We started off this day knowing that it was going to be a long day. But we ended up getting something we didn't expect. We left our hotel for the airport at 10:15pm and arrived at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport just a little before 11:00pm. There were no customers in line at the Ethiopian Airways counter, so it took no time to getting Todd's bag checked and making changes to our seats (so we weren't in the back row of the plane). We then passed through security and spent the next two and a half hours in a lounge in the terminal visiting and working on our laptops. Believe it or not, a really bad English soap opera was on television. You would think that they could find something better than that to put on TV even at 1:00am in Kenya!
When it was time to board our plane we made our way to our gate, and waited there a bit longer. Our plane was late, and when it finally was ready, we walked out of the terminal, down to the tarmack and across in the open to our waiting 737. That was the first time I had done that since I rode in a farmers plane in Nebraska when I was a boy! It was kind of enjoyable! Todd and I ended up in exit row aisle seats right across from one another.
At 2:30am we left Nairobi for a short one hour flight to Entebbe, Uganda. They stopped on the tarmac and allowed some people to get off and allowed others to get on for the flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The rest of us just waited on the plane. Well, some of us. The couple sitting beside me got up, grabbed their bags and exited the plane. A few minutes later the two sheepishly returned, having been sent back by someone. That's what you get when you fall asleep on an plane over here! Thirty minutes later we were in the air again on our way to the capital city of Ethiopia. We arrived at the Addis Ababa airport at about 6:30m, having slept very little during our second night in Africa. Once again we exited the plane on the tarmac and took a bus to the terminal to wait for our next flight to the Congo.
This airport was very new but not very large. We decided to kill some time by sitting down in an airport "restaurant." It was more like a smokers bar, but beggars can't be choosers. When someone came in asking if there was some "non-smoking" café, he was practically laughed out of the building! It's a different world here.
With about an hour to go to boarding time (9:45am) we decided to see if we could find our gate. We began to get a bit nervous when we couldn't find our flight listed on the screen. When we had hunted down a customer service man and asked about our flight, he nonchalantly replied, "Your flight doesn't leave until tomorrow morning." TOMORROW MORNING!?!?!?! Sure enough the date changed between our arrival and departure, and we never even realized we were losing a day in the expanse of Ethiopia.
To make a long story short, we had to make arrangements with the airport for a hotel and transit visa for Ethiopia. And we were not the only ones. There was a huge line of people who were in the same situation. We can't imagine why an airline would so such a thing intentionally, unless they had an "arrangement" with the local hotels.
While we were both a bit steamed about this unexpected turn of events, it was actually a real blessing in disguise. While we had to pay for the visas and the hotel, we were in a really nice hotel and it came with free lunch, supper and breakfast the next morning.
Todd seems to be enjoying his room, doesn't he?
It also had free wireless internet, although it didn't work most of the time we were there. We checked into our room around 11:30am and had the rest of the day to prepare for our Congo visit, and rest up after our long night. We met a family from Iowa who was here adopting two Ethiopian children and another family from Vermont who were on their way to Malawi. It's a small world, isn't it? We also were befriended by a local man, Manfer, who told us all about Ethiopia and helped us find a Internet Cafe not far from our hotel.
In addition to resting up, we enjoyed some gourmet food, some of which had a bit of a kick to it! I wouldn't mind coming back to Ethiopia sometime, although next time I think I'd like to know ahead of time, that I'll be coming....
We thank the Lord for His many blessings -- even unexpected ones! Please continue to keep us in your prayers that the Lord would bless our travels tomorrow and upcoming meetings with the men of the ELCC and CCLC in the Congo.
In Christ,
Nathanael
"Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men!" -- Psalm 107:21
3 comments:
Sorry to hear about the channel selection. Is there such thing as a "good soap opera"? Even though there is more room between the emergency exit rows, unfortunately those seats don't recline for a nap either. At least you had a nice hotel with good food. Very happy for that.
I didn't try to recline it too far, but my exit row seat did recline enough for me to be comfortable. These were some pretty old planes though and had seen a lot of service, so maybe these were different than the planes we have in the states...
And no, I don't think there is such a thing as a good soap opera!
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