CAIRO TO ABUJA

Catch up on the London to Cairo trip gist here. I advise that you go read that one, and then come back for this one. Ok?

So, I got to our departure gate thirty minutes to the time, making me one of the first people to board the bus taking us to the tarmac. Can I say the distance between the departure lounge and the tarmac is almost a trip in itself? I enjoyed it anyway, and I took a few pictures too!

Ok, so we boarded and the first thing I noticed was there were no personal entertainment systems on the plane. What??? On a 4 hours plus flight? Egypt Air just disgraced me there abeg. SMH! SMH (again, for good measure).

Since I was already feeling poorly (something I ate on the first leg of the trip had destroyed the peaceful equilibrium in my belly), I decided to sleep. Thank God there was a seat between a lady and I, and shout out to her for saving me a slice of cake, waking me up when it was lunch time, and even keeping a landing card for me! Quick question; do citizens of other countries have to fill out landing cards for their own countries? Just curious.

A bit of tatafo (gist) here that I didn’t include in the London to Cairo post. There was this lady who kept brandishing a British passport on every queue we were on. Started from the queue by the Immigration desk, she had the ‘red kpali’ in her hand, hand on her waist, and was probably playing ‘change your style’ in her head. She gets to the desk, brings out her Nigerian passport to be stamped, puts it back in her bag, and then continues with the flashing. We get to the last security check before heading for our gates. Apparently she’d been ‘almost strip searched’ like me so we got there about the same time. Again she brought out the Nigerian passport, got it scanned, and then whipped out the British passport again. Thought about it a few times since I got back; noticed she didn’t chat with anyone (I didn’t either) so what was all of that for? Did I miss something?

Anyway, I hated the second leg of the flight; I was so uncomfortable, nausea got worse with each passing minute, and it was all I could do not to cry, especially when the pilot announced that the temperature in Abuja was 37 degrees. What??? That’s 34 more than I left at the beginning of this entire trip!

Touched down safely (thank you Jesus), and as soon as we did the walk (IN THE SUN) from the plane to Arrivals, I started to retch. Made it to a safe spot and threw up everything even remotely connected to Egypt Air in my system.

Was doubled over (literally) in pain in the queue at Immigration and I’m very grateful to the officer who came over, took me to a seat, and then helped me sort out my passport. God bless you.

Ride home was uneventful. Tired and uncomfortable as I was though, soon as I saw my darling nephew Boo Boo, like Jacob in the Bible when he saw his son Joseph, my spirit revived! It’s good to be home! Thank God for a safe trip, for healing (I’m a lot better now), and for family!

Whoop!

Related articles

• London to Cairo (fairygodsister.wordpress.com)
• In Cairo, a Hint of Compromise – Wall Street Journal (online.wsj.com)
• Climbing that mountain (bellylorna.blogspot.com)
• The Lede Blog: Cairo Filmmakers Screen Images of Revolt on the President’s Wall (thelede.blogs.nytimes.com)
• A ‘Global Lens’ on Egypt (cnsblog.wordpress.com)
• ‘Men don’t have to worry about being caught’: Sex mobs target Egypt’s women (worldnews.nbcnews.com)
• My Trip to Abuja – Lessons and Discoveries (naijaspleen.wordpress.com)