Sadly, I left Rome on Sunday. If I was going to leave Rome, I would have liked to go home. I was going to Accra via Amsterdam. My flight leaving Rome to Amsterdam was a bit of a mess. I was flying KLM which had a global computer crash that morning. So our flight was an our late, they told us it was a free for all for seats on the plane and I only had one hour and 15 minutes to get to my connecting flight to Accra. To be totally honest, I was hoping that I would get to Amsterdam, miss my flight to Accra and then I would get to stay a day in Amsterdam and then go home. I've never been to Amsterdam and it didn't seem worth flying all the way to Accra for one day. Unfortunately for me, I made my flight to Accra. Again, I had a middle seat on an incredibly full flight.
When I arrived in Ghana (close to two hours late) and we got off the plane, the heat and humidity engulfed me. I thought I was in a phone booth where they were pumping hot humid air into it. I made it through passport control pretty harmlessly and went to wait for my bags. And I waited. And I waited. And then I heard my name called over the intercom (not a good sign). My bags did not make it on the plane. I guess a plane can not take off if a passanger's bags are on the plane and the passenger is not--but the opposite is not true (a passenger can be on but not their bags). Of course I was travelling in my travel clothes and these are clothes not at all appropriate for a meeting with governments, researchers, industry, etc. These are clothes I had worn in Geneva and Rome. I felt so hot and sweaty, dirty and tired and I had nothing...nothing.
The hotel shuttle picked me up. They were not immediately waiting for me so I found someone to call for me. The airport is tiny (only two gates) and when we left to go to the shuttle there were probably 200 people waiting for others to arrive. It was crazy. The hotel was nice and gave me a hotel shirt to sleep in and a tooth brush. I washed a few things and had to spend 2 hours drying them with the hair dryer to make them wearable again today. The hotel is fine. It's only a year old but parts of it seem old and other parts new. It has a smell and always feels a bit moist. You can't imagine how disappointed and sad I was that I did not have my bag and clean clothes.
Tonight at about 9:30 pm after the arrival of the next KLM flight from Amsterdam I went to the airport again. I went with a colleague who was staying at a nearby hotel and they dropped me off at the airport (after me getting out of the cab two times and asking where the baggage reclaim was) to find my bag. I entered the baggage reclaim area and saw two families sitting with blank stares (not a good sign) and I asked about my bags. He called and said "he's coming". I'm thinking awesome! I should have my bag in like five minutes because remember there are only two gates. WRONG! I waited an hour and finally my bags arrived. Now, I'm wondering how I get back to the hotel. Should I just take a cab, should I walk outside for a bit to the arrivals and get a free ride from the airport shuttle (remember its about 10:45pm)? I dunno. So I start walking back to the main airport terminal thinking I will catch the shuttle and a cab driver honks and waves at me. His car is a total dump but I decide to take it. What am I thinking? We haggle for the cost of the ride. I should only be paying 2 (what ever the currency is) and he says 10! After me threatening to leave and catch the free hotel shuttle we settle on 5.
I make it back to my hotel, wash my face with proper soap, put lotion on my face, shower, put on clean undies, pajamas and make some tea. Finally! Well, it's after midnight. I'm going to bed, counting the hours until I go home.
Sorry no pics. My camera is out of batteries and I only had new ones my bag. To be honest there is not a lot to see except construction workers working in unsafe conditions (carrying bags of cement on their head, up in dangerous scaffolding) but I will try to take a couple of pictures tomorrow.
Miss you Aidan and Leo. I will see you soon!
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