Happy New Year!
It is a new year in a new country and a new continent! We made it to Uganda, flying out of Saigon on the 29th of December and arriving on the 30th with only a few “minor” hiccups along the way… an adventure that I hope never to repeat.
We arrived in anticipation to the Ho Chi Minh airport looking forward to what was promised to be out “classiest” airline experience yet. We were scheduled to leave at 8:25pm, relax aboard Emeretes airlines enjoying complimentary drinks and chocolate, watching movie after movie until arriving in Dubai at 1am. Emeretes would then whisk us away to our layover hotel where we would rest, catch a last shower before Africa, enjoy a free breakfast then head back to catch our next flight to Entebbe. Bliss!
Weellll we did arrive to the airport Ho Chi Minh with anticipation. And Emeretes is truly the best airline I have ever been on BUT I also learned that it helps to have a few valuable nuggets of information BEFORE arriving in Uganda.
Lesson 1: Always have departure information. We discovered that the Ugandan government was not too keen on us arriving with out proof of our departure from the country… preferably proof of a FLIGHT leaving the country. We were scheduled to leave at the end of the month by bus… buses that we did not currently have tickets for.
We had two options. 1.) Stay in Saigon until we could get proof of departure (buy bus tickets or plane tickets) or 2.) Get on the plane, signing a form that stated that if we did not have our tickets by the time we landed in Dubai, then we would be asked to buy tickets BACK to Vietnam.
Praise the Lord for a delayed departure, we were able to contact someone with AIM, and signed the form, boarding our flight in hopes that within the next 7 hours, proof of leaving would be waiting in our email.
Well, we are in Uganda, so you know how the story ends. BUT turns out that once we got to Dubai, no one really cared at all that we did not have return tickets. In fact, no one even checked. Not even customs once we arrived in country. Now, the hotel and hot shower got lost in the mix, but all is well that ends well.
The last 5 days have been spent camping by the Nile river. We are acclimatizing to cool nights and hot afternoons- a welcome change to heat and humidity 24/7. It is a relief to be out of Asia and into Africa enjoying incredible sunsets over the river and snuggling into my tent at night (thanks to my smartwool socks, I keep warm!) The days have been filled with team debriefs, one on ones and worship preparing to head into our 7th month on the Race!
I celebrated my 24th birthday on the banks of the Nile! Now, understand that I LOVE birthdays- especially my own and World Race birthdays can be rather unique. I woke up that morning, looked in the mirror and thought to myself how old and mature I looked almost reaching a quarter of a century old. It was an incredible day finishing off with a "cake" of 2 chips ahoy cookies with a melted Toberlone bar on top, followed by an attempt to watch Ratatouille and a melatonen. A real party animal…I think I may have started my decline 🙂
We leave tomorrow bright and early for Rukungiri passing through Kampala first and then taking an 8 hour bus to our final location. We have heard many a tale about the transportation in Africa, so what adventure lies before us may be an interesting one.
More news to come (internet dependent) and I hope you all are enjoying a wonderful new year!
