Day Four.
After just a few hours of sleep Monday night, we got up bright and early to flight from Dubai to Entebbe, Uganda. The total travel time was roughly 7 hours, which included an hour-ish stopover in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I tried to catch a few hours of sleep on the plane, but I was pretty much unsuccessful.
When we landed in Entebbe and stepped down off of the plane, I squealed like a child because I was SO excited to finally have my feet in Africa!! I’m pretty sure at that point Andrew was wondering why on earth he allowed me to come! =)
My first African experiences were pretty fun…typical of Africa, or so I had been told. We had to go through Immigrations, which was a pretty quick and painless process. Then we had to grab our luggage and clear Customs. That was a little more entertaining. We divided into two groups to lessen our chances of being stopped and thoroughly searched. I went with Peter and we were the first group. He warned me that sometimes Customs officers will stop you, search your luggage, and “lean on you” for a payoff. He said that the best way to get through Customs is to avoid making eye contact and to walk quickly. So I did. The man stopped Peter and quickly asked what was in the trunks, and then let him go. I was up next, so I pushed my trolly briskly, stared at the floor, and kept walking even when he put his hand out to stop me. I figured that if he really wanted to search my stuff, he’d chase me down. There was no chase, so we walked on out of the airport!
At the same time, I was carrying a bag (actually, a large purse that his wife owns) that was full of really expensive recording equipment for the Radio Project. As we walked out of the airport, I noticed that Peter, Kerry (Aid Sudan’s Country Director…he lives in Kampala and went on the trip with us), and Bob (another of Aid Sudan’s guys in Kampala…he didn’t go with us to Sudan, but he was at the Henderson’s a lot) fell into place around me, and Peter told me to hold tight to the bag. Comforting.
We got to the bus/taxi without incident, and we were off. I was in such awe of Africa that I didn’t take a single picture on our 45 minute ride from Entebbe to Kampala. I just stared out the window at the bright shops, the police with their AKs, the people sweeping their dirt floors, and the CRAZY traffic.
When we arrived at the Henderson’s house, we were greeted warmly by Neltia, Kerry’s wife, and their children. We unloaded our luggage, settled into our rooms, and then ate the most amazing food we’d had in days! I sat out on the front porch for a while just taking in the sights (houses scattered on the hillsides), sounds (drumming and singing from a nearby church), and smells (diesel fumes and smoke) of Africa. We did our devotional as a team, took hot showers, called our families via Skype, and then hit the hay early, because we had another really early morning awaiting.
Again, I didn’t take very many pictures for two reasons. First, I really just wanted to take it all in and not be so concerned with getting the shot (plus, I knew that we’d be touring the city at the end of the trip). Second, I was really worried about conserving memory card space.
Anyway, I did take these shots of the Henderson’s house and the hillsides of Kampala…
The next post will be of Sudan!!!