LONDON BOUND TO CIVILIZATION AND MZUNGU FREEDOM

I’m off to London today and I am looking forward to having a ‘holiday’ and catching up with friends for the 2 weeks I will be away.  As my blog title suggests it will be nice to return to a ‘western’ world for a short time, stock up on items that are hard to get or too expensive and the nicest bit will be taking a break from being a Mzungu.  I’m not going to look out of place and I will be able to move amongst a population that won’t stare at me and wonder who I am and what I am doing in their country.  Don’t get me wrong I LOVE my new home, but this small reprieve will be welcomed and I know after 2 weeks away from the babies, my new friends and my life in Kenya I will be looking forward to getting back BUT we are talking about a land of bangers and mash, inexpensive camembert, clothes shopping, shopping in general and playing tourist-I think I do have a good reason to be excited.  It is also an opportunity for me to try and get 2 visas for my West Africa trip while I am here and it was a blessing in disguise that the tour was guaranteed a few weeks ago so I could attempt to get 2 of the hardest visas to obtain, well for an Australian at any rate.    

I haven’t had an afternoon flight out of Jomo Kenyatta International before.  All my flight have been at the ungodly hour of midnight but as unreasonable as that sounds it is actually the best time to be leaving Nairobi when the chaotic traffic of the day is all parked away safe and sound and there are hardly any cars on the roads.  My flight was at 6pm, so I got Driver Steven to pick me up at 3pm.  That gave us an hour for traffic (it was a Saturday) and then the usual 2 hour check-in for an international flight which you need at JKIA (Jomo Kenyatta International Airport) as they are not known for being the speediest of check-in agents.  Traffic did prove to be busy, but as we had enough time up our sleeves I wasn’t too worried, even at one point Steven turned off his engine as there wasn’t much movement as we passed the outskirts of the city, but them it cleared and I made it to the airport in 45 minutes and after getting the car security checked Steven dropped me at Unit 2 (terminal 2) and with a wave he was back on the road again.  I pay Steven before we get to the terminal, as he has had instances of getting pulled after he has dropped his client, by police on his way out knowing what the going rate is for a trip to the airport (3000KSH) and trying to fleece him of money with ‘problems’ with his car.  It is nice (in a wrong bout of way) that even the locals are privy to the bribery culture of Kenya.   

It is a process to get into the terminal buildings at the international airport.  This time of day was super busy and the queue to even get into the building was quite long and with ‘local’ people in front bumbling with their hundreds bag each it turned a 5 minute process to a 25 minute process of getting your ticket checked and you bags scanned.  It can be quite frustrating but then I take a deep breath and remember that firstly I AM in Africa and secondly some of these travellers may have never travelled before and need to have some slack cut for them.  Either way once I made it through what seemed like the juggernaut of security you stumble into the juggernaut of check-in.  From previous experience, instead of heading straight to the check-in counter, as I had made my booking online you are required to visit the ‘back’ office to have your credit card verified (making sure it was the same one that you booked with) and signing an authority you are then all clear to join the actual check-in queue which at this point was 15 deep.  Normally 15 people in front isn’t too bad, but in Kenya this can take some time and time it did take.  I was in line for 45 minutes before my turn came up and then you would have thought I was checking in for a flight that had 10 tickets and 4 countries when in fact I did have 2 tickets, both with Ethiopian, one from Nairobi to Addis Ababa and then Addis to London and I will say again with the SAME carrier.  I asked if my bags could be checked all the way through (which I knew could be) and you would have thought that I asked for the winning lotto numbers for all the hassle it seemed and the first answer that came out was “check-in hadn’t opened in Addis yet so he couldn’t check me all the way” which I KNOW is complete nonsense and I told him so (in nicer terms) and understood if he couldn’t give me my boarding pass but there should be no reason why my bag couldn’t.  The answer finally came back a yes, which is good as it saved me having to obtain a visa in Addis, collect my bag and then repeat the whole process in Addis which I can tell you is no faster than their Kenyan counterparts.  So the next issue seemed to be getting the bag tag.  My check-in agent was a man, and he seemed to be pressing a lot of buttons and then there were large gaps of silence like he was reading a screen and then he called to the guy next to him, twice, and then a supervisor came over to see what was taking so long, and he wasn’t talking in English but I could easily understand the hand gestures as he pointed to the growing queue and then at his watch, which then in turn made me feel bad for the guy who in the end worked it out, and I had a quick peek at the bag tag to make sure it had London on it and after 20 minutes I was finally on my way.  I had asked for a window seat and with my SUITCASE only weighing 16.8kg I made my way to immigration.  There was a departure card to fill in, and I have finally admitted on paper that I am now living in Kenya as there is a question asking country of residence on it.  I am still uneasy that I am here on a tourist visa, when I am now living here, but after talking to people, I am not breaking any laws, as long as I’m not working, I can keep doing what I am doing.  I was smart enough to bring my old passport with me as it had my Kenyan visitor visa in it, which the official did ask for and he stamped me out on the old passport and also then stamped me out on my new passport which got its first ever stamp and it was a nice feeling to have it as a Kenyan one and with no issues I was through!  I don’t know why I am so nervous when I go through Kenyan immigration but every time I do it is such a relief and I will look forward to the day that I apply for a working visa which in turn will permit me to apply for a permanent residence card and then I will become a ‘proper’ Kenyan mzungu.

By the time I had finally got through the whole Kenyan check-in process it was 5pm and my flight was on the departure screen to make my way to the gate for a 5.30pm board and a 6pm departure.  On my way to the gate I had a quick look at the duty free alcohol as I was going to price it here in Nairobi, check the cost in London and then buy 2 bottles of Jameson whiskey at the cheapest point.  I had seen the signs on the windows of the shops that said ‘for departing passengers only’ but never though much of them until I asked how much alcohol I was allowed to buy on my way in and was told that you can’t shop duty free on your return to Nairobi-it really is only for departing passengers only, well the alcohol anyway.  I’m not sure why they have this rule but it was good to find this out now rather than coming back from the UK empty handed on the proviso that I could get some bottles when I land.  I made my way to the gate and found a spot to sit and then at 5.30pm there was an announcement made that due to a technical fault our flight had been delayed for 2.5 hours and out new boarding time was to be at 8.15pm.  This made me smile and looking around the departure lounge there was a lot of eye rolling, some disappointed looks and a few other smiles along with mine.  I instantly starting working out in my head the new departure and arrival times and what was originally going to be a 4 hour connection time in Addis was now depleted to a 1.5 hour connection.  I was okay with that.  There were two obvious scenarios with the delay.  One was that the flight to London would be held if we arrived late OR I would have a layover in Addis and then fly out hopefully on the next day’s flight which also would have been okay cause then I could see Minalu and David on the stop-over.  Yes I was okay with the flight change, it is just a shame that JKIA is not a very ‘energetic’ airport and there isn’t a lot to do there.  I was smart (again) and I had bought my travel modem with me, so I was able to jump on the internet for the following 2 hours to fill my time.  Only 5 minutes after our flight was delayed another announcement came over the speakers that a Kenyan Airways flight to Mumbai had been delayed and those passengers weren’t even given a new departure time and were told that there would be another announcement about their flight at 7pm.  It just reinforces one of my life mottos that there is always someone worse off than you and the poor buggers to Mumbai were those people today.  30 minutes later another announcement came out that a Kenyan Airways flight to Bangkok had been cancelled and was rescheduled for tomorrow-this makes the Mumbai people feel better and then there was another announcement that die to a late arrival of a Precision Air flight the new departure time was going to be 2 hours later.  It was just quite unreal to be hearing all these flights change and cancel in a 45 minute window and it is a little disconcerting out of the 4 flights, 2 of them were with Kenyan Airways who I happen to be flying on my return back to Kenya.  Ethiopian Airlines were kind enough to supply bottles of soft drink, bottles of water and also a small snack and as usual some-one has to be unhappy with what was offered when they don’t have to offer anything and it was actually embarrassing for the German who was complaining that there were no more sandwiches left and the large scrolls were not good enough and that all passengers deserved to have the same thing.  What a twat and made a point of thanking the lady and giving a ‘don’t worry’ look when I had collected my water and scroll.  Some people will never be happy. 

Since I had my internet time flew by and before I knew it our flight got called at 7.45pm and I somehow fluked getting to the front of the line!  This was a good sign but I have learnt that until we are in the air, I will not breathe a sigh of relief.  As I entered the aircraft I ripped out my Amharic hello (Ethiopian) and when I was handed back my boarding pass I ripped out my thankyou in Amharic and I think the Hostee was pleasantly surprised.  Not as surprised as I was when I got to my seat and realised that I had an aisle seat and not a window!  After all the kerfuffle at check-in I forgot to check that he had given me a window.  Dang it.  So now I had to sit and wait, in hope, that there was no-one that was going to be sitting next to me so that I could move to the window.  I am so much so a window traveller that I think I would have asked the passenger to swap seats if they did come, but I was lucky and had a spare seat next to me for the flight and I was able to move without fuss.  It is a larger plane than what I have travelled this route on before.  The aircraft was a 767-300 with a seating configuration of 2x3x2 and on this plane there was plenty of overhead space.  I had hope that we would still make the connecting flight as the doors were closed and we were pushed back from the aerobridge.  I think there are a few things that are ‘international’ when you are travelling and as we halted just before turning onto the main runway we stopped and as I looked out my window I saw a fire engine pass us with its red and orange lights flashing-and I think this couldn’t be a good sign right?  Either there was something wrong with us or another plane was having an issue coming in to land.  Well we sat there for 10 minutes when the captain finally came over the intercom and told us that there had been birds seen on the runway and the fire engine was out there checking it out before we were permitted to take off!  What a comedy of errors and after a further 5 minutes we were given the all clear and finally took off from Nairobi 2 hours and 45 minutes late and I still had hope that we would make the connection. 

I had a great flight, great food and we arrived into Addis at 10.30pm, which was plenty of time after checking the departure screens and seeing that my next flight was going to be boarding in 30 minutes!  It was great I didn’t have to worry about my bag and as I was a transit passenger I just made my way straight upstairs, worked out what gate I had to get to and was thinking I had the secret of not lining up in the security zone for gates 1-4 and heading down the other end of the terminal to avoid the queue for gates 5-8 and was very disappointed that the queue was just as long tonight as the other end.  So much for the inside tip-funny if they had all read my blog and I had let the cat out of the bag!  So I stood in yet another line for 30 minutes to pass security and as timing would have it I got to the gate as they were opening and I was 3^rd in line, which was good as I needed to get a boarding pass for this leg and was hoping I could get a window seat.  Well I was probably one of the last to get a pass for the flight and was told that there were no more window seats, which I asked again-I don’t know what I expected the answer to be as they just can’t build an extra window seat, but she told me to come back later after everyone else had checked in and we would see what was left.  She was a little rude I have to say and it is a little annoying when I checked in like 7 hours ago to now miss out on a window seat.  But I patiently waited for the line to clear-even after they had started boarding I sat there as the last 2 people straggled in and she rechecked and said the only window she has is at the back of the plane and I told her that would be amazing and a new boarding pass was printed!  Wa hoo!!!!!!  A window seat on an 8 hour flight is a MUST and I was now a happy camper but you can imagine my annoyance when I was in my seat and had a look around that there were other window seats available, even after the doors had closed-stupid bitch…..  I hate that and I was so nice to her…… BUT I did have a spare seat next to me and I would like to think that she had arranged that out of the goodness of her airline heart but I have a feeling that I was just lucky.  Either way a spare seat on an 8 hour flight is right up there with the window seat.  Thank you travel gods and I will thank the nasty ‘seat allocation’ lady just in case she is misunderstood and had actually done a good thing. 

We were sitting on a 767-300 which was the same model plane that I had just travelled up on but it seemed older and not as nice.  The configuration was 2x3x2 and it is always nice to have the 2 seats to yourself and was very lucky for this flight.  I have yet to be on an Ethiopian Airlines flight that has in-seat TV’s, all the aircraft that I have sat on only have the big screen at the front of the cabin and the drop TV’s every 4 seats but I haven’t found this to be too much of an issue as they have all been night flights and after dinner I try and get some sleep, well actually I do sleep, and this helps kill the flying time on long haul flights.  Just before take-off the Captain came on the speakers and wished everyone a Happy Easter, due to the Ethiopian calendar they were celebrating Easter on the 5^th May.  Dinner was served an hour after take-off and then I pretty much settled in for the remaining 7 hours and slept the whole way waking up in time for my muffin and juice for breakfast before starting our decent into London.  I LOVE coming in over London as you can see some of the major landmarks (London Eye, O2, London Bridge) as you fly in over the Thames as it snakes its way through the city and just to top off great flights (even with the delays) the first aircraft I see when we landed at London Heathrow was a Qantas plane and it just made me smile from ear to ear.  To see the familiar big kangaroo on the tail of the plane gave me a small flutter inside as Australia will always be my hearts home, no matter what and to see that this morning was a pretty lifting!!!

So welcome to London people. 

I have a few friends to catch up with while I am here and I also hope to apply and get my Senegal visa and with a bit of luck also my Ghana visa which I am going to get onto tomorrow.  I have always had a lot of luck with visas here in London and have always found the high commissions helpful and I hope that the luck continues for these two visas otherwise it will be a very distressing next few months as I try and obtain them some other way.