Flights to Nigeria (September 9th and 10th)

Flights to Nigeria 

On Wednesday September 9^th I flew from Dulles Airport to Addis. Ababa, Ethiopia to Abuja, Nigeria to Yola, Nigeria and then drove to Numan, Nigeria arriving Thurday evening. My Etisalat mobile phone and modem SIM cards had expired. I tried to register my old cards. That did not work. I bought new SIM cards from another vendor and he typed the registration into the computer. It did not work either. On the Tuesday I had the opportunity to travel to Yola, the State Capital and the Etisalat office their registered my new cards. Numan is a small town and only has 2G internet speed. I have now been here a week and this is my first post.

Travel to Nigeria 

Wednesday morning we drove to Dulles Airport in Virginia from Hyattsville, Maryland, a little over an hour drive in rush hour. When I arrived with my large bag I weighed at the empty Delta counter while Sally waited. It was 2 pounds under the limit for international flights. My box with a surveyor equipment is much lighter but within 1 inch of the maximum size. My carry on is my computer bag and theodolite. The line for the Ethiopian Airline flight to Addis Ababa was long. They only had a few agents checking in passengers and luggage. At security the TSA agent had never seen at Theodolite and did not know what to do. She called her supervisor and  they consulted a manual and decided to swab it and test for explosives. I was one of the last people to get to the plane. 

The flight was full. I have an aisle seat that does not recline. It is only a 14 hour flight. The lady in the middle seat was an older west African lady (based on her dress and accent) with an American Passport. It was obvious she had not flown much. She sat on her and my seat belts, the blanket and the plastic bag that Ethiopian Airline provides containing earphones, sleep mask, toothbrush and a pair of yellow socks. When the first meal came she said no. When the second meal came the attendant just set it down on her lap. She looked surprised and said “For me?” When she wanted to go to the lavatory she asked the Africa man at the window to ask me to let her out. I noticed that she had a lot of trouble moving and walking. Towards the end of the flight we talked and she said she was going to visit her son in Jos, Nigeria. I told her I was going to Nigeria and told her how to go to the gates where they bus you out to the planes for Nigeria. She said she would follow me. We were at the back of the plane with tight connections.

Thursday

In Addis Ababa, we got off the plane and I walked slowly so the lady could keep up. I looked for an elevator to take us to the lower level. They did not have one. The escalator was broken. So I convinced her that I would not steal her bags and I would carry them down the stairs. The stairs were equal to about two normal stories. She grabbed the handrail with both hands and I stood behind her making sure people gave her room. On the last step before the first landing her left shoe started to came off and she stumbled. She did a slow motion fall onto the landing. I was two steps behind with 4 bags. No one was close enough to help. She held to the handrail and made a fairly soft landing. Some people rushed over and helped her up. She continued down to the next landing where the stairs reversed direction. The escalator was working from here to the bottom. She hesitated and stepped on. The step formed under her foot. She wobbled for a moment then stepped down to a stable position. Her dismount of the escalator was hesitant but better than at the top.

Older Lady in blue headband at Addis Ababa Departure.

In the lounge area I asked a man if she could have the seat his luggage was on but did not speak English. The next man jumped up and offered his seat. She sat down and said she needed to buy a ticket to Nigeria, her daughter only gave her a ticket to here and she had to buy a ticket. I asked to see her ticket. She showed me the boarding pass to Addis Ababa. I asked she had anything more. She showed me two excess luggage receipts. I did not see Abuja. She tried to hand me a $100 bill for her ticket. Panic. The ticket office would be upstairs, outside of security, she would have to get her luggage and recheck everything. She could not possibly make the plane in less than an hour. I went and found an Ethiopian Air employee who referred me to another employee and she was of no help. A man in the next row of the lounge asked to see her ticket this time she dug deeper in her overstuffed purse and found part of a boarding pass to Abuja. Blood pressure returns towards normal. She continues digging and eventually finds the other part of her boarding pass.

They finally call our plane and the crowd pushes toward the gate. We waited a bit and then as we walk toward the crowd at Gate 1D they opened up 1C for a second bus and we were directed to that bus. I asked the attendant if this was also to Abuja and she said yes and we got on. The bus pulls up to an old 737 rather than the new 757 Dreamliner we are suppose to fly on. The older lady and I were last off of the bus as the attendant at the top of the plane stairs was yelling at the driver that he is at the wrong plane. Everyone on the stairs turned around and headed back to the bus. After a few minutes the driver was directed to our plane. When we get on the plane there are passengers already in our seats. The flight attendant says that the computer does that all the time. The plane was not full so the older lady get a seat in the middle a few aisle ahead of where I find an empty seat. After an into this flight hour the older lady get up with her bags and heads to the back of the plane saying she wants another seat. An hour later she walks towards the front of the plane with a young girl carrying her bags. That was the last I saw of her. I hope someone is going to meet her at Abuja. If she is expected to buy a ticket at Abuja to Jos she will have a lot of trouble. If she is able to find the right airline ticket office and get her ticket she will have to climb to the top of the terminal on a set of steel steps and back down to get to the bus to the planes.

At Abuja I get my luggage through immigration and customs with a minimum of trouble and walk to the Arik Airline ticket area for my ticket to Yola. With ticker in hand, I turned on my phone to call Yakubu and confirm that I had would be in Yola that evening. My phone is a cheap “Techno” phone with dual SIM cards. One card said “Invalid SIM” and the other said “Unregisted SIM”. At that time I looked up and Bishop William’s wife Bobil was walking towards me. Bobil is a former missionary from Denmark. She had flown to Abula that morning and was returning to Yola. She call Yakubu for me. I mentioned to her that I was going to have to pay for extra weight of my bags.The local flights do not allow as much weight at the international flights. She said she had no bags and so we can check in together and the weight limit is doubled. We checked my bags and climbed the stairs on the other side of the terminal to the domestic departure lounge. Security is at the top. They had never seen a theodolite either. I told them it was surveying equipment and they said ok. Bobil had bought a bottle of Gin in Abuja not thinking about liquids not being allowed. She decided to send it through the X-ray and see what happens. The x-ray machine found her bottle. He asked what was in the bottle and let the bottle go with her rather than in the box of other bottles sitting by him. I commented that he must lake champagne and not like gin. 

Part way from plane to around the 747.

I have flown this flight many times with my camera in my pocket and rarely took any pictures. This time I left it in my bag in the overhead. As we descended and approached Yola we flew right by Numan where the near flood stage Benue River bends and the Gongola River joins the Benue. There had been a lot of flooding a few weeks ago. This is the widest I have ever seen the Benue. We turned and flew along the Benue over Demsa. If I had my camera I would have been taking a lot of pictures.

The plane behind the engine was our plane. 

As we landed in Yola I noticed a 747 jumbo jet at the terminal. I have never seen anything bigger than and 737 here, usually, only regional jets. Bobil said it was probably a charter flight for pilgrims going to Meca. Men were lined up to board at the front of the plane and women at the back. Our plane had to park a few hundred yards away from the terminal and we walk around the jumbo jet.

Yakubu Bulama met me at the Yola airport and he asked if I wanted to stay in Yola or go direct to Numan. The house I normally stay at in Numan is now the Development Office for Mission Afrika. I told him whatever is best for him. He decided we would go to Numan. Liuraman the Guest House Manager was waiting for us. He settled me into my room and showed me the kitchenette. Yakubu drove back to Yola. On our way to Numan he had told me he had to get right back because robbers set up roadblocks later in the evening usually by 9 PM the roads were unsafe. Unfortunately for him they were out early and he had to pay a toll to get back to Yola.