Travel Agent

The last part of my journey to work each day involves turning right at the terminal building of the international airport here in N'Djamena and driving for about 200 metres along a dirt road to reach the MAF hangar. On one side of this road there are a series of buildings, which are occupied by different logistics companies involved in importing and exporting goods via airfreight. Normally when I arrive for work this area is very quiet - there are a few cars about and the guards sit around looking bored - but for the last two weeks it has been pretty chaotic.

On my first day back in Chad after my time in the UK I went into the office slightly later than normal. About half way along the dirt road I came across a huge number of cars parked seemingly totally at random around an area fenced off with large metal barriers. Inside this fenced off area tents with sides that came about half way down to the ground had been erected and inside them, sitting on mats, were large numbers of people. As I negotiated my way around the parked cars I noticed several signs advertising what can only be described as a 'package holiday' or rather I should say a 'package pilgrimage'.

If you were in possession of a passport that was dated before 30th September 2012 and were willing to spend 1,645,000 Chadian francs (about £2,000) you would be able to buy a return air ticket (including accommodation) to Saudi Arabia to participate in The Hajj - the annual pilgrimage to Mecca that all Muslims are supposed to undertake at least once in their lifetime.

As I drove past this temporary travel agent each day I soon realised that this area of waste ground was quickly becoming a mini village - there were people selling food, water was available in large earthenware jars (presumably for drinking and for ritual washing before prayer times) and latrines had been put up (although there still seemed to be a fair amount of open defecation going on...).

Each day this week the crowds seemed bigger than normal as people arrived for the flights to Saudi Arabia. It seemed as if every person travelling also brought along various family members to see them off and there were police around to control the crowds.

And then this morning the tents and all the people were gone. Apart from the metal barriers, the latrines and a lot of rubbish very little remained to show that this had been such a busy place for the last two weeks.

The Hajj takes place next week and I am just wondering if it will be as busy at the airport when everyone returns...