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The old saying goes that all’s well that ends well. While it is certainly too early to say that about my sabbatical aboard Amistad, at least I can say it about my trip to join the ship, which has been challenging, to say the least. Due to logistical problems, I wasn’t able to leave on December 26, as had been planned, but ended up leaving on the evening of December 27, with a redeye flight out of Newark. Upon arrival at London’s Gatwick airport, I rushed through immigration and customs so I could retrieve my baggage and then had to check my luggage back in with Astraeus Airline for the flight to Freetown, which was scheduled to leave at 13:00.
13:00 came and went and the airline announced that the plane was having problems.
Every hour, there was another announcement that the problem was being worked on and around 17:00, we got five pounds from the airline so we could buy snacks. For the record, five pounds doesn’t buy a whole lot of snacks in an airport. Time passed and passed and passed and the passengers got increasingly irritable, but I was extremely fortunate to find myself with a few new friends. One was Sandy, whose father had been a Sierra Leonian government official back in the 1960s and had evacuated his family when the civil war began. Later, Sandy and I met folks that I’ve been asked to refer (at least publicly) as Colonel and Mrs. X.
No kidding. Col. X. is a British military officer who is serving in Sierra Leonian uniform as the Director of Military Intelligence for the Sierra Leonian military.
He and his wife are delightful folks and they, Sandy and I ended up having dinner together before Astraeus finally decided at 21:00 that our flight was simply not going to leave that night. The airline sent us to a hotel, but it took until 01:00 before we finally got to the airport. I believe I may have been asleep before my head hit the pillow.
This morning, we were picked up by a bus and taken back to the airport, where we ended up waiting until noon before we finally got to board the plane. The flight, itself was uneventful, but it was beautiful to be able to look out and see the hills of Portugal as we flew over them. The Mediterranean was beautiful. I could see Casablanca as we flew just to the west of it. Flying over Saharan Africa was amazing. From 35,000 feet, it is hard to imagine people actually living in such a forbidding environment, but there were small clusters of buildings every so often.
After arrival in Freetown, it was time to go through immigration and pick up luggage, then on to customs. Once in the country, officially, it was time to wait for four hours to take a helicopter flight from the airport to Freetown proper, which is on the other side of a major river, with no bridge for many miles. The helicopters are old Soviet MIL-8s, but are kept in good condition and are flown by Russian pilots. Sandy and I rode together and we both enjoyed the experience very much. No sooner had I gotten off the helicopter than I was met by Donald George, a Sierra Leonian who works with Amistad. On the way to the ship, we drove through downtown Freetown and I was amazed to see that the electrical grid here is so deficient that most of the nightclubs are lit by candles and oil lamps. We made a stop at one of Donald’s friends’ wedding reception, and I had the chance to meet a few people before arriving at the ship, which is anchored in the middle of Freetown Harbor. So here I am, enjoying a cool breeze after the heat of the day, using the ship’s wireless Internet connection to check my email. I’m looking forward to seeing Freetown by day. It is nearly 02:00 and my body clock is a bit off, but it is time to go to bed. Morning will be here very soon.
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