The Journey to Africa
Alone once again and time to start blogging!!
My trip to Namibia finally took off after lot of delays. The flight was via Mumbai , Johanessburg and Livingstone. I was quite surprised to see the standard of the Mumbai International Airport. Definitely moving closer to world standards but a long way to go too.
The Immigration at the Airport were as usual a pain in the ass. But somehow got the clearance. I was quite surprised the way the South African Airways guys behaved. He actually told me why are you guys going to countries like Namibia. We had to bail out two guys who got lost in some country. But you know i was as cool as ever!!
The Jo'Burg airport was nice and attractive. It had a real African flavour. The flight to Livingstone was eventful as we had to board a substitute aircraft as the original one was having some technical problems.
The real fun was at the Livingstone Airport. The customs & immigration guys said that i did not have a Zambian Visa. My traveldesk had said that i need not have any visa .But it seems it was for EU and US Citizens, and Indians need to have a visa to enter Zambia. One guy said the fine was 500 USD. Then i spoke to his superior officer and had to do lot of PR stuff. In the end, thanks to my innocent looks and PR skills, i made it with a 50 USD Fee for the transit visa. But deep in my heart, i felt like kicking the guy who said i need not have any Transit visa.
Lifasi(driver) was there to pick me up and i did clcik some pics on the way. The place was a bit on the greener side thanks to the rains and i felt it was quite nice.
The first week at work was ok .Just getting used to the grind. Breakfast at 6.30 am and we work from 7 AM to 5 PM. But the real problem was the food, i cannot live on salads, bread and fruits for long!!! The food at the hotel sucks!! No veggie items apart from soup and sphagetti and Salad.
I do have two young colleagues for company. Willie de beer(South Africa) and Mikael Lundqvist(Sweden). We did go to the Caprivi river lodge on an evening for a drink but yes, we are exploring more ways to enjoy our stay here!!
Must say thanks to ABB for giving me the opportunity to work with people of so many different cultures. We have Indians,SouthAfricans,Swedes,Namibians at site.
Fortunately, My Managers at site are arranging an apartment with cooking facilities at the Hippo Lodge. I guess i will have some Hippos' and Crocs for company for the rest of my stay!!!!
My trip to Namibia finally took off after lot of delays. The flight was via Mumbai , Johanessburg and Livingstone. I was quite surprised to see the standard of the Mumbai International Airport. Definitely moving closer to world standards but a long way to go too.
The Immigration at the Airport were as usual a pain in the ass. But somehow got the clearance. I was quite surprised the way the South African Airways guys behaved. He actually told me why are you guys going to countries like Namibia. We had to bail out two guys who got lost in some country. But you know i was as cool as ever!!
The Jo'Burg airport was nice and attractive. It had a real African flavour. The flight to Livingstone was eventful as we had to board a substitute aircraft as the original one was having some technical problems.
The real fun was at the Livingstone Airport. The customs & immigration guys said that i did not have a Zambian Visa. My traveldesk had said that i need not have any visa .But it seems it was for EU and US Citizens, and Indians need to have a visa to enter Zambia. One guy said the fine was 500 USD. Then i spoke to his superior officer and had to do lot of PR stuff. In the end, thanks to my innocent looks and PR skills, i made it with a 50 USD Fee for the transit visa. But deep in my heart, i felt like kicking the guy who said i need not have any Transit visa.
Lifasi(driver) was there to pick me up and i did clcik some pics on the way. The place was a bit on the greener side thanks to the rains and i felt it was quite nice.
The first week at work was ok .Just getting used to the grind. Breakfast at 6.30 am and we work from 7 AM to 5 PM. But the real problem was the food, i cannot live on salads, bread and fruits for long!!! The food at the hotel sucks!! No veggie items apart from soup and sphagetti and Salad.
I do have two young colleagues for company. Willie de beer(South Africa) and Mikael Lundqvist(Sweden). We did go to the Caprivi river lodge on an evening for a drink but yes, we are exploring more ways to enjoy our stay here!!
Must say thanks to ABB for giving me the opportunity to work with people of so many different cultures. We have Indians,SouthAfricans,Swedes,Namibians at site.
Fortunately, My Managers at site are arranging an apartment with cooking facilities at the Hippo Lodge. I guess i will have some Hippos' and Crocs for company for the rest of my stay!!!!
posted by varun paniyath at 10:11 PM
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