Mongu - Day One

After 50+ hours of travel and 6 hours of sleep we arrived in the middle of ‘nowhere’ to a place called Mongu.  My FB post was a google map shot of Lusaka, Zambia where I landed in Africa to Mongu where I will now reside for the next 8 days.  The picture shows one very straight shot between the two cities.  Well it is very accurate.  It is straight!   Before I begin my adventure accounts in Africa, I will share how miraculous our trip was.  We had concerns before we left and so prayer was critical and some of you joined me in these requests. 

If you have never traveled abroad it is so easy to assume that our hiccups in the US are quite traumatic. I had concerns about the leg from London to Lusaka.  We were not able to book our seat assignments for this part of the trip.  For my traveling companions who had booked business class and for me who I might find myself sitting next to this was a worry.  I do not do well with poor hygiene seat mates. My ‘fear’ was that I would have a 10 hour flight having to deal with this issue.  I was envisioning a very close relationship with the restroom.

Our seat assignment ended up toward the back of the plane.  We were all to sit together so that prayer was answered but extra room was the other issue for my friends. 

I ‘love’ this next answer to prayer.  The video/tv control on the arm of my seat was broken.  It was actually not attached with wires sticking out.  So…I mentioned this to the flight attendant.  British Airlines was unable to get it fixed before we left London.  So they moved my one friend and he got an entire row to himself!  He now could stretch out and sleep.   That allowed us two isle seats with a ‘free’ seat between us. This arrangement gave us room and we too could stretch out and I had no one with hygiene issues This may seem very trivial but 10 hours on a flight with ‘issues’ is not something to take lightly. Trust me it was a big answer to my prayer.

The International airport in Lusaka is probably one of the most primitive airports I have experienced.  God truly did pave a smooth path for us to enter the country beginning with being  told in London our visa’s would be about $140 dollars.  We could have purchased them there.  We ended up paying $40 in Lusaka.  No one demanded extra money.  We were finger printed, both hands and thumbs. I am not certain what they do with this info but I am now in their system.

We were swept through customs. No one looked at our luggage. This was the biggest miracle, for my companions who have made this trip before never know what to expect.  Most of the goods we bring into the country are donations for the school, the pastors and chiefs.  But the government does not care what we paid, they want the declared value and charged that fee to bring it in. An example is,  if our ‘goods’ are valued at $100 we now pay $100 more to bring it into Zambia. We paid nothing !!!!  Why?  The Zambian team that we work with had a connection at the commissioners office. They went the day before, plead our case and we were given ‘grace’.  This is truly a MIRACLE and saved Hands of Hope a couple thousand dollars.

The trip between Lusaka and Mongu should take 8 hours.  We started 3 hours late because one of the drivers needed to pick up a spare tire and he had left his clothes in the hotel where he had stayed.  It was a interesting beginning as we traveled to some of the off beaten paths into areas where most ‘city’ people live.  However, it made our 8+ hour start very late and we arrived very late.

The African plains are vast.  It is the dry hot season and just like the Illinois I left behind, it is quite parched!  The African plains have a desert like ‘feel’ but there are plenty of trees scattered around.  As we drove through the National Park, I saw a lot of gazelles, some deer like animal (I will find out what it was), wart hogs, monkeys and the back end of an Elephant.  (I hope to see the entire elephant on my return home).

I saw hundreds of huts scattered along our route.  We experienced a roadside rest area where the women’s bathrooms (wrong name) were ‘squatty potties’.  We had to pay to use them and to ‘wash’ our hands we have ‘not so clean’ water.  

I am functioning on no sleep as I try to capture some of my thoughts and experiences. My hotel room by Zambia standards is very nice. It is small. It is marginal on cleanliness and there are notices to take everything of value with you when you leave.  I hope that by the time I leave Zambia my suitcase is not empty.

Blessings to all of you as you continue to pray!