So, you could probably Google it and figure it out yourself. But let me tell you ONE of getting to South Africa!
Starting point: Montrouis, Haiti
Destination: Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa
October 4: We departed Montrouis at the early hour of 4:30 am via Supply and Multiply’s school bus. The 1- 1/2 to 2 hour drive to the capital was mostly sleepy quietness inside the bus, but a bit noisy outside with the loud horns of passing buses. We arrived at the Caribe Bus Tours in Port-au-Prince by 6:30 and congregated on the front stoop since the station wasn’t actually open yet. By 8:45, after a lot of paper work and passport stamping, we were finally on the road only 45 min late. The bus took us to the border to the Dominican Republic where we had to all get off twice, once with all our bags to take them through customs. While we waited for everyone to get back with their passports stamped again, we were served some lunch. That was one lunch I won’t soon forget; my heart was beating wildly the whole time and I prayed a lot. My teammate Claire had an allergic reaction to the plantains in the bean soup and had to use her epipen. It was the first encounter while on the Race. We were headed out of the banana infested, Mediterranean area, yet God allowed it to happen. He showed us His power in that moment, right there on that packed bus.
(Claire enjoying her TWO cans of Pringles!)
We finally changed buses in Santo Domingo, DR, and got to the airport by 8pm. We couldn’t check our bags right away, so we found a seating area and basically took over with 33 people and all their big bags. My team and I ate pizza ate for a late dinner, and then we all tried to stay busy and awake until 3am. Finally we were on an airplane with only one day of travel behind us.
October 5: Day 2 7:00 am found us in Boston, MA, for a 15 hour layover. A number of the squad had family members who travelled to the city to be with us. I got to see my mom and sister as well as Elsie’s mom and two of her sisters! We spent the day eating breakfast, making a necessary run to Walmart, visiting a coffee shop, and then resting at a hotel room. They drove us back to the airport by 7:30 that evening and we parted ways. They began their 11-hr trip back to Ohio and I went to sit in the airport for a few more hours. Our flight to Doha, Qatar, took off close to midnight and we spent 12 hours sleeping, eating, snoozing, reading, napping, and more eating.
(Our brunch at IHOP – I ate BACON!)
October 6: By 5:45 pm we were in the beautifully magnificent Doha airport. We explored the shops a bit, and gazed at the $35 showers with some longing. I got to eat some yummy soup and bread as well as sit at a coffee shop and drink a very expensive, very yummy coffee. We wandered the airport for 8 hours.
October 7: Our flight left Doha at 2am. Nine hours later (10am), we finally got to Johannesburg, South Africa. BUT. The journey wasn’t over quite yet for a few of us. Two teams stayed in Johannesburg, while the rest of us (three teams) headed to the the train station there at the airport. We had to wait for the 1:30 train, so a few of my teammates went in search of some bargains for our brunch. The Gautrain took us to the bus station. We had to confirm our bus tickets so we sat around there for some time and finally boarded at 3:30. The 4:00 bus rolled out of the station right on time with 20 very tired Americans on board. We drove all night.
October 8:(Day 5) Fifteen hours of driving and some decent sleep later, we arrived at the last drop-off point at 7 am. We separated ways with one of the teams and they stayed there in Port Elizabeth. The rest of the gang (now only 13 people) waited for Wellington to get there with his taxi van. We loaded all the luggage in the back and then started piling in people. We ended up with two people on the floor and the rest squeezed on the seats. If we wouldn’t have such big bags, we could have fit in more comfortably, you know. We only had an hour and a half to Jeffrey’s Bay so it really wasn’t bad, and sleeping for most of the way helped pass the time.
(This is how we cope with 5 days of travel.)
We arrived at the campsite at 10 am, 5 days after we started our journey. We unpacked the vehicle and set up our tents for that first night right beside the beach. And what a night of sleep that was! The sound of the waves made for a very peaceful slumber; the sunrise in the morning perfect to wake up to. We did head over to the GLA (Global Leadership Academy) base the next morning and we’ve been staying in a very nice hostel ever since!
(We could pretty much see the ocean from our tents!)
Like I said, this is one way of getting to Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa!
