Into Africa

Where do I start ... the voyage back to Addis was fraught with obstacles, never before encountered in the anals of air travel. Actually, it wasn't too bad, it was just very long. That 4 hour layover in Frankfurt was brutal, compounded with the fact that there is very very little seating for passengers confronted with a multi-hour layover. Most of the departure gates are secured and do not open until 90 minutes before departure, so strike them. I was deposited in terminal C by the Lufthansa flight from Addis. One checks the displays in the terminal to see where one's next flight will leave from. It is such a busy airport that the displays only show the next 90-120 minute departures. So one can hang around the display area for 2-3 hours until the next flight is displayed, or sit somewhere and wait then check back regularly. That brings me back to my first point -- sit where and upon what :) I started walking towards the concourse where gates C3-C20 reside and a woman driving a cart took sympathy on me. She offered to take me to my next gate and asked where I was going to. When I told her, she checked her handheld unit and informed me that it would depart from B62, in another terminal. I waddled over there and had to go through security to get into the B concourse which was a nuisance since I was already in a secure area. They did not know what to think of my CPAP machine and ran a swab over it looking for explosives. Once in B I had a quick bite and then went to camp out by B62, managing to score one of the 6 seats available for the hundreds waiting in the terminal for their next flight. About 90 minutes before my flight, LH365's turn came up on the display and I walked down to B62 ... I had to clear security AGAIN with the same level of interest in the CPAP unit. I discovered the flight was almost empty ... it turned out to be an A340 about 10% full so I got a row to myself. I neglected to score a full row of seats (they are 4 wide for most of the economy cabin) early enough after the door was closed, so blew the opportunity to lie down and get some real shut eye. I found it unusually uncomfortable and my lower legs were sore for some reason, reminiscent of getting shin splints when I was a jogger for a bit in the 70's. Upon landing in Addis, I was picked up by Dereje, and dropped my stuff at Deker Inn. I then met people at an Indian restaurant then returned to the Inn to unpack. I am having breakfast at Dr. Paul's and playing tennis at 2PM with Hiruy. Sweet Thing and I texted a number of times and I had a remarkably good night's sleep considering the 7 hour time change. Maybe not sleeping a lot on the second flight was a blessing. I did not sleep all night but probably got in about 4-5 hours. Back to MoFED minyana ... Dr. Paul LOVES his 6 litres of maple syrup.