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Sep. 20th, 2015 12:06 amLast night the Harare to Nairobi flight was cancelled because a military helicopter had failed on the runway (or something). They put us in a hotel, which wasn't the worst, though like all hotels that airlines send you to when they have to it had a truly dreadful food buffet of unidentifiable meat stews. However, it did have apple strudel and actual ice cream as well, which I enjoyed. Then when I got to Harare airport this afternoon for our replacement flight, I found they'd only booked me to Nairobi, not onwards to London. They did this last night, but never bothered to mention it to me so that I could get it sorted, obviously.
I could only get either phone reception or internet once in Nairobi, so I rang the travel agent UNDP had used, and it turned out that they hadn't booked me completely because UNDP had booked me on separate tickets. The travel agent then wasted an entire hour faffing about trying to get Kenya Airways to book me on a flight they didn't operate, by which time the gate was closed. She then wanted me to wait to fly until midnight on Sunday, and arrive TWO days late, but I argued her into getting me on a flight via Amsterdam leaving at 8am, so I at least have a full day in the UK before moving to Cairo on Tuesday. I'm now trying to coordinate getting UNDP approval for that, and can't really sleep until it's sorted. (I have a faint hope that as it's such short notice there might not be any economy seats left and they'd have to put me in busines class.)
When I do get to sleep, I'm doing it in the massage parlour in the airport. They advertised "napping services" on their posters. It costs $30 an hour (!!!) but she said I could sleep until 6am for $100, which I accepted with alacrity. It turns out that a napping service is that theyput a sheet and a blanket on the massage table in a small bathroom, and try to charge you $20 extra for a shower. The massage table is one of the folding ones, so there's a rather hard line in my back. Still, it definitely beats sleeping on the floor somewhere, and in my opinion narrowly edges out going through immigration, paying for a visa, changing money, finding a taxi, getting to a hotel, trying to sleep, getting up at 5am, and paying at least $100 for that privilege anyway. Even if there would be a proper bed, and a non-glass door that lets in a lot of light, could I handwash my knickers in the sink while sitting in bed? What price such convenience, eh? I ran out of clothes the day I was supposed to leave, so this is an attempt not to enter day 3 with the same socks.
I could only get either phone reception or internet once in Nairobi, so I rang the travel agent UNDP had used, and it turned out that they hadn't booked me completely because UNDP had booked me on separate tickets. The travel agent then wasted an entire hour faffing about trying to get Kenya Airways to book me on a flight they didn't operate, by which time the gate was closed. She then wanted me to wait to fly until midnight on Sunday, and arrive TWO days late, but I argued her into getting me on a flight via Amsterdam leaving at 8am, so I at least have a full day in the UK before moving to Cairo on Tuesday. I'm now trying to coordinate getting UNDP approval for that, and can't really sleep until it's sorted. (I have a faint hope that as it's such short notice there might not be any economy seats left and they'd have to put me in busines class.)
When I do get to sleep, I'm doing it in the massage parlour in the airport. They advertised "napping services" on their posters. It costs $30 an hour (!!!) but she said I could sleep until 6am for $100, which I accepted with alacrity. It turns out that a napping service is that theyput a sheet and a blanket on the massage table in a small bathroom, and try to charge you $20 extra for a shower. The massage table is one of the folding ones, so there's a rather hard line in my back. Still, it definitely beats sleeping on the floor somewhere, and in my opinion narrowly edges out going through immigration, paying for a visa, changing money, finding a taxi, getting to a hotel, trying to sleep, getting up at 5am, and paying at least $100 for that privilege anyway. Even if there would be a proper bed, and a non-glass door that lets in a lot of light, could I handwash my knickers in the sink while sitting in bed? What price such convenience, eh? I ran out of clothes the day I was supposed to leave, so this is an attempt not to enter day 3 with the same socks.
