Land of Endless Shadows and Mass Rage
Before the virus of incivility undo us all
The flight time from Lagos to my last destination, Pointe Noire, ought not to have taken over five hours. But, because there were no direct flights from Lagos, the journey took a circuitous route that lasted over 24 hours. We spent one night in Addis Ababa before resuming our flight in the opposite direction the following day. Just before dusk, our flight finally touched down at Pointe Noire in the Republic of Congo.
On the first day, taking off from Lagos, our flight headed for the Ethiopian capital city of Addis Ababa. It was my first time in Ethiopia. The sprawling airport is nestled in a vast depression with rolling peaks in the faraway horizon. Unlike what one gets back at Lagos, the air was cool and dry. Far and near, rolling hills and verdant grassland interspersed the landscape surrounding the airport.
Many of the passengers on my flight were traveling to other South and Eastern African countries. I was to lodge at the airlineβs hotel with some of them before we all resume our respective flights the following morning. We disembarked the plane and the protocols at the Immigration were soon completed. Afterward, we joined the Toyota Coaster bus in batches to lodge at one of the designated hotels for the night.
