South Africa and all its beauty was absolutely the way to spend my vacation time away from Liberia. Since my return, I’ve been told many times by our national staff that I seem “fatter” and “relaxed”. So, I take this a compliment and an outward sign that I have in fact gotten the rest that was needed. The time was spent with my friend Ethel, who flew all the way over from Vancouver, and we had a great couple of weeks catching up on life and enjoying laughs. For me, it was a two hour flight to Ghana and then a 6 hour flight down to Jo-berg. Other than having to brave the West African flight company, SLOC, I was in good hands and it was an easy trip down.
People have asked me what my highlight was, and it’s impossible to choose just one. These are the most memorable and the ones that when I think of them, they bring a smile to my face. Kruger Park was a highlight as this was the first activity we did and it was an experience to remember because not only did we see the BIG 5, but we saw in the leopard carrying an Impala within its jaw down from a tree to another more acceptable location to eat it. Other highlights include hiking around Table Mountain, renting a car and driving the wine route, sitting on the cliff edge over top the ocean and watching the sun set while enjoying a glass of white wine, and hiking through Tsitsigammi National Park alongside the ocean and scrambling over rocks till we reached a 60-80 foot high waterfall cascading over the rocks. The excellent food was also a highlight. At times it was as simple as buying fresh fruit, cheeses, bread and enjoying it a top Table Mountain, or other times it was having fresh sushi and King clip at an ocean side restaurant. Regardless the whole experience was a treat and a huge blessing.
Coming home was more of an experience, and it was a quick wake up call that I had re-entered my West African homeland. Arriving in Ghana, at 9 pm, we had a huge queue for customs, and then arrived in the baggage area to discover that there were mechanical problems preventing our luggage from coming off the plane. I crawled into bed just after midnight.
The next day is when the real adventure began. I arrived at the airport two hours before my departure and realized the line was quite long already. I had a nagging feeling that things were not going to go well, but I couldn’t quite pin what it was that was making me uneasy. I sat there for 20-30 minutes, and only two or three people were checked in, and I knew that this flight was never going to leave on time. But that still wasn’t what was bothering me, as this was typical and I was prepared for either a delayed flight or even a cancelled flight. I watched patiently as passenger after passenger stepped up to an attendant who positions himself at the end of the queue, but before the ticket/check in, to check off one by one on a hand written list the names of passengers. At this point, I was oblivious to the fact that this was a list of names of people who had in fact reconfirmed their ticket. I had heard that you needed to call ahead of time, but with my late arrival the night before, no cell phone in South Africa, I had just figured that if I arrived early enough I would be fine.
As this man checked off names and allowed some to pass through to the check in counter, and others he made pass to one side, I realized that I could be in trouble. As there were three or four gentleman standing around this airline agent, I realized that some shady deals were being negotiated to get their passengers on board an already overbooked flight. It didn’t take a genius to see that from the immediacy and urgency of some passengers that this flight was in fact overbooked. I sat thinking to myself, “Now what to do?” It was too late to reconfirm, and yet, I knew I would find myself in the same situation as those standing to one side.
Roughly an hour and a half of waiting patiently, my time to meet this man who controlled my flight future, was upon me. Sure enough after watching him very methodically, and quite slowly flip through pages of names, he turned to me and said, “Your name is not on the manifest.” I tried pleading ignorance at this point. He put me through to the check in counter, so i thoguth somehow I had beat the system, because I thought for sure he had bought my sob story and that I was on my way. All of these thoughts were dashed as the check in agent simply said, “Your name is not on the list. You will have to stand over there on standby”, and then walked away with his newspaper for his schedule break.
For the next 30 minutes, I watched as chaos began it ensue and as those with confirmed tickets were allowed to check in and pass by those of us desperately hoping to be allowed to go. The lines started to blur between those with and without tickets, and those on standby started to become more vocal. None of this phased the check in agents, as I’m sure they’ve been in this position thousands of times before. I at one point I politely asked what I could do to get on the flight, as I needed to return to work the next day, and was politely told again to wait. All this time, I am praying hard…realizing my own stupidity has put me in this position, but hoping that God will somehow intervene. While I try to remain patient, I’m willing to admit my own stupidity, but am frustrated as I continue to see shady deals being made between ticket agents, and middle men who have guaranteed passengers that they will get on the flight.
All the chaos for me ends, as it came down to the point of having waited over 2 hours, the ticket agent points and says, “1”, “2”, and “3”. I’m number three and was allowed to check in and quickly run through customs and security to get to my flight. I feel bad for those that I’m leaving behind, but I couldn't made eye contact with them as I pass by having my ticket in hand, and thanking God for allowing me to get on. There were only 2 gates in the Accra airport and within that gate waiting area there were three flights waiting to board. Our flight was now unbelievably late, so they allowed Belleview and Kenya Airways flights to board ahead of us. We then were allowed to board, and were ushered onto a transfer bus that drove us approximately 200 feet, before it opened its doors and we were at the airplane. Why we had to board the bus I have no idea, but I did not care at this point. Then we had to stand for some time as there was more confusion. Eventually, I stepped on board, finding someone in my seat, but quickly learned that it was open seating. I took the first available seat as I was still convinced that something was going to go wrong and that they had probably still boarded too many people. I was convinced that if I was seated they could not ask me to leave.
After 15 minutes of waiting on the tarmac the doors closed. We were all dripping with sweat at this point as the flight was full, and the air was not flowing through the vents. It took us till we got to cruising altitude that the air started to finally flow, and I was able to close my eyes and get some rest after my “SLOC” experience.
I had mixed feelings returning. No one likes coming back to work after a great holiday and a week and a half before Christmas break, but none the less, I was once again in Liberia. All of these doubtful feelings quickly washed away the next morning as I once again met with our staff and was reunited with my coworkers. As I sat there singing our morning songs, a calming feeling came over me and I felt at peace about being back.
