Homeward Bound

Saturday 25 September, Addis Ababa airport: Addis Ababa airport at 10.30 in the evening is a lot more inviting than at 7.30 in the morning. I had been idly thinking that it probably would not be raining – and it probably isn’t – but I had forgotten that at this time of night it is dark. This is an interesting place. All prices are quoted in Birrs, Dollars and Euros and you can also pay sterling. But what is particularly interesting is that some places take coins and give change in the different currencies too – rather than demanding high value notes and giving change in the local currency.

Last night’s meal went well in what I can perhaps best describe as a kind of ‘fusion’ restaurant. Between us we had sushi and chicken wings to start, followed by fish, pasta and chicken schnitzel. It was very good – I also had my first Mozi beer – beer from Livingstone ‘The beer that thunders.’ We then concluded the evening saying nice things about each other, and how much we had enjoyed the last few weeks. (Which, from my perspective, I know to be true.) I returned to the apartment thinking that it was some days since I had seen a power cut there to find a note on the mat saying that due to low pressure the water would be cut off for about half of the day (in 3 periods) – it did not say for how long.

Today packing was relatively straightforward and, having a couple of hours to spare, I called a taxi and went to the City Centre market for a (very) quick look around and a few snaps.

Here are a couple of shots of the outside area:


This next couple cost me K2,000 – the lady (the one on the right) wanted K5,000 but was willing to negotiate.

However, having got my camera out, I began to attract a crowd and local lads began queuing up to be photographed free of charge. (If I had been thinking, I suppose I should have charged them to offset the cost of the chicken photos.)

And then to Lusaka airport and a cheese and tomato toastie with some of the best chips I have had for years. At the time of drafting, my 2.16 flight from Addis Ababa to London is scheduled not to leave until 3.30 – that is another 4 hours – so off to the Internet Café to post this. (In fact, the Internet café let me down and this has had to be posted the following day!)