BadAndy,
You are not far from the truth!
We used to call for start from the executive aviation lounge near our hangar on a hand held radio because we knew we would have at least time for one coffee before being given start clearance. And sometimes a couple of hours would pass! As for waiting for fuel...... Even calling for fuel the evening before wouldn't speed the operation up because it Africa!
Amazing place, but utterly exasperating, leading to caffeine poisoning.