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November 08, 2008

The confusion of OUA

My bag finally turned up! The padlock was broken, and the bag had clearly been rifled through, but nothing seems to have disappeared. Here's what happened:

Chapter 1: Heathrow Airport, the Air Maroc check-in desk, 4 Nov.
"That's fine" said the smiley lady as she glanced at the "OUA" on the baggage label she was wrapping around the handle of my bag. "We'll check those right through and you can collect them at Ouazarzate."

Ouazarzate is a walled city across the High Atlas mountains from Marrakesh, which I visited in 1989. A lovely and intriguing place, but not where I was heading.

"Errmmm... That's very kind of you, but I'm actually going to Ouagadougou," I replied.

"Oh, er..." A puzzled frown on her brow, she consulted the computer, and her face cleared. "Yes, Ouada....?"

"Ouagadougou." I said with a smile.

Did we laugh...

Chapter 2: 8 Nov: Ouagadougou Airport, the lost luggage counter.
After three fruitless visits and a dozen fruitless phone calls, I finally track down the man with the key, having woken him up with a phone call to his home at 7.30 am. I squeeze into his miniscule office alongside a curious Burkinabe family and a mountain of lonely cases.

"Monsieur Smeet? I think your bag is here - is that it?", his arm waving in the direction of the mountain. Sure enough, there it was, peeking shyly from behind a bold black goliath of a case. Its privacy had been invaded and its internal organs displaced, but otherwise it seemed serene and healthy.

"Any idea where it's been...?" I asked.

"Nooooooo.... They never told me."

I drag it out and have a look at the label:

"FAH: To Ouallat"
"RUSH"

FAH...? That's apparently the airport code for Farah in Afghanistan.
Ouallat...? Another Moroccan mountain hideaway?
Or airport code for "Ouagadougou. Lost. Late"...?

Ouat do you think?

Posted by Keith at November 8, 2008 02:22 PM