Beep, beep, beep… 02:30 in the morning the alarm goes off. Yes!! We’re going on holiday to Cape Verde!
Holiday or not, rising early is always a big ordeal for me. We hatched a plan and put the kids to bed fully clothed so we could move them to the car while still sleeping but things went a little differently.
Before my toes even touch the cold floor, next to our bed I hear two excited children’s voices, “Are you going to wake us up now? Is it still dark? Are we going on holiday to Cape Verde?!” Uhm, yes, yes and yes.
Parking at Schiphol Airport
After an hour we’re in the car with two suitcases, 2 kiddy backpacks, a large backpack, diaper bag, buggy and child carrier. Off to Schiphol! We’re trying ‘Holiday Valet Parking’ this holiday. You can park your car in P6, directly opposite the arrival hall. You give the keys to an employee and your car is parked in an indoor parking lot further away while you’re on holiday. All you need do is walk out of the parking lot and straight into the arrival hall. The route that is taken to the parking lot further away is tracked by GPS so your car is in good hands! Sounded ideal so we thought we’d try it to see if it really was as good as it sounded.
Around 04:00 we drive into P6, right in front of the arrival hall as promised. At 04:02 we walk into Schiphol! We’ve handed the car keys over and put our bags on a trolley, Floris in the buggy and Lotte in the carrier. This is awesome!! It saves us all the hassle of looking for trains, busses or people to drop us off in the middle of the night.
At Schiphol
We hand over our luggage and pass through customs. One big advantage of flying so early is that it’s not very busy and we are able to walk straight through.
Lotte and Flo are pretty tired after all and this is coupled with slight crankiness so it’s time for a little distraction. In lounge 2 we visit Nemo and the big stuffed animals. It works! They are enjoying themselves but are a little bothered by the Indian people who kept taking photos of the two cute looking blonde children. And so am I quite frankly, as they’re doing so without even asking my permission.
When the kids have calmed down we walk on for a little shopping. I buy a new pair of shades from the Sunglasses shop and Flo sees a playset on a balcony shaped like an aeroplane. She wants to go there straight away of course!
Kev gets us a cup of coffee and a cup of tea and while the kids frolic around we can relax a little. Then it’s time to board. Both kids are potty-trained but just to be sure we’ve put diaper-pants on both of them before we board. If there’s turbulence they might need to stay in their seat for a while and holding it back for an hour can be quite difficult at times.
Ready for take-off!
When we’re on board it doesn’t take long before I hear the familiar call of, “Cabin crew prepare for take-off” and off we go on holiday to Cape Verde! We’re very lucky with the seats. When booking I left a seat open between Kev and Lotte and Floris and me and the seats are still unoccupied so there is enough room for a quick snooze!
But… it doesn’t go exactly according to plan. Neither kids will fall asleep even though they’re VERY tired. Hmmmm not the best combination in a steel tube no wider than 2 metres.
Both kids are pretty active during the day to say the least.. Lotte is containable but before we realise, Flo is doing acrobats on the armrest of the seat.
A confirmation that evening and night flights are better for us and especially for the kids. After flying for 6:30hrs we land in Sal. The blue sea and white beaches quickly make up for the rough flight with kids that didn’t sleep! We take a cab for €12 to hotel RIU Funana and when we arrive we are pleasantly surprised…
To be continued…
Tips & tricks for a holiday to Cape Verde
* Fly early in the morning or late at night? Put the kids to bed in a shirt and a pair of jogging slacks. Finish it off with a jacket and they’re ready to go.
* Try Schiphol’s Holiday Valet Parking. We found it ideal to park that close to the terminal.
* Do the kids need to be entertained at Schiphol? Nemo, the large stuffed animals (both Holland Boulevard) and the climbing playset shaped like an aeroplane on the balcony of lounge 2 (next to McDonalds) are great spots!
* If the kids are only just potty-trained or having trouble holding it up? Put on a pair of diaper-pants before the flight.
Would you like to read more of our travel adventures? Take a look at the blogs of our travels to Thailand or USA.
