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Our friends
The strongest bond we felt with Libya, starting with our first trip was because of the people we met, and what has kept us so involved has been our friends there. 2011 was a very difficult time to have friends in Libya: there was worry about what might happen to them, and it wasn’t always easy reaching people. In Tripoli, until August, foreign phone calls and emails were still being monitored; it was dangerous to have contacts with foreigners. Benghazi was freed, but phone and internet networks were’t always available. (At one point in Eastern Libya, one of the cell networks — one owned by a Gaddafi son — was “hijacked”, and freed from government control)
So, this trip not only offered the magnificent opportunity to participate in an historic moment, it also gave us the chance to see some very good friends for the first time in five years.
Bilgasem
Bilgasem & Oksana
Bilgasem was our travel guide on our previous two trips. In 2006, we spent a week camping in the Sahara with him and a small group of travellers. The next year, we saw many other parts of Libya travelling with him. By that time, he’d started his own travel company (Ain Mizrag… we highly recommend Bilgasem for any kind of travel need to Libya. He’s someone with a great knowledge of travel business, Libya and Libyan history, and someone of great integrity).
So, the loss of tourism and travel for the last two years has obviously been very difficult for him. Libya truly has the potential to be a great tourist destination, and we recommend travel there very highly. We hope that time will come soon… not only for Libya, but for our friend, Bilgasem.
We spent an evening with Bilgasem and his family, catching up on personal news, how his business has progressed (I’d helped create and manage his website for the first few years of his company), how 2011 had been, and hopes for the future.
It was Bilgasem who took us through the ruins of Bab Al-Aziziya on the way to his house.
AbdulSalam
AbdulSalam lives in Benghazi. In 2007, we spent some wonderful time there with him and two other friends. We’ve stayed in touch regularly since then, especially through 2011.
However, the chance of seeing him on this trip did not look promising. Just as Benghazi was the place that launched the Revolution, it was on this trip –and remains — a place where trouble can happen. It didn’t look likely we could get there, and as it turned out, it was very difficult for AbdulSalam to come to Tripoli.
On our phone calls, his chances of getting to Tripoli got better… and worse. At one point, he said he couldn’t make it. It was a real emotional blow to all of us. But not long after, he reached me to tell me he had a plane ticket after all, but he wanted me to keep it a secret from Oksana so he could surprise her.
He arrived late on the night we were at Bilgasem’s house. I let Bilgasem in on the secret, and while he drove us back to our hotel, I was secretly texting Abdul Salam when he was at the airport.
Back in our hotel lobby, Bilgasem walked out, and returned with AbdulSalam.
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Khaled
John & Khaled
We met Khaled in the ancient desert town of Ghadames in 2007, when he was working as a tourist guide. We met again back in Tripoli, but hadn’t been in touch for a few years. Of course, in 2011 we’d thought of him, and hoped he was safe.
We called him the night we arrived in Tripoli, and, when we met the next day, indeed heard hard storied about his life in Tripoli during that time. This trip, we were able to get to know him better, spending time over a few days, including that memorable tour of Abu Salim. He also volunteered to be one of the drivers for an observer team on election day, and finally, drove us, along with AbdulSalam to the airport where we bid an emotional farewell to two great friends.
Our last night in Tripoli, with Abdul Salam & Khaled