military plane crashed on the runway in N’Djamena<\/a>. Although there were no casualties, there was debris on N’Djamena’s only runway. So, our 727 could not land there. Our only option was to detour to the nearest commercial airport in Kano, Nigeria. Ta da! We were going to Nigeria. <\/p>\n\n\n\nGranted, this didn’t turn out to be a luxurious experience. When we landed in Kano, we had to remain in the plane in the noonday sun for almost two hours before we were allowed to deplane into the Kano airport. We then waited in the departure lounge for four hours before learning that the runway in N’Djamena wouldn’t be usable until the next morning. After that, it took another three hours for EgyptAir to arrange food, transportation and housing for 220 passengers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At least the airport lounge was air-conditioned. There was plenty of space to spread out in. I had a good book to read. The best part was that, with no TV or wifi, the passengers entertained each other with their life stories. As I was the only westerner on the plane, people wanted to talk to me. I heard some amazing stories from both passengers and airport staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We eventually left the airport and spent the night in Kano. The next morning, I took these photos to document my 24-hour visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tAirport entrance<\/figcaption> \n
\n <\/path><\/svg>\n <\/button>\n \n
Airport entrance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n
Airport entrance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tThe Green Palace Hotel where I stayed.<\/figcaption> \n
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The Green Palace Hotel where I stayed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n
The Green Palace Hotel where I stayed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tThese yellow tut-tuts were everywhere.<\/figcaption> \n
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These yellow tut-tuts were everywhere.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n
These yellow tut-tuts were everywhere.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tBlack car with a Lagos license plate<\/figcaption> \n
\n <\/path><\/svg>\n <\/button>\n \n
Black car with a Lagos license plate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n
Black car with a Lagos license plate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tDowntown Kano<\/figcaption> \n
\n <\/path><\/svg>\n <\/button>\n \n
Downtown Kano<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n
Downtown Kano<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTypical street scene<\/figcaption> \n
\n <\/path><\/svg>\n <\/button>\n \n
Typical street scene<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n
Typical street scene<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tMy buddy Saidu Adam<\/figcaption> \n
\n <\/path><\/svg>\n <\/button>\n \n
My buddy Saidu Adam<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n
My buddy Saidu Adam<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tWater delivered to my hotel<\/figcaption> \n
\n <\/path><\/svg>\n <\/button>\n \n
Water delivered to my hotel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n
Water delivered to my hotel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tExiting the airport<\/figcaption> \n
\n <\/path><\/svg>\n <\/button>\n \n
Exiting the airport<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n
Exiting the airport<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
While in Nigeria, I changed money, swapped WhatsApp numbers with locals, and learned how to say thank you (na gode sose<\/em>) in the Hausa language of northern Nigeria. At EgyptAir’s expense, I left the airport, ate a couple of traditional meals, spent the night at a hotel on the other side of town, and took a walk the next morning before being shuttled back to the airport. For me, this meets the minimum requirements for a country visit. Since there’s not much I want to see or do in Nigeria, I’m going to count Nigeria as my 187th country and move on to my 188th … Chad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Until now, I’d never been to Nigeria. Although I’ve tried to get a Nigerian tourist visa five times, I’ve been<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6324,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zoa.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6323"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zoa.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zoa.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zoa.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zoa.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6323"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.zoa.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6396,"href":"https:\/\/www.zoa.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6323\/revisions\/6396"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zoa.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zoa.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zoa.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zoa.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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