Oft we jolly well go again - down to Heathrow on yet another trip. All the hassles with visas should now be behind me but I still have to see when I present my passport to a succession of ten immigration officers - all of whom would probably prefer to be watching the cricket World Cup rather then dealing with a group of foreign tourists.
The flights were indistinguishable from all other international trips, except for two points. On the flight to Delhi we had a very flash touch-screen entertainment system. I watched "True Grit wasn't a patch on big John Wayne's version and the "Kings Speech" during which I fell asleep - so much for the Oscars ! We shared the flight from Delhi to Dakar with the West Indies cricket team - so big and so black - who are to play Bangladesh on Friday - it should be a lively place where ever we are that night.
The country below us seemed to be a smaller version of England - or at least from several thousand feet. However, the patchwork of green English fields the size of duvet covers was replaced by pocket handkerchief ones. Even in the large mega-cities there seem to be remnants of green fields & woods surviving amongst the urban press. The countryside was slashed by the pale winding courses of many rivers and there was evidence everywhere - in the form of floods - of the recent rains.
Dakah was the the epitome of all sub-continent town - noisy and crowded with people and vehicles without break. There were the ever present Tuk Tuks which here are evidently called CNGs after the fuel they all use - compressed natural gas. Past the army's sports stadium with a couple of defunct howitzers at the gates and then, a couple of hundred metres down the road, a couple of aged motor torpedo boats (+ a couple of torpedoes) mounted outside the navy's HQ. As ever, spaghetti of electrical cabling hanging from various poles impressed.
Our party is to be 16 strong - but when we slope off to bed (about 2100 for a 0700 breakfast) we are still missing two whose flights have been delayed. It looks as if the gender split will be 33% : 66% in 'favour' of the girls. As usual we are drawn from across the world : the majority from the UK, a few from North America and, unusually, only one Aussie. However, I did manage to mistake a Cornish/London accent for Aussie - not sure how long it will take me to live that down : I suspect at least three weeks. The tour leader - Laura - is from the UK and our paths had crossed before - last December in Damascus where the group she was leading was leaving just as we arrived : I think I saw her over breakfast
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