An unexpected country

Leaving Nairobi on the Friday before Christmas, was always going to be a little bit manic and fraught with more than the usual challenges of getting down Mombasa Road to the airport.  But I didn't anticipate quite how much turbulence was in store for me as I left my apartment with a good three hours to spare before my flight was due to take off.

Thanks to a certain Mr B's generosity, we had used Star Alliance miles to get me on Ethiopian Airlines Nairobi-Addis Ababa- Bangkok, which had good timings and seemed to be the best option.  So I abandoned my usual darling airline Qatar Airways and decided to try ET out  - as they are known.  I had flown them in August to London and sampled the rather splendid (if ageing before its time) Dreamliner, with brand new seats and cabin controlled air as well as little smart features like auto-dimming cabin windows - no more announcements about "pulling up your window shades as we're about to land" - they can be centrally adjusted.

John, my taxi driver expertly navigated the bumper-to-bumper parking lot that should have been the highway through the CBD by taking all the upper back roads - and within less than 40 minutes we were well down the road to JKIA (Jomo Kenyatta International Airport).  I was dozing in the back seat when a jolt and a bang forced me from my slumber and I realised we had a blowout.  

A rock from a lorry ahead had come unstuck and bounced down the highway.  John couldn't avoid it so we were now on the side of the incredibly busy road trying to jack up the car to change the tyre - and I use the "we" rather royally - as John grappled with wheel nuts I gazed on disbelievingly.  However, even with the added muscle power of several passers-by they couldn't release the nuts and the shattered wheel was stuck.  

Panic started to set in as the clock ticked.  I called various friends to see if they were close by or could get a car to me.  One poor chap was stuck in the "car-park" in town and was even closer to missing his flight than I was.  Then the taxi firm came to my rescue with a 2nd car that was in the vicinity.  I was back on my way - with a rather feeble wave to John left on the kerbside still doing battle with a very stubborn tyre.

Security cleared, bags checked all the way to Bangkok, passport stamped and the relative serenity or a rather overcrowded lounge attained, I sat down to a glass of wine and a beef samosa.

I had noticed on the screens outside that my scheduled time of 1800 take off was showing 1830 and thinking (as you are prone to do) this is Africa, it will be right, thought nothing more about it.  Well the boarding time came and went and I approached the Kenya Airways lady on the desk for information.  She advised that the plane was just landing.   I said sure, fine, no worries etc.  My connection in Addis (as we Africa travellers shorten the capital of Ethiopia to) was 4 hours long.  I had nothing to be concerned about.  The boarding times shifted like Saharan sands: 1830, 1930, 2000, 2205.

I was beginning to get anxious.  And nowhere was any ET representative to be found.  At the first major time change, the pre-boarding lounge had been emptied (they needed the space for other flights) and the commotion and annoyance that caused had forced tempers to pique and I believe the airlines folks had had enough of complaining, shouting, screaming badgering customers and headed for the proverbial hills.  Like a lost sheep I wandered around waiting for a boarding call and at last it came…but it was now approaching 2300 and there was no way I was going to catch my 0040 to Bangkok.  

Resigned to this fact, I sat in my seat (1L) and tucked in to the beef curry offered.

De-planing in Addis was to deliver an experience I had hitherto perhaps not even countenanced let alone been part of.

Let's just remind ourselves, we were now 6 hours delayed and landed at 0200 local time.  The ground staff had a few moments to plan for our impending arrival - one would have thought.   

And yet, the pandemonium at the transfer desk was like a scene from a war-torn part of the world as the aid agencies struggle to hand out food parcels.

Clamouring, pushing, shouting, hoping to be next to be attended to by the clearly overwhelmed Ethiopian Airlines staff. I went upstairs to see if there were other options and the misinformation from at least 3 ground staff people sent me backwards and forwards getting nowhere fast.  I went upstairs to customer service, I went downstairs to the transfer desk again and at one point entered the Star Alliance lounge to perhaps seek solace - saw nothing but more passengers with raised voices and headed back downstairs.

I found myself sandwiched between 3 desperate (and loud) business men trying to get to Khartoum and a pushy cow-eyed man who seemed to have no idea what was going on on his aborted way to Dubai.  To my right there was a group of tourists perched on the transfer desk counter claiming to have been there 7 hours - trying to connect to Kilimanjaro.  My heart sank.

What annoys and angers you the most in these situations is the lack of information or worse still sometimes mis-information.  Being promised that the plane was landing in Nairobi when it clearly wasn't; being assured that connecting flights would be held back, which there was little intention of; the total silence from ground staff to advise the group what was going on with re-bookings and hotels etc.  It was quite frankly shambolic.

While my torture at the transfer desk was not that long - its was long enough.  I managed to get the eye of a senior looking woman and politely asked to her to help me get to Bangkok - she took my passport and boarding pass, asked me to wait a moment and disappeared.  I stood amongst the throng - that I have to admit by now was diminishing - and hoped, prayed and sighed heavily.   In the meantime, the printer was so busily churning out boarding passes, it was like a scene from the Sorcerer's Apprentice and I feared we would soon be knee-deep in seating information and flight numbers, expecting a Gandalf-like figure to appear and wave his wand to calm everything down.  Unsurprisingly, no wizard of any description turn up.  Just my luck. !

Several Indian travellers were on their way to north America and they jostled and shouted for 5 star hotel accommodation while they transited; one Italian UN gentleman "begged" the guy behind the ET desk to "make eye contact", "answer me", "give me an update".  Yet the latter remained unmoved and continued striking the keyboard with apparent oblivion; a guy next to me on his way to Jeddah, had his new boarding pass but no hotel voucher and the ET staff in front of me rebuked him for standing in the "business class" line - there was no such thing the Jeddah-bound passenger said and the Ethiopian Airlines changed his line with "well you know it's first come first served!".  I gasped and thought - it's not my battle.

Then almost vision-like, my passport and new boarding pass arrived, along with a hotel voucher and visa pass-card to get me through Ethiopian immigration.  I thanked the lady kindly and was on my way to passport control.

After contending with several queue-jumpers I was on my courtesy hotel bus - the time approaching 0500 - I'd left the house at 1500 the day before. 

I fell asleep almost immediately and stayed in a state of slumber for 10 hours.  I was drained.  To say I will think twice about travelling ET is an understatement...

I now sit at my hotel room desk looking out on to the Addis hills, the sun is shining and the winter col air wafts in cheekily.  I had foolishly thought last night I would go on a city tour - or visit the African Union headquarters, but after my deep sleep and a heavy desire to just get home - I must confess I have no intention of leaving the sanctuary that is the Addis Ababa Hilton.

So whether I can now add Ethiopia to my list of visited countries is debatable - but one thing is for sure, I never expected to see the Ethiopian capital under quite these circumstances.