Travel Surprises

 Travel can be hard.  Like all travelers, we are at the mercy of the weather.  A bad storm is just as likely to strand people in Chicago as it is on Clove Island.  But we are also at the mercy of unreliable services.  Not that services in other countries are never unreliable.  They might have the occasional strike or maintenance recall that will cancel flights and suddenly leave people stranded, but generally they can depend on reliable services.  While flights get delayed and cancelled on occasion, the airlines will usually help you find alternative routes.

Preparing to leave Clove Island

Back in 2020, we remember flying home just as countries were closing their borders.  Despite cancelled flights and rearrangements, the airlines worked hard to help us and many other passengers get to where they were going as best they could.  If only you could expect such service and help on the islands…

Wednesday morning we left for the airport and the weather was beautiful.  It’s a thirty minute flight from Clove Island to the big island.  Our international flight to mainland Africa would be the following morning. After waiting around for about an hour, one of the airline workers came out to announce that there would be no flight today.  She also gave no assurance that there would be a flight the next day and no offers to help us find a solution.  

That puts us in a pickle.  There was a time when there were a multiple local airlines running on the islands, and if one was unable to fly you could often jump over and buy a ticket with the other airline.  (Good luck getting your money back from the first airline.)  But recently only one airline has been running.  Why wasn’t it flying today?  A maintenance issue had come up.  Where other companies in the past have had 2 planes flying, the current company has only one plane.  So if we wanted to make our connecting flight on the big island the next day, we were out of luck in terms of flights.

Halfway- arriving on the small island

That’s when we heard a man (not an airline employee) announce to the crowd—that there was a boat going today that hadn’t left yet that might have 10 spots.  We quickly let him know we would be interested in that option as we and our fellow airline passengers hurried toward the taxis that would take us across town (the port is on the other side of town from the airport).  

As we rode in the taxi, we tried to prepare ourselves mentally for the trip ahead of us. We’ve already told you of our adventures taking the little boat to the the small island.  But we’ve never taken the little boats all the way to the big island!  This would be a first for us— one leg to the small island and then a second to the big island.  Thankfully, the preparations are about the same.  Not having planned on boat travel, we quickly went and bought a bunch of large plastic bags and packing tape to put around our luggage. Then we bought some seasickness meds at a pharmacy near the port, and lathered up in sunscreen.  (Despite our best efforts, my  backpack still got pretty wet, my journal taking the most damage.)  

By 10:45am, we were loaded onto a boat—sitting on slightly padded benches with no back support, exposed to the elements except for a canopy to shield us from the sun.  

 A good deal of spray comes into the boat, so depending on your seat and the wind, you may be quite soaked by the end of it.  Imagine being relentlessly doused with sea water over and over again for a few hours and you get the picture.  There is no bathroom.  There are no complementary food and drink services.  When you get out to the open ocean between islands, the waves get substantially higher, which causes the boat to slap against the water as it breaks over each wave.  On the first leg of the trip to the small island, there was an island woman with a small baby who was absolutely terrified when the boat started rising and dropping. (Remember, sitting on a bench, there is nothing to grab onto.) Thankfully the weather was good so we had relatively few of these back breaking drops and the terrified young mother got out at the small island so didn’t have to endure the second leg.

Arriving on the big island

The two legs of the boat ride took about 5 hours. We arrived on the big island in the early evening, tired, wet, and covered in a thin layer of salt, cramming into a taxibus for the hour ride up to the capital. We had made it! Our connection the following day would not need to be changed!  

It was a long, hard day, but we could see all the provision…Our flight was early enough that we were able to switch to the boat option before they had left.  There were spaces available on the boat.  We had recently taken the same boat to the small island so we had a fair idea of what to expect.  We had enough cash on hand to pay for the boat tickets, the weather was good, and the sea was mostly calm!  We do not know why it was we were meant to take the boat this time, but we see God’s hand watching over us all the way.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We made it to the big island and then to mainland Africa! Our youngest son who had to travel with us was a trooper and didn’t complain. We are proud of him. Our daughter continues to be doing better and is back to her baseline. We went to the rheumatologist today and she was encouraged to see how she has improved from the latest flare-ups.  Our older son did a great job performing in his school drama performances this past weekend. We are thankful that we got to connect with several of our colleagues on the big island and for one that just got recently engaged (his fiancée is visiting the islands now).

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for our appointment at the US embassy to renew our kids’ passports. Pray that it all goes smoothly and that the new passports come without significant delays. Pray that we would use our time in mainland Africa well while we wait for the passports— we will be focusing on administrative tasks and online meetings mostly. Pray that Muki and Mtsa would keep coming together and studying in Tom’s absence. Pray that we could encourage islanders to keep growing even while we are off island— islanders use WhatsApp and Messenger a lot, so we hope to stay connected. Continue to pray for our island colleagues as they face medical challenges and needing to find a new house. Pray that electricity on Clove Island would improve, the power cuts have gotten long and unpredictable.