mincedLifeCentral

Here I am, in an internet cafe in Musoma, Tanzania.

I'm almost out of the country for a month... and things in Tanzania surely changed somewhat since my last time there. There's lots more people speaking broken English now, and there are cellphones everywhere! Now I know what to bring next time - of course charging the thing will remain a challenge.

Travel:

This time the travel was a separate adventure in itself. I volunteered to stay behind to chaperone another team member who had passport troubles and could not board the original flight. It was a miracle that we had confirmed seats four days later all the way to Dubai and then Nairobi. It was pretty normal until we landed in Dubai - the flight in was a bit late and for some reason I couldn't figure out which gate to go to for the connecting flight - managed to miss it! Amid panic and prayer we got standby tickets for the next flight six hours later and we were able to board it. The odds of that are quite slim since the flights were so full for the Christmas period.

Josh and I landed in Nairobi where Gerald (our Kenyan contact) was a legend in looking after us and finding us a good honest bus all the way to the Tanzanian border. To complicate things my main pack got lost... it appeared that it was not unloaded from the plane when we missed the flight from Dubai. Gerald managed to liaise with the lost baggage handlers and even ship the pack to the Tanzanian border (a bit of a messy place)

We crossed the border in Boxing Day and were quickly reunited with the teams :)

Inland travel across the Tanzanian terrain was by Toyota Landcruisers which were much more reliable than the vans in the previous missions. Nonetheless we have managed to blow a head gasket (I guess due to oil pressure failure). Our replacement vehicle was flash by local standards - electric windows, air conditioning, and a turbo under the bonnet :D

Ministry:

The villagers were generally very welcoming and they felt honoured to have visitors from afar. The team was excellent in overcoming the pockets of spiritual resistance. We have seen the blind recover their sight, the lame walk and other healings.

Serengeti National Park:

We had serious close-ups of lions, lots of other animals, but most elephants have already migrated. Gotta see the video to believe it!

Now What:

The one-month teams will leave in three days, and four of us will stay behind for another six weeks. Rose (leader), Hannah, DJ, and myself. I heard our itinery will be quite full.

I hope you readers had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year... I'm running out of internet time so I'll leave it at that for now...