Yup, that’s right! We spent thirty-three hours on the same
bus with our whole squad as we traveled from Kampala, UGANDA to Dar es Salaam,
TANZANIA. Good times indeed!
Here are some of
the highlights:
–
We passed Mount
Kilimanjaro! It was gorgeous and I wanted to CLIMB IT!
–
The unpaved roads were so bumpy it literally
felt like I was in a personal massage chair for most of the trip… pretty sweet
if you ask me 🙂
–
We got some legitimate air on a few of the
potholes… free roller coaster ride,
check!
–
We passed weigh stations periodically but only
one side of the bus got weighed; in order to “make weight� all the passengers
in the back half of the bus had to get up and stand in the aisles towards the
front. This happened a good five or six times throughout the trip, sometimes at
1, 3, or 5am in the morning. Most of us were completely confused, sleep-deprived,
and delirious as we were being removed from our seats… but that just made it
even more hilarious. I wish I had
taken some footage of this ride!
–
We almost collided with speeding semi-trucks
racing towards us on multiple occasions (don’t worry Mom and Dad… God’s got His
angel armies protecting us… I’m sure
of that!)
–
If you made a cartoon of the journey there would
probably be constant thought bubbles above each of our heads that either read, “What the heck is going on!?� “How much
longer until we stop for a bathroom break?� “WHERE ARE WE?� or “HOW did I get
here?�
–
We had some interesting gas station squatty
potty experiences and other African bush pit stops to say the least…
–
I can now effectively diagram and possibly write
a thesis on the most and least comfortable positions one can have on an African
bus
–
I enjoyed multiple sessions of uncontrollable
laughter (and snorts) while catching up with friends – love you guys!
–
We crossed three country borders during this
time span: Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania… sweet!
–
Some of our squadmates decided to start bus
surfing/ playing ninja in the aisles in order to help pass the time… we’re
creative 🙂
–
I am officially a peanut butter and jelly
sandwich-making pro while on moving vehicles; good thing I like them now or
else I wouldn’t have eaten for the last week of my life 🙂
–
About an hour before we were supposed to arrive
in Dar es Salaam an official came on the bus and said that it’s illegal to
travel after midnight, (it was about 1am at this point but we had been
traveling throughout the night the previous day so we were all a little
confused.) The bus was already running way behind schedule (like five hours
behind) and three teams were supposed to be leaving on an additional
twenty-hour bus ride to their respective ministry sites in just a few hours. We
were being told that we could no longer travel and would have to spend the
night in the bus on the side of the road. Are you serious? At this point
nothing could surprise us and we all just started to laugh. A half hour later
after a little bit of talking and bribing we were on our way again. Oh this is AFRICA.
–
By the time we made it to Dar at 3am we were
like zombies; everyone was delirious, filthy, and smelling pretty rank. We had
been sitting in the same seats, sweating continuously, and driving through
areas filled with smog, smoke, and soot with open windows for a day and a half
straight. My body was caked with dirt, PB and J, and who knows what else. The
shower after that experience literally felt like heaven… thank you, Lord for running water!
–
Despite the insanity of the whole ride, everyone
remained extremely upbeat and positive. Praise God! I think we’re really
learning to drop any expectations we once had and expect the unexpected… times
ten. Welcome to the WORLD RACE. I love
it. 🙂
“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound,
but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with
everyone born of the Spirit� (John 3:8).
