Firsts and Fraudsters

We have experienced many "firsts" along the way so far:


In Atlanta, we boarded the plane and got all situated -- along with the however-many-hundred other people on the plane.  Just when were about to take pull away from the terminal, there was announcement that there was a “maintenance issue” that needed to be fixed before we left.  A few minutes later, the announcement was “the maintenance department tells us that this plane is going nowhere tonight.”  Then we --along with the however-many-hundred other people on the plane -- were told to gather our belongings and get back OFF the plane and wait in the terminal [FIRST]  They would “see if” they could find another plane and, hopefully, be able to get us out later that night.  Fortunately, the WERE able to do that and we were only delayed by about 2 hours.  We were all relieved at the “quick” turnaround on the new plane until the next morning (it was an 11 hour overnight flight) the announcement was “when we changed planes they forgot to load half of our food so we don’t have enough food to go around.  [FIRST]  But we made it on to Accra  with a smooth landing that received a round of applause from the passengers (I love it when they do that!)

We had been warned by our Samaritan’s Purse coordinator that in the luggage terminal there would be people who would try to help you with your luggage, but would then want you to pay them.  There were even warning signs telling people to beware of “fraudsters” and only deal with “official airport personnel”.  So, we were determined to avoid the fraudsters.  When we got to the luggage claim area, there were uniformed men in yellow reflector vests with “official airport personnel” badges on that quickly assisted us in getting all our luggage (more about our luggage later) onto the luggage carts.  Soon afterwards, one of them told me “you have to give me something (ie, money).  OUCH -- a fraudster!  Considering we did have a lot of very heavy bags and they DID indeed help us get them all loaded very quickly, I gave them $20 to split between the 3 or 4 of them.  

Even MORE determined now to avoid the fraudsters, we were hyper-vigilant in quickly saying “NO” to anyone coming near our luggage to “help.”  We met our host, Solomon.  Outside the airport, heading to our van, we encountered some others trying to “help” with our luggage but we avoided them with the help of airport security.  Whew!  Were we glad to see them.  Where were they when we needed them at baggage claim?  They held back all the wanna-be-helpers and escorted us to our van and stood guard while we loaded it.  Now I could get used to this kind of treatment!!  But we soon realized that superstar treatment is not free -- the guards wanted money too!!  Oh well, if you can’t trust the uniformed, armed guards that are holding back the “fraudsters”, who can you trust?  

We stayed at the Baptist guesthouse in Accra that night but had to be back up at 3 am to get ready for the flight the following day on to Tamale.  That flight held some “firsts”, as well.  Aside from the “helpers” that came out of the woodwork to help us get our luggage back inside the airport, there weren’t many people around.  In fact, we had to wait for them to open up.  When they did, a well-dressed, in-charge-looking guy told us we could now check-in.  After they weighed all our luggage, it had to be scanned.  One would not fit into their scanner so I was asked by the in-charge guy to escort my stuff so if the customs guy needed to open and inspect it, I could watch.  Wow!  That was nice and makes me feel safer that they would not steal anything out of our bags!  The customs guy asks “what is in the box?”  Like I would have admitted to a box full of weapons and stolen goods!!  I guess I looked like a guy that would only have household items, food and clothes in my box so he let it go without opening it.  Then the in-charge guy said “you need to give me something because I lifted your bags”.  OUCH -- another fraudster.  Wanting to make sure my “weapons and stolen goods” made it to our final destination, I “tipped” him and let it go only to then see the “in-charge guy” and the “customs guy” splitting the money.  Oh, well . . . .we HAD been warned.

Then we took our HANDWRITTEN boarding passes [FIRST] along with the 15 other passengers and WALKED right out onto the tarmac [FIRST] to the ONLY PLANE at the airport [FIRST].  We WERE able to see our things loaded onto the plane which made us feel a bit relieved.  

Another piece of luggage we checked was some frozen fish and ground beef packed at the guest house for us in an ice chest wrapped with duct tape.  I must admit, this was the weirdest FIRST!  We were taking that because that’s the closest place to get certain foods and even it is a 16 hour bus ride away from where we were going.  We were supposed to get chicken too but they were OUT!!  Oh well, we can be vegetarians.

Our breakfast on the plane was either chicken salad or tuna salad sandwiches.  Just what you want at 6 am!! [FIRST]

The flight into Tamale was short and surprisingly smooth.  We landed on the single airstrip [FIRST] and our plane was the only plane there [NOW SECOND].  We and the other 15 passengers entered the airport building which was no bigger than our house.  [FIRST].  

No fraudsters here, though.  In fact, our ride was just a little late getting there so we were planning to wait inside until they arrived but the airport staff told us to get out!  So, of course, we did.  

I remember when we were in Bulgaria attending to the medical needs of some missionaries, some advice they gave us has already become VERY useful:

1. Always keep a good sense of humor.
2. Different is not always wrong.

Thanks for that great advice!

There is much more to tell so stay tuned.

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