Purgatory

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Monday July 3, 2006 - I got on the plane to Nairobi and found that it stopped once in Comoros. Those of us continuinig on chatted for an hour or so before we took off again, and among them I met Cat, a South African on her way to Israel to visit some relatives. She invited me to stay if I made it there which was a very nice offer. It's amazing how kind other travelers can be.

The airline food was strange at best, and we got two meals, one for each leg of the flight. I filled up as I knew I would be camping in the Nairobi Airport for some time between flights.

When we arrived in Nairobi, I went to ask whether I needed to get a visa, collect my luggage, and leave the airport until tomorrow or if they could just find my bag and check it through to Cairo, on my next flight 26 hours later. They said that would be no problem, but it took over an hour for all of this to occur. I was finally given the new luggae tags and the belief that it was all in order.

Spent some time wandering aimlessly around the many similar curio shops in the airport before finally finding a place in the transit lounge to camp out. Got in there sometime around 7pm in order to lay claim to a spot. Ended up with three seats to myself most of the time, and ended up staying there for 20 hours straight, aside from bathroom breaks. It was a strange 20 hours. I did a lot of reading, planning with my Egypt guide book, eating the snacks I had brought. I spent some time watching a group of too-cool African travelers who were so trendily clothes they may even have been part of a band. At least they kept playing the guitar and singing. I even slept a little bit. The lights in the lounge went off after midnight and came back on before 5am, but in that time everyone was reasonably quiet. I caught glimpes of the news, including a new train from Beijing to Tibet, which I filed away for possible future use.

Tuesday - Eventually I did leave this new home, at around 3pm, to get a boarding pass for my next flight on Ethiopian Air. No one could be found to help me, so I read a bit more and then gathered at the gate when the time was near at hand. They processed everyone with a boarding pass into the waiting area, and then told me to go ahead in and they would bring mine. When people started boarding I had to go back and get it myself. Got on the place and had a wonderful dinner - they really know how to do good plane food. I also got to watch some in flight entertainment, including a program about the Tambopata Research Center in Peru - the very spot where I began this whole adventure with my friend Mike in early January. It was great to see and brought back a lot of fond memories. I am still indebted to him for bringing me along on that little adventure.

The flight stopped in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where I had to change planes. This flight had another wonderful and complete meal, but I gorged myself as all I had eaten in the past day were chips and cookies. It was heaven.

Wednesday - When I arrived in Cairo it was 2am. I was tired and all I wanted was my luggage. But this wasn't to be. Instead I had to spent the next several hours tracking down someone from the airline who could help me. Luckily there were three of us, so it was a bit better. By 4am I had filled out everything and was contemplating staying in the airport until it got light out, when I was offered a ride into the city by the man who helped us locate someone from the airline to help with our luggage. He was very kind and I took him up on his offer. He dropped me at a hotel where they wouldn't let me wait to check in until the next day, even though it was the next day in my opinion. So I got a room and a shower and slept from 6am until noon. I was exhausted.

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Comments

[Kuba]

take care
Great that they checked you through directly to Cairo! Take care, and enjoy the rest of your trip! Kuba