Monday, August 19, 2013

Mel's journey to Africa


Proverbs 29:25 "Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe. "


My flight from Dulles was 13 and a half hours. It actually wasn't bad at all! I will give credit to Ethiopian Airlines for providing great service. I ate 3 meals and always had something to drink. So what does a person do for that long if you can't sleep on a plane? I read the entire novel, Gone Girl, which kept me wanting to read more so you know it was a good book. I watched a movie or two, and learned some Swahili from my phone app. I would say it was a productive day. I landed in Ethiopia and was pretty sleepy by then, but stayed alarmed as I was in a new country. I followed some other hikers to the right terminal for the next flight, but had a 2 hour layover. I saw the business lounge ( don't imagine the US kind of lounge). It had chairs and Internet, as I now have no service on my phone. I was able to get in the lounge using my Star Alliance Gold status(lucky I had my card). I drank 3 small diet cokes to stay awake as it was morning here and 11pm Eastern time. Then it was time to go to my gate in which you had to go through security. Now, it's Africa mode--people kept cutting and getting in. You can't get mad-- you are in Africa! Go with the flow! The most awesome part was the screen at the gate--it had GMCR as one of their "foreign companies for fair trade" so I took that as a "meant to be" sign!!



We took off to Tanzania and I met a doctor and his daughter from DC who were also climbing. They gave me helpful advice with my altitude medicine. I met a guy who was also from DC and meeting his friends from Austin, TX! Ironic! I also got in an hour nap which was good because its about to be 24 hours. I am so sleeeepy.




I finally landed so now to get through customs and find my personal driver. It was really fast as I had my yellow fever out and ready to show and had paid for my visa in the US. I just walked right through; got my luggage and walked outside. I met my driver right away and his name is Patrick. He was very kind and helpful. I shared the ride with a group from London who were also climbing the mountain. They were really cool people and I connected right away. (They adopted me in later that evening for dinner and picture taking and to walk around so I could be safe till my friends came) Patrick gave us a tour and showed us the "breweries" in Africa. They mix it in a large bowl with a stick and dry it out on tarps in the roads (like they do with the coffee beans). They then mush banana in it to make Banana Beer! I will try it after we climb to celebrate :) 

We made it to the cottages and l went to take a nap to wait for my friends to arrive. It was a long day! 

Then... We were all together :) 

Thank you everyone for your prayers and love! 

 









1 comment:

  1. Love your updates, keep them coming sister! :)

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