So I went to Nigeria, Owerri in Imo State for a relaxing holiday for a few days. Yes, you heard me right. I came for a relaxing holiday. The combination of the word Nigeria and relax. Does not sound right. It’s like a trick exam question. But believe it or not, I find peace when I come here.
A friend of mine sent me a subtle reminder of the fact that I needed to post on my blog. I mean no pressure. This blog is supposed to be a pleasure and leisurely activity. You know… write things as I go along …in my own time. No pressure. I can only imagine what writers go through. ..OMG
Flights to Imo State
I arrived into Nigeria on a BA direct flight to Abuja. With the idea of taking a connecting flight to my final destination, Owerri in Imo State. I chose Abuja airport as an international airport in Nigeria, because it is the least chaotic. The design layout of the international amd local airport means that they literally within the same building. This ment that I could manage myself. Walk out from the international airport … and walk into the local airport to catch my flight to my final destination with little effort and help.
Anyway I arrived as planned. 10 minutes early, 5.40am. My connecting flight was at 10.10am. By 7am I had checked into my connecting flight. I deliberately travel business class within Nigeria as a way of managing my stress. Within 10 mins of arriving at the local airport (which was next door) I had dropped my suitcases and collected my tags. I was early so there was no que for the flight yet. I then proceeded to join my friend who was due to catch an earlier flight at 8am. As you can guess, the 8am flight was delayed, and so was mine.
My flight left way after 11am. With all the stress management in place, it was a chaotic experience…. no surprise. I travelled Air Peace, which apparently is the best. But their customer update and information on flight, on my day of travel, was 0/100.
Disorganised chaos
So all of a sudden 5 Air Peace planes appeared on the tarmac. Honestly speaking, this was all of a sudden…. I was watching a movie on my IPad. One minute they were not there. The next minute I looked up and they were 5🙄. All travelling to various designations, all boarding literally at the same time from the same boarding gate. And there lies the confusion and problem. Up until then, things looked like it was working normally… smoothly… almost like a dream come true.
Anyway, I found myself on the shuttle bus to my plane. I also found myself giving direction to a lady who came off the shuttle bus with us, only to realise that she was about to board the wrong flight. She had to walk across the tarmac to another plane. I only hope it was the right plane. We all boarded eventually.
Garnished snail
What I couldn’t understand is how they could serve a meal (breakfast) on a 45 minutes flight. Then start rushing passengers to take back the trays. I think people (business class only) literally had 15 or 20 minutes to eat. Anyway I wasn’t interested in their breakfast. I don’t eat food prepared for planes. Their preservatives just doesn’t agree with my system. At this point my last meal was in London before I boarded at Heathrow. My focus was on the garnished snail I would order from room service…..
Sleep deprived flight
The flight was very comfortable. I forced myself to sleep. I either slept or talk to the woman beside me. I chose sleep. Quite frankly I slept the whole day when I got into town. I was sleep deprived. I may have slept an hour on the flight from London. I was nodding like a lizard while waiting for the local flight. I’ve never been so exhausted. I came to the conclusion that I preferred a morning flight from London, rather than a night flight.