January 3
3:00pm – We started our journey by arriving at the bus station in Pretoria.
3:45pm – After a time, we decided to check on the whereabouts of our bus. We were scheduled to leave at four and still hadn’t seen the bus pull up. As we did our best to understand the accent of the lady at the station, we came to find out that we had missed our bus even though we were there an hour before departure. In order to correct the situation we hopped on another bus to Johannesburg. We figured we could catch our bus there as it stopped and picked up more passengers.
6:00pm – We have arrived at Johannesburg and been told that bus has not reached the station yet. We settle in and wait for it to come.
7:30pm – An hour and a half has officially passed when one of the workers informs us that the bus we were meant to catch in Pretoria had only just left from there. Apparently, it was three hours late in getting to Pretoria.
9:00pm – The bus finally gets to the station and we climb on. We’re off to the South Africa/Zimbabwe border.
January 4
4:00am – We’ve come to the border. It takes us some time to figure out which line is meant for us. As we round the bend we can perceive the large group of people standing in line for their stamp. My heart misses a beat. There was easily over several hundred people simply waiting.
9:00am – After five hours of standing in line we finally get to the front. Our passport gets stamped and we must head now to the Zimbabwe side of the border. We have left one country but still need to enter the next.
10:30am – Getting our visas wasn’t too difficult. We finished up the paperwork and are approved to enter Zimbabwe. The real challenge is next. In order to enter, we must unload the entire bus of every piece of luggage so security can search through it all.
1:00pm – Our luggage has all been approved and we pile back onto the bus. However, a new standard had been set for entering the country. If a person was found carrying an unapproved item (such as foreign fruit, trading goods, and others) they were require to wait in another line and pay a fine. Our bus can’t leave until all of the others in that line had returned.
4:00pm – Finally we can leave! It has been a 12 hour border crossing for our group and we are ready to be on our way!
5:30pm – I noticed how extremely warm the bus had been getting. I checked the vents and sure enough the air conditioner was no longer working. It didn’t take long before the whole bus pulled off to the side of the road. It certainly looked like the middle of nowhere. A little time passed when one of my friends suggested getting the bible out and reading our favorite scriptures. From there we continued on in singing worship songs and praising the Lord through music. Being broken down turned out to be a really fun and bonding time for us.
8:30pm – My friend Shirletha approaches me urgently.”Kris, we need to pray.” I ask for an explanation and came to find out that they are attempting to switch a battery in the bus so that it would start again. The issue was if this method didn’t work there was a possibly we would be stranded for two days waiting for another bus to reach us. I gathered the rest of our two teams together. Anna began praying for a successful battery transfer. There was a pause as she ended the prayer. A moment passed and we each said our amen. At the sound of the echoing amens, the bus lights jumped into action and the engine roared. God is amazing.
January 5
1:15am – I noticed the bus stopped again. One of the drivers came to us and mentioned our bus couldn’t continue running but another bus was on its way so that we could finally reach Harare. We were going to switch buses which meant we also needed to take the trailer off of our bus and attach it to the new one. It only took about a half hour for the next bus to find us. We stepped outside and all you can see was miles of tall grass in every direction. We hike through the grass in order to climb into our second bus. Then, the boys on my team go outside to help detach the trailer with all of our luggage inside and by hand, push it down the road so that the other bus can hook up.
2:30am – We’re off once again and hoping this new bus will actually make it to our destination.
5:45am – At last we have arrived in Harare, quite exhausted, but we’re here! That my friends, is how a 20 hour bus ride doubled and turned into a 40 hour trip from South Africa to Zimbabwe. Travel days can be quite an adventure!
