I am behind on my entries, apologies.  Let me catch up:

And to catch up, let me back up.  First, I should re-describe my entry to the country.  Following my relief at finding a connection waiting for me at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, the first leg of my Afriqiyah flight took me to Tripoli, where I was briefly immersed in the crossroads of north and western Africa, with people waiting for flights to Cameroon, Nigeria, and the CAR.  Our Bangui-bound flight took off at sunset and flew south over the surprisingly semi-green of the Tripolian environs.  As the sun sank, the terrain changed to sand and dunes.  We entered a dark cloud for a time, while below the fading sun refracted a million billion times in gusts of Saharan sands, an unearthly pink sunset reflected up at us.  Darkness settled in completely and the captain came on to tell us that there were thunderstorms in CAR, but we would continue.  Several hours later, rapid flashes of lightening on the horizon announced our imminent arrival to Bangui.  For a moment, we passengers held our breath as we headed towards the storm.  But when we reached the airport, the clouds had moved on.  As we descended close to midnight, the city appeared below, lit up in a kind of threadbare glory.  Electricity!  Not one but several roads lined with lights, and sprinklings of of blue and orange speckles in the night showing a city spread out and alive with at least some familiar comforts.  Above the town, on a hill, a large signed blazed in white but I could not read it.

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