Day 1 - London - Tripoli - Lagos

Woke about 7am and after showering and a cup of tea and a little repacking, Father David gave me a blessing and I said farewell to him and Robert. I took the number 38 bus to Victoria in heavy rain and after a brief shopping trip to W H Smith (to buy superglue to mend my suit case!) I was on the Gatwick Express at 9.15 prompt.
Half an hour later and the train arrived at Gatwick and before I knew I was not only in the departure hall but also in Zone J to check in for the first part of my Al Afriquiyeh Airways flight to Lagos via Tripoli. It could not have been easier and by 10.15 I had said good bye to my suitcase and I was free for two hours: the flight was due to leave at 12.30.
There were long queues at passport control but once through I headed straight for a cafe and a much needed breakfast. The next two hours passed very quickly in phonecalls about parish business, trying to sort out a gas account for my house in Rossendale, and writing birthday cards to cover the next month. Only at 11.50 did I remember I needed a pile of toiletries from Boots, a money belt, and - most importantly - money for my trip!! Holy Moses! I like nothing more than a time restricted challenge and all of the above were accomplished in about ten minutes flat and I hot footed it to the departure lounge where they were almost ready to board. Still time for quick phonecalls to Dad, John and Teamirat! And then - Tripoli here we come! (I'll try to restrict the !!)
Al Afriquiyeh is a relatively new airline which is obviously financed with Libyan petro dollars. The slight inconvenience of flying to Lagos via Tripoli was more than compensated for in my mind by the fare of 375 sterling return - at least 200 cheaper than anything on Virgin or BA. The plane was a Boeing 330 - not quite as big a jumbo but still with two aisles and loads of room on account of the fact that it was no more than one quarter full. It appeared to be almost new and was very comfortable. Service was excellent, the food very good (slightly disappointed to find that it is a DRY airline!), and most of the flight was passed watching YES MAN on the personal screen in front of me. I had watched the film before with my nephew Hakan but it is such a funny film - a real feel good movie!
Three hours later and we were on the ground in Tripoli with pictures of the Brother Leader all around the airport! The transit lounge was not very exciting and I passed the three hours mainly reading my guide book about Nigeria.
We boarded the next plane about eight thirty and this time it was smaller and fuller - but still with the same excellent service and facilities. It was obvious we were going to an African country - the plane was almost full and I was the only white man on board! (Rather like going to church in Manchester!) This time I watched PINK PANTHER 2 - which I had not seen before - and like the earlier film is a laugh out loud feel good movie.
The in-flight map showed us taking a route overland from Tripoli to Lagos and very soon I could make out the lights of the seemingly endless sprawl that is Lagos. We landed about 2330 local time. It was noticably humid. The procedures in the airport were all very straightforward. I was the only person in the non-Nigerian queue and there was no question about my visa or passport. My suitcase came through without any problem and within a short time I walked into the arrivals lounge to find my friend Gregory and his friend Stella waiting for me.
As Gregory had warned me, we were going to spend the remainder of the night in the airport as it was not considered safe to drive towards Lagos after dark. We took my luggage to the car and returned to the arrival hall where I had a very welcome Star Beer (Motto: Welcome to Nigeria!). At about 2am we lay down on the floor to try to sleep. There were many others doing the same thing who obviously had the same concerns about security.