Travel Days #5 (5/10/12 – 5/14/12) – Moldova to Mozambique
After 96 hours . . . we have arrived! We have completed our 5th travel experience and though it was our longest yet, I couldn’t be more excited about the paradise that we have arrived in and the exciting work that my team has ahead of us for these next 3 weeks. This travel experience consisted of bus rides, plane rides, and various layover periods which extended the trip but also added some fun breaks, chances to relax, and a preview into Mozambique. I have included an outline below to give you a glimpse into the experience.
Thursday, 5/10/12
7:10pm – Bus arrives @ hotel and bags are loaded
7:55pm – Bus pulls away from hotel loaded with the squad and all our bags (comfortable coach bus, but of course . . . no bathroom)
9:19pm – Arrive @ Moldova exit border; leave the bus and go through line with passports & obtain exit stamp
9:40pm – We are instructed to remove all items (daypacks & big packs) from the bus and run them individually through the security scanner & reload the bus
9:55pm – Complete this security process (SO IMPRESSED WITH OUR EFFICIENCY J) and board the bus
10:04pm – Pull across the Moldova border and drive through “No Man’s Land”
10:08pm – Arrive @ Romania entrance border & wait in car line
10:17pm – Agent boards the bus and goes through the bus collecting passports individually
10:30pm – Exit the bus and use the smelliest squatty potty yet on the race (some opted for the bushes instead)
10:44pm – Pull across the border into Romania with passports stamped & in hand
Friday, 5/11/12
4:07am – Arrive @ airport in Bucharest, Romania & unload bags & go inside the terminal to await further instruction
5:15am – settle into our chosen area for the day (WorldRace level of early — not able to check-in for our flight for another 15 hrs.)
***Hung out at the airport – slept, watched a movie, ate food from the downstairs grocery store, and made use of about an hour of internet access for some final contact attempts.
7:00pm – meet back up with full squad
8:05pm – Begin check-in and security process
8:59pm – Arrive @ gate
9:35pm – Board the plane; Sit & Wait
10:49pm – Plane takes off (1 hour later than scheduled)
Saturday, 5/12/12
12:07am – Planes touches down in Istanbul, Turkey and we exit the plane, go through security, & briskly walk to the next gate
12:40am – Present boarding passes at the gate and Board a bus to be transported to the plane out on the tarmac (planes scheduled to depart @ 12:55am)
12:51am – Board plane and await our turn for take-off on the runway
1:46am – Plane departs (9 hr. 20 min. scheduled flight)
9:54am (local time; gained one hour in flight) – Plane lands in Johannesburg, South Africa and we exit and go through customs & baggage claim **ALL BAGS ARRIVED THIS TIME J
**Note that this is where team Monarch leaves us to head to Zimbabwe.
11:20am – remaining 5 teams depart the airport in 2 vans (packs on a trailer)
11:35am – Pull into a lot @ airport to wait for an additional trailer because it is decided that more space is needed to transport us and our packs this distance across a border
12:29pm – Depart airport (for real) in 2 vans, each pulling a luggage trailer
3:10pm – Brief pit stop @ a rest area with zebras and rhinos in the back . . . Yay, Africa!!!!!!
3:31PM – Back on the road
5:14pm – Pit stop @ a mall
6:10pm – Depart mall and continue on the road
8:05pm – Pit stop @ border KFC (seriously . . . Why can’t they get a Chic-Fil-A??)
8:17pm – Arrive @ South Africa exit border & go inside with passports to obtain stamps
8:32pm – Pull across the border and drive through “No man’s Land)
8:37pm – Arrive @ Mozambique entrance border; Go in to obtain stamp & entrance visas (requires pic & fingerprinting for each person)
10:16pm – Cross border into Mozambique and continue on the road
11:36pm – Arrive @ “Beacon of Hope” ministry house in Maputo, Mozambique where 2 teams are staying & serving this month (My team is just staying for a layover.); enjoy dinner of rice & beans and set up tent indoors (mosquito protection) for sleeping
Sunday, 5/13/12
***Spend the layover day @ the “Beacon of Hope” house with the 2 other teams . . . rest, relaxation, talking with Angie about her ministry there, good food, & lice treatments (luckily just preventative for me since I have avoided this so far J. . .but I dunked my head in the purple stuff just in case and assisted with the “picking party” as it has come to be called . . .unfortunately not everyone has been so lucky)
Monday, 5/14/12
7:30am – Wake up & Pack up (tents & bags outside)
9:00am – Church with “Beacon of Hope” group outside (awesome worship time)
11:30am – Our contacts arrive to pick us up on their way back from a retreat & vacation time in South Africa
11:54am – Pull out with our contacts in a truck & SUV
1:48pm – Stop for lunch & bathroom break
2:21pm – Back on the road
4:50pm – Arrive @ contact’s home (ministry house) & help them to unload from their trip (beautiful property with an ocean view) and stay for a wonderful spaghetti dinner J
7:24pm – Arrive @ our team’s Beach House in XaiXai, Mozambique!!!!!!!!! SO AWESOME J
We are blessed this month with amazing accommodations and even more amazing contacts. We are going to be working with Jason & Rachel Helm and they have 2 kids, Tristan (4) and Jocelyne (17 mos.). They are Americans that have lived in XaiXai, Mozambique for 7 years serving this community and just “doing life” with them. They have multiple active ministries in this community and I look forward to learning from them and working alongside them while we are here and sharing about it with all of you.
***Please note that I will have much more limited internet access & data availability than in the past few months so please excuse delays in posting blogs, uploading pictures to Facebook, and responding to e-mails. As always, your prayers and messages of encouragement are greatly appreciated!
