I remember in November 2014, my boss Kent Mensah made me to register for the CAF Media Channel and also apply for accreditation for the 2015 AFCON in Equatorial Guinea. Goal.com Africa needed to be represented by two people, one was a senior writer who had already been chosen, and it was left with one person to join. Goal South Africa, Goal Kenya and other editions around the continent also tended in their writers whilst my boss Kent Mensah at Goal.com Ghana also nominated me. After they went through our work done for the fiscal year and beyond, I was given the nod ahead of the others.
It was Friday January 16, 2015, at the peak of the erratic electricity power supply outage in Ghana commonly known as “dum sor”, my phone had been off. The previous day, I closed from work late and could not get a place to charge. A childhood friend of mine Daniel Adjei had also lost his dad and we were preparing for the funeral so I decided to go there on that fateful Friday before going to work.
Luckily, Daniel had light in his house so I put my phone on charge there. As soon as my phone finished charging and I switched it on, I had a call. It was from my boss Kent Mensah at Goal.com (The biggest football portal on earth). He started: “Eddie, I have been calling you since 6:00 am, but your phone has been off. You have been chosen by the Chief Editor for Goal.com (Africa) Peter Pedroncelli to cover the 2015 AFCON in Equatorial Guinea. Through the help of our other staff member Evans Gyamerah-Antwi, we have also secured sponsorship for you from African Origin Travel and Tours, they have bought your ticket, check your mail and print it out. Also GHC 5000 in dollar equivalent has been deposited in your Ecobank account by Goal.com Africa head office for your expenses. Get prepared, your flight is leaving at 12:30 pm today.”
As I checked the time, it was almost 10:15 am, I had not packed my things, had to also go to Ecobank to withdraw the money and also change it to dollars again. I first went to Madina Ecobank to cash the GHC 5000, took a dropping straight home, pack my things in a haste whilst the taxi driver waited for me, I told him to take me straight to Dzorwulu where the office of Dreams FC was as I needed to say good bye to my father Kurt Okraku.
Despite the tensed traffic in Accra on Friday’s, the driver knew the short routes and by 11:15 we were at Dzorwulu, luckily Kurt was around, I paid the driver and he left. Our office secretary Theresa was also there, she printed my ticket from my mail for me and also the CAF Accreditation Letter I was going to use for my visa on arrival and also to pick my main accreditation. She also re-arranged my haphazardly-packed things nicely for me.
Kurt called Alhaji Ibrahim Dossey, the Dreams FC CEO, he came and took me to Maamobi and changed my GHC 5000 for me plus what he (Kurt) gave me. When we were leaving Mamoobi, it was 12: 00. My heart was beating, I thought I will miss the flight because it was now I was also going to take yellow fever injection and do the yellow fever card which was mandatory for anyone traveling outside Ghana for the first time. From Maamobi to Airport, Alhaji Ibrahim used just ten minutes. When we got down, he took me to the Airport Clinic for the injection and also helped me out with the Ethiopian Airline Check in. By exactly 12:30 I was on board an Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET921 heading to Addis Ababa.
The five and half hour space journey from Accra to Addis Ababa was an experience, though it was my first time boarding a flight, it was normal for me. One incident which will always be in my memory was the lady sitting by me who cling to me as the flight took off. She was going to Qatar, apparently it was her first time and she was terrified.
At exactly at 9:00 pm, we landed at the Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa. Before that, we were given two forms to fill. One was your particulars and your final destination whilst the other was also from an already booked hotel.
The weather in Addis Ababa was almost freezing, it was very chilly, we had already been told to put on jackets before landing. As we landed and went through immigration formalities at the Airport, representatives from the hotel which had been booked for us came and picked us. I was going to spend the night at Panorama Hotel, a five-star hotel just fifteen minutes drive from the Airport. Other passengers who were also on transit had different hotels. The hotel representative verified my name (Edmund Okai Gyimah)and passport before taking me in a mercedes benz with the hotel’s logo on it.
That night, I had a real taste of natural Ethiopian hot coffee with pastries when they called me for a late dinner. After eating, I went to my room showered in the Jacuzzi(My first time) and strangely enough I could not even wink when I got on the bed. I was on top floor so I just connected my laptop to the wifi whilst I raised the curtains covering the glass window to have a view of the beautiful landscape in Ethiopia.
At exactly 5: 00 am, I had a call from the hotel receptionist that they will be picking me to the Airport at 8:00 am, breakfast was 6 and any menu of my choice will also be served at 7:30 before I leave so I should come down and make my choice.
I descended down with the lift to the receptionist, I chose rice with Shiro be Kibbe and kitfo before I even asked what is it and she told me is rice with Legume Stew and Beef.
By 6:00 my room land line ranged again, breakfast was ready. I went and took Tej an alcoholic honey beverage after which I took Injera (An Ethiopian type of bread).
After eating I decided to stroll out a little around the hotel, the weather outside was as cold as usual and you could see few people on the streets who were going to work as it was a Saturday. I came back to my room, showered went to eat my rice and by 8 we were on our way to the Bole International Airport.
My check in took 20 minutes and by 8: 30, I was in the Ethiopian Airline Flight ET915 for the four hours forty-five minutes journey from Addis Ababa to Malabo Equatorial Guinea.
To Be Continued.
