Friday, the First Wes Team gathered at the church at 4:30 pm to begin the trip to Zimba, Zambia. We shuffled materials around among the 16 suitcases and 8-9 carry-on items trying to keep all the bags under the 50 pound limit while still taking as many medications, and medical and construction supplies as possible. Getting checked-in at Detroit Metro wasn’t completely uneventful. We were spread across several different check-in stations and some tried to check our luggage through to Livingstone, Zambia (correct) and some tried to check our luggage only as far as Johannesburg, South Africa. Although we managed to get everyone on the same final destination page, it did mean the Lufthansa check-in staff did have to track down three bags they had already put on the conveyer belt to load on the plane and change their destination tags. This wasn’t a particularly good omen.
The flight to Frankfurt was uneventful, but no one slept that well (the usual). With a ten hour lay-over in Frankfurt, we took a brief subway ride into the city to walk through a couple of street festivals in the downtown area. We returned to the airport, went through security, and boarded our plane for departure to Johannesburg – another 8.5 hours on the plane. That was also an uneventful flight although a couple, Dr. Kari, Barb and Bud slept less than on the previous night’s flight. The lay-over in Jo’burg was only about 3 hours and, with changes in the airport as they expand to host the World Cup, more complicated than on past trips. We had to go through passport control/immigration, customs, check-in for our flights and go through security again. We had about a half hour to spare but re-newed concerns about our luggage.
We arrived in Livingstone, Zambia shortly after noon local time. The lines were long and slow going through immigration/passport control. We could see Missionary Joan ahead through the double doors. We waved and she, recognizing us half a football field away, waved back. We then spent the next hour trying to gather up our luggage. It turned out that a
little less than half our bags made the full trip with us. Only Glen got all his bags. His wife Diane was missing both of hers. Missing one bag each were Dr. Kari, Larry, Ann, and Mark. Missing all four of their bags were Bud and Barb. We’re hoping the bags catch up with us in the next couple of days.
We finally loaded the cars to begin the 48 mile drive to Zimba. This has usually been an hour drive. There has been an interesting convergence of circumstances that turned this into a two hour drive today. This year, the rainy season was much rainier than usual. The paving of the highway from Livingstone to Zimba seemed to use a sub-optimal strategy of a thin (2-3”) veneer of blacktop over top of sand and gravel – the sort of road surface that wouldn’t hold up very well with lots of rain and lots of heavy truck traffic. And then there has been lots of heavy truck traffic hauling copper and cobalt from the mining area of Zambia in the north to South Africa. The convergence has resulted in a highway full of pot holes and badly worn shoulders. The cars and trucks crisscross the roadway, swerving and braking to avoid each other and the pot holes. It added an extra hour to the trip.
BUT, we arrived safely, minus a few clothes, meds, and supplies, but we expected them to catch up. We unloaded, and spent time eating and renewing our friendships with Missionary Joan, Drs. Dan and Joan, with Janet and Zimba generally. We were all worn out, but dinner was great and the showers beckon. Its good to be in place. Now we get to see what God has planned for us – it's always a bit different from what we thought. We already know it will be. We’re happy to do what we can. – Larry
The flight to Frankfurt was uneventful, but no one slept that well (the usual). With a ten hour lay-over in Frankfurt, we took a brief subway ride into the city to walk through a couple of street festivals in the downtown area. We returned to the airport, went through security, and boarded our plane for departure to Johannesburg – another 8.5 hours on the plane. That was also an uneventful flight although a couple, Dr. Kari, Barb and Bud slept less than on the previous night’s flight. The lay-over in Jo’burg was only about 3 hours and, with changes in the airport as they expand to host the World Cup, more complicated than on past trips. We had to go through passport control/immigration, customs, check-in for our flights and go through security again. We had about a half hour to spare but re-newed concerns about our luggage.
We arrived in Livingstone, Zambia shortly after noon local time. The lines were long and slow going through immigration/passport control. We could see Missionary Joan ahead through the double doors. We waved and she, recognizing us half a football field away, waved back. We then spent the next hour trying to gather up our luggage. It turned out that a
little less than half our bags made the full trip with us. Only Glen got all his bags. His wife Diane was missing both of hers. Missing one bag each were Dr. Kari, Larry, Ann, and Mark. Missing all four of their bags were Bud and Barb. We’re hoping the bags catch up with us in the next couple of days.We finally loaded the cars to begin the 48 mile drive to Zimba. This has usually been an hour drive. There has been an interesting convergence of circumstances that turned this into a two hour drive today. This year, the rainy season was much rainier than usual. The paving of the highway from Livingstone to Zimba seemed to use a sub-optimal strategy of a thin (2-3”) veneer of blacktop over top of sand and gravel – the sort of road surface that wouldn’t hold up very well with lots of rain and lots of heavy truck traffic. And then there has been lots of heavy truck traffic hauling copper and cobalt from the mining area of Zambia in the north to South Africa. The convergence has resulted in a highway full of pot holes and badly worn shoulders. The cars and trucks crisscross the roadway, swerving and braking to avoid each other and the pot holes. It added an extra hour to the trip.
BUT, we arrived safely, minus a few clothes, meds, and supplies, but we expected them to catch up. We unloaded, and spent time eating and renewing our friendships with Missionary Joan, Drs. Dan and Joan, with Janet and Zimba generally. We were all worn out, but dinner was great and the showers beckon. Its good to be in place. Now we get to see what God has planned for us – it's always a bit different from what we thought. We already know it will be. We’re happy to do what we can. – Larry
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