the journey to bundibugyo was long and rather drawn out, but so worth it, and refreshingly with out any major hold-ups.
philly:
olvie and i got dropped off at the philly airport, checked 6 bags (got extra luggage allowance since we were with whm)-- families, friends, and others showered us with essentials and gifts for the missionaries in bundi, so all the bags were maxed out! we had time at the gate before we loaded-- great time for phoning family/friends. olvie had packed herself a pb & tuna sandwich, the thought of which almost made me vomit, but which didn’t actually taste all that terrible, surprisingly enough.
philly to london:
this leg of the flight was the most, uh, shall I say eventful? we brought the 7th bag as olvie’s 2nd carry on, per the instructions of the british airways baggage checker (about 45 lbs heavy, but carry on size and was going to cost an extra $140 to check). this little heavy guy caused us some problems. as i was trying to load it into the overhead compartment, a guy sitting nearby offered his help. the latch did not seem to be all the way shut, so he messed with it again and said he thought it was good. then came take-off. in the middle of it, he motioned to me that the overhead compartment had flown open. i was scared that 45-lb suitcase was going to fly out and hit someone in the head, causing some serious damage, so i risked it and stood up to try to quickly slam it shut. it would shut and all of a sudden this awful cacophony of voices (i assume the flight staff) started screaming bloody murder at me from the back of the plane. i sat down and put my seatbelt on, fearing someone was about to get seriously injured. after take-off was completed, one of the male flight attendants came up to my seat, got right up in my face, and starting basically yelling at me, asking if i knew how stupid i was. i explained the situation and that i was trying to prevent something more dangerous from occurring after he told me I endangered everyone in the “aircraft.” he would not relent in calling me stupid. when i told him i didn’t appreciate him calling me stupid, he responded, “well, i appreciate calling you stupid.” he then threatened to have the police meet me at the “aircraft” when we arrived. it was all i could do to not explode. luckily olvie was there to be understanding. the rest of the flight was decent, other than not being able to sleep.
london:
we made it through customs and what not just fine. the man who stamped my passport did wonder at the “washed up” look of my passport; oh, victoria falls… :) we checked some of our stuff at an excess baggage place for the day and headed to the underground, or “tube.” an hour later, we were in central london. we hit up food for thought, a wonderfully tasty and quaint little vegetarian restaurant near the covent gardens stop. from there on, we saw pretty much every major thing i even knew existed in london and much more:
covent gardens
the market
the royal opera house
a street entertainer
a man making amazing music on a large orange cone
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| yay for paying to use the loo |
the south african, zimbabwean, and ugandan embassies
a spar
trafalgar square
the national gallery
a countdown for the 2012 olympics
the boat in a bottle
a guy who looked like ewan mcgregor
nelson’s column
a one-handed man playing electric guitar in one of the underground stations
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| us & westminster |
small red telephone booths
the admiralty arch
the national police memorial
the mall
st. james’ palace
the queen victoria memorial
buckingham palace
british royal police
the canada gate
bird cage walk
st. james’ park
methodist central hall
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| me & oliver |
the dean’s yard
parliament
elizabeth II’s sun dial
big ben
the westminster bridge
the thames
the london aquarium
the london eye
the battle of britain monument
mcdonald’s, of course
and last, but definitely not least: the broad street pump & the john snow pub
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| broad street pump!! |
the last was quite the scavenger hunt. as an aspiring epidemiologist inspired by john snow, the father of epidemiology, and his ground-breaking work with the broad street pump cholera epidemic, i was more than eager to find the old pump & the pub named after john snow. after talking with a hotel worker, a bookstore owner, men who looked like they might go to pubs, bartenders, a police officer, and other random people; after being redirected time and time again; and after walking right by it and missing it, we finally found the pub! the man standing by asked in disbelief if we had come far looking for it. as there was no pump still there, only a rock marking where the original used to be, he directed us to the replica of the old pump across the street. i was thrilled and in the midst of taking pictures when a guy asked if i was an epidemiologist. i replied i was hoping to be one, and he told us he was one and had just gotten a position with the london center for disease control-- crazy coincidence that we both found the pump at the same time. hardly anyone in london seemed to know a thing about it. he described his search for the pump as a pilgrimage-- fitting, i believe.
we made it back to heathrow in time, met a ugandan girl working at the starbucks, and boarded the flight to entebbe.
london to entebbe:
this flight was a lot more relaxed and quite pleasant. there were so many volunteers and missionaries on the flight, it was kind of amusing. this contributed significantly to the plane atmosphere.
entebbe/ kampala:
we got our visas and made it through customs just fine. all of our bags even made it-- such a blessing. our kind driver, david, met us and drove us into kampala to exchange money, and to the place we were staying for the night. we passed the vast lake victoria (i’m told it’s the 2nd largest in the world). the pollution in kampala makes the air very hazy and smell of fumes. the roads and the driving are quite crazy and hectic. we passed countless fruit stands (often just piles on the side of the dirt road), small houses/buildings with brightly painted advertisements covering their exterior walls, clothes hanging to dry, and bananas everywhere.
the place where we stayed the night was very nice, and gave us a chance to breathe. i felt very spoiled there, with a pool and internet access. the staff were exceedingly kind and smiled such beautiful smiles. The pink and purple sunset was a sweet end to the day.
the next morning, we had our bags down and were ready to go by 7, as we were told we’d be picked up then by the maf (mission aviation fellowship) pilot then. at 8:20, he showed up. yep, we had arrived in africa, where time is fluid, to say the least. he drove us to the kajjansi airfield, where we met up with the opthamologist (who generously covered the entire cost of the flight) and his friend, lloyd. we waited for everything to be weighed and loaded, and squeezed into the 5X-MSY bush plane. it was such an exhilarating flight over breathtaking views of this beautiful, lush country. the vegetation is so green and the earth so red. toward the end, we surmounted the rwenzori mountains and entered into new territory-- the even lusher, more jungle-like, less “developed,” western part of uganda. banana and palm trees and little villages now dotted the landscape.
bundibugyo:
we landed on an airstrip carved out of the jungle, with the johnsons and dozens of children and some adults from the nearby village awaiting our arrival. jessica and anna, the other two missionaries, drove up shortly after. it was such an exciting, warm reception, with plenty of stares of course. it was crazy seeing a little girl eating an avocado with her machete that was half as tall as she was. olvie and i got to ride on top of the johnsons’ vehicle for the short trip to nyahuka. (bundibugyo is the district, nyahuka is like the county, and bundimalinga is the town.)
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