next day we had a day off in Abu Dhabi so we decided to have a trip out to the deserts and go on a desert jeep safari where we could ride camels, snowboard down the sand dunes and have a barbeque and take in some local entertainment.









So thats the final Day & Age shows of the year were over and i had to go to San Francisco for a day before heading home. Only 3 flights including the 3rd longest direct flight in the world from Dubai to San Francisco (16 hours 25 mins). Touch down in San fran for 30 hours then off to Dublin via Chicago for our Christmas break. Next stop Asia