YET ANOTHER TRAVEL TALE

Greetings from Dakar! Our journey started Friday the 3rd, when we were deposited at the airport at 3pm by Tim Haley of Christ Fellowship Church in Fallston, MD: thanks for the ride, Tim!

We didn't have a long wait and boarded well before 5pm (departure time was 5.40), but then... we waited. We were informed that the computer which controls the fuel gauge and fuel distribution on the plane was malfunctioning and would have to be fixed. They had already moved out from the terminal and eventually had to taxi back in to another bay. They rebooted the computer involved, then all the computers, then they "rebooted" the whole airplane, i.e., they turned off everything for about 10 minutes. While we waited we found our friend Julie Adamson (whom we had somehow missed in the departure lounge) and enjoyed chatting with her. The a/c was running onboard, so we were not uncomfortable, but we had nothing to eat or drink except water during the 6 hour wait. For some reason, they did not activate the entertainment system either. Finally, around the time they got it fixed (or "came up with a fix" I should say, b/c they never did fix that computer and actually did a work-around), they decided to serve us dinner while refueling at 10.30pm, so we took off after 11. Then all went well and we arrived as scheduled in exactly 8 hours. Hurricane Earl presented no problems whatsoever, although they flew due south a bit further than usual before heading across the Atlantic, just in case.

One thing I want to mention is that the passengers were all very gracious while waiting. We were all frustrated, but no one got nasty or mean or gave the crew a hard time.

It's more humid here than even in Baltimore, but the temperature is about the same. We'll live. We are enjoying the hospitality of Alex & Amet DaSylvio-Fall. It was great to worship at Dakar Academy today with Danielle, Susanna, and many other friends. Lord willing, we will head to Kayes on Wednesday or Thursday in our own car.

Thanks for your prayers and good thoughts as we travel!

The Trials and Tribulations of Travel in West Africa, Part I

I have a love/hate relationship with traveling anywhere in the world, but especially here in Africa. On this side of “the pond” it weighs out a bit heavier on the “hate” side of things because it involves a lot of waiting, not one of my strong points; e.g.

• Waiting to leave. (Bush taxis don’t leave until they are full; this is only 7 passengers, but it may involve a wait of many hours or overnight to get that last passenger. Sometimes I’ll buy the last ticket to move things along, but if there are two or more empty places, I usually can’t afford to buy more than one.)
• Waiting for officials at roadside police posts to inspect ID cards or merchandise so they can extort bribes. (They don’t bother Americans, but in spite of international agreements allowing free travel between African countries, local officials will find a pretext to charge a fine to each traveler from a different country.)
• Waiting for repairs. (From a flat tire to a broken chassis, we’ve seen it all!)
• Waiting to arrive at my destination. (The 500 mile trip to visit my children, for example, is an all day voyage; we have spent as few as 11 hours and as many as 45 [!] depending on road conditions. Currently, I am happy to say, most of the road is in good repair or at least being worked on.)

The “love” part of such trips is finally getting where I am going, especially if it’s a visit to see my kids. And you’ve never enjoyed a shower as much as the one that comes at the end of a long day on a dusty road. Or if Jim & I are traveling together, it means having a whole day to ourselves with nothing to do but talk or fall asleep on each other’s shoulders. Plus, the vehicles are pretty tightly packed, so we end up snuggling as we haven’t done since the early days of our romance (but on the “hate” side again, if I’m traveling alone, that means the same close quarters with a stranger, possibly a man).

Another thing that’s really fun about these trips is shopping enroute, but that’s another post for another day. Until then I’m here today, gone to Mali…

How well traveled I am...

I thought this would be a pretty interesting quiz since I've actually traveled quite a lot. But for Africa, they only gave you the choice of 4 places I've never been ... not quite fair, since I LIVE in Africa and have travelled to several countries & capitals! The rest, however, is fairly accurate.

Your Travel Profile:

You Are Very Well Traveled in the Northeastern United States (71%) You Are Very Well Traveled in Western Europe (64%) You Are Well Traveled in the Midwestern United States (50%) You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in Canada (40%) You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in the Southern United States (31%) You Are Mostly Untraveled in Eastern Europe (20%) You Are Mostly Untraveled in the United Kingdom (13%) You Are Mostly Untraveled in Southern Europe (7%) You Are Untraveled in Africa (0%) You Are Untraveled in Asia (0%) You Are Untraveled in Australia (0%) You Are Untraveled in Latin America (0%) You Are Untraveled in New Zealand (0%) You Are Untraveled in Scandinavia (0%) You Are Untraveled in the Middle East (0%) You Are Untraveled in the Western United States (0%)

How Well Traveled Are You?