The airlines clearly don’t own maps. Somehow, the cheapest flight to fly from Ghana back to Angola was through Ethiopia, with an overnight layover.
Cool enough, Ethiopian Airlines gives you a free hotel room and free ‘overnight transit visa’ as part of this.
Wanting to maximize my time, I got a recommendation for a good guide who could take me to see some sights, including traditional singing & dancing, plus lots of food and coffee.
Unfortunately, there was crazy rain at the Accra airport, and it was one of those ‘walk to the plane’ situations, so they wouldn’t let us board until the rain died down. We left 2 hours late, and I arrived in Addis Ababa around 9:30pm.
I found it amusing the flight was showing Black Panther, of course, and I felt stylish with our Rolls Royce engines.
My guide and his driver were patiently waiting for me outside when I eventually got out of the airport, they jotted down the name of the hotel I’d been booked at by the airline, and we were off, driving through the city to see whatever was still possible.
At the restaurant, the singing and dancing were dying down, because they close at 10pm, but my guide explained the delay, sweet talked some people, and they still served us food and kept the party as lively as possible while I enjoyed my meal.
The food was absolutely amazing, and I ate until I was stuffed. Then, we moved into the other room for the coffee, which was STRRROONNNNG. I learned that Ethiopians use the same beans to make 3 pots of coffee, and young people just learning to drink it only drink the 3rd pot, because the 1st and 2nd are so strong. Interestingly, it’s customary to eat popcorn while drinking coffee. I didn’t really like the combo, but I love them separately.
From here, we stopped at a supermarket, so I could buy coffee to bring home for a few people, and then I saw some more of the city, including the new train & light rail lines being built around the city.
Back at the hotel, I crassshhhed. The paper I’d gotten from the airline said a van would pick me up at 7:50am, so I planned around that. I got a 6am wake-up call from the hotel that I didn’t ask for, and I clearly don’t need 110 minutes to get ready. I went back to sleep and then got a 6:50 call telling me there’s a van ready, if I want to go now. “Stop calling me” was all I could say.
After breakfast, I was ready for the 7:50am van. Surprise! I’m a big boy.
Through airport security and off to the gate, which involved some mega-disorganization, then I boarded and was off to the nutty experience in Angola.
I NEED to get back to Ethiopia. So much more to see.
This entry was posted in Addis Ababa, Africa, Ethiopia
