Cherished Memories of Africa — Page 269
251 flight by Gulf Air was due to take off by that evening. We checked in and got our boarding passes. We were waiting to hear about boarding the plane when an announcement was made that Gulf Air flight for Sharja was delayed by two hours because of technical fault. It apologised for the delay and advised the passengers to proceed to the restaurant for refreshments. After the refreshments we came back to the lounge. It was announced later that because of technical fault the plane cannot fly any further and, therefore, the flight is cancelled till further notice. They arranged a beautiful bus that took us on a sightseeing tour of the city and later to a beautiful, five star hotel where we were allotted three wonderful and comfortable rooms full of countless divine goodies. We wished that the plane remained faulty for the whole week for us to enjoy that Godsent hospitality to our fill. Anyway we spent two days in the hotel very nicely. The children enjoyed very much. For children from Africa it was really unexpected blessing that we got that grand hotel with all the facilities free of charge. Under ordinary circumstances we could not even think of that. Against our wishes, the plane was ready and the passengers were told to board the bus to the airport. From there we took the Gulf Air flight and reached Sharja. The connecting flight to Pakistan had left on schedule. We were, therefore, accommodated in a very good hotel and enjoyed the second help of heavenly hospitality. At Karachi airport, some members designated by the local jama’at had been to receive us as per schedule, but because of delayed flights went empty handed. We had tried to inform