We boarded our flight to Brussels in time to take off around 7 pm. The seats in our section were nine across in three parts. Paul, Duane and I sat in the middle of Row 52. Again we had screens that allowed us to watch TV show episodes, movies, or just relaxing music and scenery. The schedule list on the screen was Departure, Meal Service, Lights Out, Lights On, Meal Service, Arrival. The flight was about 5 hrs 45 min. It seemed to be a long time before they got around to serving a snack for appetizer, a meal, and then a sherbet cup. When we were finished, we barely had 2 hours to sleep. Most of us did not sleep well. 45 minutes before landing they quickly served a croissant and yogurt.
We landed in Brussels at 7:25 am. We discovered that, this time since we had the check in tickets for the Brussels Airlines flight, we didn’t have to get our luggage, go through immigration and check in again. We went directly to an area where we could rest and relax and walk around if we wanted to. We also finally met the eighth person of our group – Jill Woodard from South Lyons. She had taken an earlier flight. Since it was morning, I did my devotions. Others visited. Eva worked on her thesis. A few slept for awhile.
The flight to Monrovia was to board around 11:30 am for a 12:05 take off. We knew the plane was at the gate. But the gate wasn’t open. There were many people standing around waiting for two gates to open – one to Dakar and ours. Finally we were able to check in and then sit and wait until they had everyone. Then they let us get on board.
The seats on this plane were three – four – three. Duane and I were D and E. This flight was 6 hrs. 45 min. to Freetown Sierra Leone, a 1 ½ hr layover while we stayed on the plane. We had dinner also. I had fish in white sauce with orzo and carrots and parsnips. Duane had beef, mashed potatoes, peas and carrots. We both had cole slaw and a little chocolate pie with a soft crust. During the layover in Freetown, we got to visiting with the persons in front of us. They were on a mission trip also. Some were from California and some from Texas.
Most of the persons who got on the plane in Freetown were going to Brussels. The plane would land in Monrovia, left a lot of us off, change crew, take on more passengers and go back to Brussels.
We landed in Monrovia around 8:05 pm. As we got off the plane, we went through a long gateway and immediately realized that we were in the new modern airport. What a difference! It was beautiful! We were greeted by persons in masks who checked our temperatures. There were still lines to go through customs but it moved pretty quickly. When we got out of customs, we were right by the luggage claim area. And we met our friends Sam, Ruth our guide, and the VIM person Decontee. We managed to get all the luggage together and go out to the pickup area. They had two vans there. Both had long bench seats in back. They put all the luggage in one and we got in the other. And we headed for Monrovia.