I was hoping that La Guardia would make the list. What a hole in the ground that place is....

What a joy to see that Lagos did not make the list! Clearly there is hope ?!

Believe me I and the thousands that suffer Lagos airport would happily take any of the worlds worst 10 by comparison !

We arrived at the airport in Dar es Salaam last Sunday at 9:00 pm for our 11:59 pm Delta flight to Amsterdam, as we were told they wouldn't let us into the airport until 3 hours before the flight.

After our gun paperwork was done and my ammo was counted and re-counted three or four times (apparently they don't trust a full box of 20 that says "20" right on the box), we got in line to check in at Delta. The computer system was down and they were literally hand writing both boarding passes and bag tags. It was taking approximately 10 minutes per passenger.

When I finally got to the counter with two gun cases and four pieces to check in total, the ticket agent was flummoxed. He knew I owed additional fees for the additional bags, but I also had an overweight bag. Because the computers were down and he apparently lacked a calculator, he was unable to compute the additional amount I owed. I did it for him, under the watchful eye of his supervisor, who approved of my computation and then disappeared with my American Express for 15 minutes. I can only imagine what charges I'll see on there next month.

Although I had told the ticket agent I had ammunition, and he checked it before I locked it in a hard case and locked the hard case in one of my duffels, after I had my handwritten boarding pass and my bags had disappeared, the Supervisor says "You don't have any ammunition, do you?" When I replied that I did, and that I had declared it, she said it needed to be noted on the hand-written receipt for the bag. This required the ticket agent to go back wherever they take the bags to load them on the plane to retrieve my bags so we could identify the one with the ammo in it. Now it's after 11:30 pm. It's still sweltering hot in the airport.

We finally get it all sorted out and my buddy and I were the last two people to board the plane - only to find people sitting in our seats (the Delta flight originates in Kilimanjaro and then stops in Dar before proceeding to Amsterdam).

There's no avoiding Dar if you're headed to the Selous, but I'm going Emirates the next time I need to travel through Dar es Salaam, which will also avoid the stupid Dutch issues like an "in transit" permit for firearms and questions about whether you can pack a folding knife in your bag. . . .

I've always flown KLM and with the exception of the aggravation of never getting the Dutch firearms permit until the week before you leave and not knowing whether you can, or cannot bring a knife (so I don't), it has always been pretty seamless.

The airport in Dar is not too bad either. For departures, you get there at 10:00 PM or so. Transfers, it's just different. Did they check and recount your ammunition at least two times? Of course they did. In two separate offices I would guess. And yes, it is hot. Last time through I had some official ask me why I was sweating. I said, "It's hot."

Did they ask you to load your rifle in the room where they did the firearms inspection? They did that to me last time. I thought it was a trick. Loaded firearm in an International Airport; I'm going away for a long time. After a bit of negotiation, and my PH beside me, I realized they just wanted to make sure the ammunition matched the rifle and their most efficient way of determining that was to load the rifle.

I did, and we went on our way.

When you travel to Africa, or I suppose anyplace, the key is to chill out and have someone who speaks the language fluently and knows what they are doing with you. It will save you in the long run.

Still haven't figured out Amsterdam.

not a very accurate list IMO.

I will visit no.1 on that list next month, will get back with a review.

Outside Bangui airport below

Must agree with the no.1, not the airport itself but the chaos it produces.
All flights were cancelled yesterday because of fog so probably double the flights would go out today.

A ten minute trip to the airport took 2.5 hours.

They could not write out tags so hand written paper, with not ref. not searchable.

Saw one fist fight one "storming" of a double door by 50 people.

My flight 20 hours late, when all boarded it was 14 people standing in the aisle crying with tickets but no seats avail.

Really the most absurd of flight with people laying in midsection instead of sitting in the seats and 100 probably did not know how to fasten the belt.

I could feel the frustration of the stewardess ".


No organization whatsoever, people with 30 passes taking 3-4 hours to check in and no lines to the counter with 500 people pushing!

Did I mention I was the only white cracker there

Over and out!

6 days without no bags..Did not see that one coming

Puh.....I can feel the sweat start creeping just hearing Ryan Air mentioned but this must be one life challenge

Hope you are back safely in a better organised country....unfortunately with incompetent politicians but I guess that is what the people deserve....