Port Harcourt Airport

The first thing that hits you when you land in Port Harcourt is the heat. You step out of a plane at 65 degrees and 60% humidity into 90 degrees and 95% humidity. Damned near knocked me on my ass. Then you go to Immigration. Immigration in Nigeria is not like Immigration in the US. The over riding concern here is that your fees have been paid. The first thing they asked for was a deposit against any "unpaid" fees. Right. I didn't buy that even with 20+ hours without sleep. Then customs. I had "too much" so they wanted to check it all, but then I discovered an interesting fact about dealing with the Nigerian government. The absolute worst thing that can happen is having someone cause a scene. When I started yelling everything changed, though there is a rumor I yell loud. So they zipped the bags up and handed me off, to "narcotics". OMFG He really wanted to be intimidating, but not only did I have nothing to worry about, I have been interrogated in 5 states and Mexico, when I did have something to hide. Made a big show of taking my name. But when he wrote it on the inside cover of a magazine I damn near died keeping from laughing.

Once I had cleared all the BS it was time to find the guy who was supposed to pick me up. That wasn't so hard. He was standing out side the fence with a Prodeco ID and a sign with my name. But the 50 yards between the gate and the bus cost me $50. As I walked out the gate I was swarmed with men helping with my bags, two per bag, helping, carrying, and making it impossible to move forward. I was toast, I gave in. But when I got to the bus I realized all I had in my pockets was the rest of my Euros. I said "to hell with it" and passed them out four %'s and one 10. They scored.

The there was the bus ride to Aba Road, the admin headquarters of Prodeco. Me alone in an armored bus, a truckload of armed police in front, one behind, lights, sirens, the whole deal. I began to think I had made a serious mistake. The truth is it was all for show. Appearance is so damn important here I could be living in Hollywood.

I will post more soon. And some pictures. It took me a couple of days to get to pictures.

Charles de Gaulle

Okay, the french are just different. But it is all in small subtle things. Charles de Gaulle is one of the busiest airports in the world, and example of the "first" world at its best. And entirely confusing. To begin, when they sell you the ticket that brag about you will land and depart from the same terminal. Except you won't. You will land on the tarmac and then be taken out to an unsecured area and have to go thru security again. And the bottle of water you bought in the secure part of the Seattle Tacoma airport? is now a major security issue. I had forgotten about it. had to explain to the airport security, armed with HK machine pistols, how it was a mistake. Lucky I am a large fat white American.

But there are more little details. The one thatsticks out, because I was trying to find my what to the gate I was supposed to have landed at was that... everyplace I have ever been if a sign meant that you were supposed to continue down a corridor the arrow points up. In France they point down. Not that hard to figure out, unless you have just spent 12 hours on a plane. Oh, and the only french I have can get me drunk, or slapped. I had a two hour lay over, barely cuaght the plane.

Coming to Nigeria

I have to say that the hardest part of the journey was laving my family at the gate. That sucked. I do have a serious recommendation, if you fly international fly a European airline, Air France was one of the more pleasant experiences I have has flying, and I have done a bit of it. First off, the plane, to be blunt there is little they can do with the plane. It is a damn flying bus and the experience of sitting in a box with a few hundred other people is not fun. But on Air France there are some details that take the sharp edges off. The first? Edible food. Not great food, but decent food, which is something that you haven't seen on a US line, ever. The second, free booze. The thing is when you buy an Air France ticket, everything you might want (no do not go there) is included. That is nice.

My next post will be about Charles de Gaulle airport, which seriously proved that the French are... different.

From the Beginning

There is so much to tell at this point. I think it will take several posts to tell the whole story, so I will do it in installments. I have only been here 22 days and it has been a learning experience. I hope you all enjoy the tale as it unwinds.

Updates are coming!

I am alive and well in Nigeria. There is so much to write about and I want to begin from the beginning so I will start composing updates on Sunday, my day off.