Gimme a boat anyday!

Sick of flying? What's the alternative...

I have flown all over the world. Having lived/visited or worked in 69 countries, flying was a big part of my life.

Working on oil rigs, the only was getting there by helicopter. Try doing that in British winters 🤣

I often would take three planes on a Monday to work, and three planes home on a Friday. That adds up. In Spain I would often go for meetings in Madrid daily, that meant flying daily.

However, that was in the days when things were relaxed

You could turn up just before the plane departed to get on it!

Flying in Africa

Oh my lord! The stories I could tell about flying in Africa. Some of you will know that I worked in Nigeria, mostly based in and out of Port Harcourt.

I have flown to a few places in Nigeria, including Lagos and some makeshift jungle clearings to inspect oilfield projects.

I actually walked away from not one but two plane crashes in Africa, although those were in Gabon.

Low level flying and lightening don;t really mix.

Actually the first time I worked in Africa it was in Gabon.

The young naive Tengo

I remember getting a job in my early twenties in the dim dark continent of Africa. This before all the hitech of now, what the hecl to pack?

Fluffed if I knew...

What do they wear. I love the heat, it is it suits, I was an engineer after all.

My girlfriend at the time was half Malaysian so had an appreciation of the tropics and what I should wear.

We were away for three months at a time. So we went clothes shopping, and she packed my beeg suitcase ....

Do you know the best way to fold clothes to travel?

Step 1 Don't fluffing fold them .... Roll them up, yep they don't crease!

The guy that got me the job was another mad Scotsman, actually he was off his head as I would find out.

He told me to bring what I needed as there were no shops at all.

Me the seasoned European traveller was nah of course there will be shops. I have a passport and credit cards I will be fine.

Spot the sucker!

Arrived in Paris get a flight to Libreville the capital of Gabon.
So I get a taxi to a hotel. Oh man did they see this white boy coming. Taxi driver tried to charge me 300 pounds in francs about 400 USD I was like fluff off, he came after me with a machete, but the hotel guys ran him off.

Next day an internal flight to Port Gentil, the Gabonese oil town. Another overnight stay.

Then a flight to Gamba the local village which was an oil terminal.

Man alive, I could not believe this, we walked on the tarmac to the little plane, Gabonese people were holding chickens and all sorts. There wer no boarding cards, and about three times as many people. So they ran onboard while I just watched with amusement.

Plane was full!

Oh well, I will get the next one tomorrow. The plane left and I managed to find a hotel, oops no suitcase.

So have passport will travel.

The next day, I managed to get there, after one of the chickens got loose from this big mama's hand and fluffed pecked a hole in my shirt!

Do you know it took four weeks before I got my suitcase back, and there were no shops. Of course not, this was a fluffing jungle village last millenium.

I did five trips there, each time I would pack a suitcase and then leave it with the locals. I go to know some of them and of course bought them what they wanted.

Travel light!

If you need medication, keep it on you in a personal bag. Likewise a pair of underpants or panties if a girl should be in that personal bag!

So yeah travel light.
Pack your bags, then empty them and remove half as you won't need it.

My favourtite journey now?

Boat, I love boats, getting to see all that scenery as you pass by, not clouds and not crowded airports!

Trains are cool too ....

Anything where I don't have to fly or drive any more!

What do you like to do?

Hive Naija prompt!

This is an entry for this Hive Naija Weekly Prompt | Edition 35

Travelling to Nigeria, a suject close to my heart!

All ramblings are from me, the mad Scotsman TengoLoTodo unless otherwise stated, note lead image is generated with AI on pixlr .com from a prompt by me.

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