After having the itinerary changed less than 3 days before we were to leave, the team finds itself no longer traveling through Paris (which we just found out is having a country wide transit strike) en route to South Africa. Instead, we now fly out one day earlier and end up going through London instead. Because our layover is just under 8 hours, we have the chance to visit with the Queen (well, just one of her palaces), her friend Ben (a rather burly chap), the Westminster Abbey and Abbey Road. We take the “tube” back to Heathrow in time to catch our next flight to Johannesburg. We arrive in Johannesburg 11 hours later and it’s morning once again, the second such one following no sleep. However, our journey is not done yet. The last minute chances also meant we were faced with no prearranged rented vehicles waiting for us. Some good negotiations by our team leader and we load our luggage, half of which are hockey bags packed to the brim with donated items, into a 2 vans. Four hours later, we arrive in Nelspruit, the last hint of civilization before heading into Masoyi. We drop off one rental, while greeted by another, though more “well-loved” van from Africa School of Mission (where we will call home for the next 3 weeks). After reloading the luggage, we start the last leg of the trip. ASM is located at the end of a dirt path and we displace our luggage one last time, this time to our rooms. We are living in the dormitories of this school and it is somewhat of a luxury: our own bathrooms, a full kitchen to prepare our meals and a nice common area for our team meetings. Oh yeah, a couple of us got to watch South Africa beat England in the World Rugby finals in the student TV lounge! However, I suspect that this will be a forgotten luxury once we begin on Monday. Despite the rush that resulted because of one less day to pack, I am grateful for having arrived one day early. We now have a chance to acclimatize and allow our bodies to recoup from the long travel. We will be attending a church service tomorrow morning. I have already seen monkeys and big spiders. We are told it gets dark here very early but the sun rises even earlier. Things to keep in your thoughts and prayers: - quick adjustment to this new place, which only strengthens us against getting sick
- orientation on Sunday
- gratefulness for: safe travels, no lost luggage, all logistics worked out, I found an unsecured wifi connection on campus!
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