This is the second time I’ve been to Africa. The first time was in 2014, when I attended an international symposium on election technologies in Kenya. I went with Commissioner (now retired) Lucenito Tagle. This time, tho, I went alone, and with considerably less preparation. So let’s timeline this sucker.
2 December, Friday
I get called up to the Office of the Chairman and told that the COMELEC has been short-listed to receive an award from the International Centre for Parliamentary Studies (ICPS), at the 13th International Electoral Affairs Symposium in Maputo, Mozambique. The Symposium was scheduled for December 5-6, just three days away.
Despite misgivings, which included the incredibly short notice, I accepted the assignment to attend the Symposium and, perhaps receive the award on behalf of the COMELEC. I might mention I was told that, again due to scheduling difficulties, none of the Commissioners could go.
Later in the afternoon of the same day, my office gets in touch with the organizers, to confirm the COMELEC’s attendance. Since there was simply no time to get a visa any other way, I was told that I would have to get a visa on arrival. Since this was a procedure I wasn’t unfamiliar with, I figured, how difficult can it be?
3 December, Saturday
Most of the day after was spent waiting for my ticket to punch through. When it came, I was intimidated, to say the least. The itinerary went:
- Manila to Hong Kong – 2 hours;
- Hong Kong to Johannesburg – 13 hours
- Johannesburg to Maputo – 1 hour
Give or take an hour, I was going to be in transit for 16 hours! Thank God for inflight movies, right?
4 December, Sunday
Fortunately, my flight was scheduled to leave Manila after 5 pm. That left most of the Sunday free for me to do other stuff. But considering how bad traffic is, even on a Sunday, there really wasn’t much I could do. So I pretty much just studied up on the presentation deck I was going to share with the more than 30 foreign electoral management bodies expected to attend the ICPS symposium. I may have been just a pinch-hitter here, but I was determined to deliver a good account of the COMELEC on the world stage.
I arrived at NAIA Terminal 3 before the CX gates were even open. LOL No, I wasn’t overly excited. I had simply over-estimated how bad the traffic was going to be, and was also still operating on that old rule of thumb that you needed to be in the airport at least 4 hours before an international flight. I’m old school that way.
In any case, the international departures area of T3 turned out to be a pleasant surprise, and I say that with no irony whatsoever. It was the first time for me – for some reason, I’ve only ever been in the old NAIA and T2 airports – and it was honestly far better than I would have expected, given the state of the domestic departures area. SO, good job, NAIA!
0 – 2 hours in the air
Once I got onboard my flight to HK, I pretty much gave up on figuring what day I was in. For all intents and purposes, I felt that I’d been removed from the regular chronology of reality and trapped in the travel time bubble (incidentally, that there sounds like a good premise for a sci-fi short story).
At this point, I was already feeling munchy, and I was looking forward to airplane food – five words that only the truly hungry ever find acceptable to say. CX didn’t disappoint with a juice box, a steaming hot chicken wrap, and an ANZAC biscuit.
Fun fact, ANZAC biscuits are considered iconically Australian, and were originally made to send to the ANZACs (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) serving in Gallipoli.
As it turned out, the flight to HK clocked in at a little under two hours, so it wasn’t so bad. However, I was facing a two-hour layover. Still, as lay-overs go, HK;s airport might be one of the best places for that sort of thing … except that they have teeny-tiny smoking lounges. And for a traveller hoarding his USD, well, it’s not always an easy decision to snack or just go without. After all, there is the expectation of airplane food in your immediate future. In this case, my onward flight to Johannesburg was scheduled for 11 pm. Naturally, the song playing on repeat in my head, was this classic from Eddy Grant.
Funny how these protest songs live on. As far as I know, the oppressions Grant sang of are no longer a problem in SA, but it’s a good thing Gimme Hope Jo’anna remains as a reminder of that dark era. Never forgetting the shadow can make the light we now live in even brighter. And that doesn’t just apply to apartheid either *wink*.
03 – 15 hours in the air
I boarded the flight to Johannesburg, smelling of smoke and the end of the day, looking forward to getting some sleep. Unfortunately, I was saddled with an unintentionally (I think) obnoxious seat mate who kept putting her feet up on the empty seat between us.
Now if you’ve ever been on a long haul, you’ll know that an empty seat between two occupied aisle seats is a valuable resource that should be shared, yeah? You don’t put your pigs up there without asking the other fellow if it’s okay for you to stretch out. Seriously. I mean sure, that’s not a written rule or anything, but then neither is “stand on the right, walk on the left.”
Anyway, as if that inconsiderateness weren’t bad enough, her constant fidgeting was making everything even worse! Now I don’t know if being stuck with her for the next 13 hours just put me in a rotten frame of mind, but everything seemed terrible. The headset kept twisting away from my ear; the video screen was inexplicably too dark; and – since I was seated at the very last row – I could feel every bump and pitch the plane went through.
Thankfully, the food wasn’t bad. Except that there was so little of it. LOL Spoiled by Asian carriers, I suppose, but I was expecting the cabin crew to magically show up in the middle of the night offering hot rolls for a midnight snack. No such luck on this flight tho.
14-16 hours in the air
To make a long story short, arriving in Johannesburg was a joy. I finally got to stretch my legs and just basically enjoy the wide open spaces of the airport. Including this one.
Like I said when I first posted this online, I kenat.
Interestingly, I got more comments on this image than for any of my other posts. LOL. But just to address some of those comments:
Yes, I am aware that popping a squat is actually better for your colon. Apparently, there is a ligament that sort of pinches off your gut to prevent spillage, I hope, which is more fully relaxed in a squat. In a sitting position, as in western style toilets, the ligament is only half-relaxed. Which, to be honest, explains a lot of things. LOL
Yes, I am aware this is fairly typical in Asian countries, and yes, I saw this in Kenya as well. So, I don’t think this is an Asian thing. More like “traditional” or, if you’re west-centric, “rustic.”
No, my problem isn’t that it’s not a sit-down toilet. My problem is the position required. I would fall over and not be able to get up! LOL Also, facing the wall might not be the most ideal solution.
In any case, I was soon off the ground again, on the last leg of my trip into Africa: Johannesburg – Maputo. And already, I was stressing on that whole visa-on-arrival business.
5 December, Monday
As it turned out, however, there really wasn’t much to worry about. Apart from a bit of confusion – language barrier and all that – the process for getting a visa on entry wasn’t a whole lot different from the other times I’ve had to do it. Show ’em your travel papers, pay the fee, and off you go.
Which brings me to right now. It’s 5:00 AM here, 11 AM in Manila. Been up since 7 AM Manila time, and couldn’t get back to sleep. So I just decided to prep for the presentation later, and when that was done, write this long post. Breakfast is coming up in an hour, but in the meantime, there’s this:
Sunrise over the Indian Ocean, as seen from my room, puts paid to that 16 hour journey from half the world away.
I love Africa.
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