When I flew out from Lagos to Cameroon, I didn't know that within 2 weeks I would end up in 5 different countries in Africa, and this on my first trip to the Continent.West Africa seems to have a concentration of small to tiny nations: Benin, Congo (not to be confused with the Republic of Congo), Togo, Gabon, Seira Leone, etc.
The flight out of Nigeria was delayed for about 2 hours. An Arik Airlines plane was parked at my gate when it should be a Nigeria Airways one. I was actually prepared for that, so was not feeling too frustrated about it. This is an airline where the technicians and engineers could go on strike and ground the entire fleet, so I was glad just to be on the flight out the same days.
As I walk the tarmac out to the plane (there is no airbridge), I saw "Our Lady of Perpetual Help" on the livery of the Arik aircraft. No sure if the passengers would feel safer when their lives are left partly in the hands of the Virgin Mary.
The interesting things flying out from an African airport is seeing the many airlines that you didn't even know exist. And most of these African airlines had logos in bold colors: Green, red and yellow seems to be the favourites.
As the plane was ascending to cruising height, I could see the roads were in a tidy grid: there is method in their madness, it seems.
When flying from Nigeria to Cameroon, I didn't realize there would be a stopover at neighboring Benin. Actually Nigeria itself have a city called Benin, but the stopover was at the Republic of Benin, home of the dark art of Voodoo.
As the plane goes for the touchdown, I could see a long stretch of sandy beach beside the runway, behind the treeline. The city also came into sight, with the dusty roads and a large traffic island.
Only when I saw the airport signs in French did I realized that I was out of Anglophone Nigeria.
The "Welcome to Benin" sign confirmed my doubt. We are now in Francophone Benin. In fact, the Pope was right here on this runway about a month ago.
The sandy coast is also known as Slave Coast, because back when the slave trade was doing a roaring business here in West Africa, slaves were shipped off these coast.
I could hear the flight attendants saying "free seatings" as the passengers from Benin boarded the plane. I was curious how the passengers are like for flight within Africa. Actually, most of them looks like royalty in the traditional attires and flashing their jewelries.
Then, before long, the plane was again getting down from it's cruising height. The lagoon of Cameroon appearing outside the window. The River Wouri flow out into these lagoons.
The Wouri River was once named Rio dos Camarões ("River of Prawns") by the Portuguese explorers. The Camaroes gave the country her name.
Then, barely two weeks later, on the way from Cameroon to Johanesburg, there was another stopover. Again I thought it was another airport in Cameroon. It was dark by the time we landed on the runway, but from the logo on the airport service vans, I realize I was in Libreville, which was in Gabon. Gabon is the co-host of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, with another tiny state of Equatorial Guinea. Tiny, but rich, because of the oil found in their territories.
After Gabon, I flew into Johanesburg for my transit back home. I was hoping to take pictures of the Johanesburg suburb during the approach, but it was early in the morning and the only view outside were the cityscape.
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