Flying to Ethiopia and Beyond – In which we travel for more than a day to reach Ghana.
CHILLIN’ AT DULLES
We got up at 3am to catch a 6am flight from Raleigh to DC. Thank you, Jason and Haruka, for getting up in the middle of the night to haul us and our four giant duffle bags to the airport. We were already beginning to feel a little unraveled after sitting in Dulles for four hours to catch our flight to Ethiopia.
SO FAR, SO GOOD
Camille cuddles what is soon to become her new best friend for the long haul, the blanket provided by Ethiopian Airlines.
FLYING INTO THE SUN
After a somewhat torturous night of squirming in our seats, seeking a comfortable position, we peeked out the window to see the dawn of a new day.
FIRST GLIMPSES OF AFRICA
Camille was mesmerized by the patchwork quilt of farmland below us as we flew over Ethiopia.
These fields were so unlike the cropland we see over the United States, all perfect circles and squares. These plots obviously follow the earth’s contours. We were also impressed by the rich color of the soil.
The little clusters of villages reminded us of China where the farmers live close to each other surrounded by their fields as opposed to the typical American 160-acre plots each with their own house.
We were puzzling over what material the fences were made of when we flew over an amazing array of high rises just kind of stuck out in the middle of nowhere.
LAND HO!
By the time we reached Addis Ababa, we were more than ready to touch the ground! We had less than an hour to catch our flight to Ghana and were dismayed to find that no one seemed to know which gate we needed to get to. We trustingly followed a woman in uniform with a radio who led us one way and then another until flagging down a shuttle and directing him to take us to the correct location.
By now there were others heading for the same flight so we weren’t too worried and besides, we were really too tired to worry at this point. The shuttle took us to an unmarked plane, a Boeing 767. Seriously, the plane was painted white without a number or splash of paint anywhere that we could see.
Fortunately, this flight was not full and we were able to stretch out across three seats each and sleep some of the five hours to Accra.
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Latest * Troutsfarm * Last Days in Moncure * Flying to Ethiopia * A Couple of Days in Accra * Our First Week in Kumasi * Our New Home
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