we’ve got a long way to go but we travel as friends

With vacation over the time had come to make our way back to Uganda.  Little did we know the adventure was definitely not finished.

Caught the night bus from Mombasa.  It was like a horrible ride at an amusement park.  You get on and are trapped for the entire adventure, no getting off, no going back.  There should have been an entrance sign reading “Welcome aboard Nightmare to the Middle of Nowhere.”  We got on at 9:00pm excited to get to Uganda.  Our entry pass read 16 hours;  that’s long but the scenery is more than peasant and I got a seat with a window that opened.  First sign of trouble- a red glowing clock above the driver.  Wasn’t pumped that when I’m bored I can watch the minutes go by but the torturous feature of it was the invasive beep literally every second.  The kind that an alarm clock makes to wake you up in the morning, combined with the “your laundry’s done” buzzer on the dryer.  How are we expected to get any sleep on this night bus?  I felt like I was standing behind a dump truck backing up but could do nothing to move out of the way. 

 Seeing as it is dark by 7:00 every day there was nothing to occupy my mind really and wanting to savor my ipod batteries until a moment of desperation, I attempted to rest. Luckily when that went sour I had a wonderful seat buddy for excellent conversation but of course that only lasts so long and finally we dozed off around 1am.  We had uncertainties about this charter in the first place considering its rickety nature so it could have been expected that we’d break down.  The bus makes regular stops to begin with, which usually involves being jolted awake by sudden interior lights accompanied by foggy disorientation, lots of people shuffling about and loud vendors trying to sell you soda and peanuts through the window; however when we came to a halt in the middle of the road I got worried.  The next five hours were and adventure in themselves.  Now not only were we unable to exit this ride, we weren’t even moving forward.  It did cross my mind to take the opportunity to sleep however the front door was left open and the bus began filling with insects –big ones.  The kind that go directly for the lights and then dive bomb to the floor only to soon wake up and do it all over again.  This happens till they are so mixed up they fly recklessly around the cabin most of the time at a blinding speed right for your face.  I was also a little distracted by the rest of the Africans exiting the bus and catching passing mtatus, leaving us alone with our Swahili speaking driver.  It can’t get any worse can it I thought to myself with sarcasm and then it began to rain.  I laughed because I felt like Jane from Disney’s Tarzan stuck in the jungle.  At this point I regretted having a fully functioning window next to me.  In an attempt to avoid the dripage I curled up beside T and fell asleep.  

The sun rose by 7 and due to lack of ventilation and 11 very warm travelling mzungus I had to get off the bus.  Turns out there was a magnificent Bougainvillea tree right beside the biggest Baobab I’ve seen just outside.  And beside that was a carving shop/gallery where I picked up the most beautiful bowl.  The man gave us a tour of the hut out back which was stuffed full of giant carvings of tribal men and stump stools.  There were little giraffe figurines, a satchel of elephants and a pile of rhinos with a little zebra peeking out the side.  I pulled him out, he was a handsome little guy so I gave the man a few shillings and stuffed him into my raincoat pocket.  Finally help came and things looked hopeful.  We were promised that the bus we’d catch in Nairobi would take us all the way to Tororo considering we missed all our connections.  With the smell of rain and the breeze in my face we sped off to Nairobi looking forward to a bathroom and a free breakfast voucher.  However turns out this wasn’t just an amusement ride but also a rollercoaster.  You reach the crest with excitement in your stomach then plunge.  I got locked in a bathroom that had no lock, no toilet paper and no water; breakfast was dry bread with a mysterious roll of hash.  I was grateful for the tea and eggs though, and hey it was free.  Our fearless faithful leaders tracked down some water and we were off on the 1 o’clock bus.  

Next stop Kisumu to meet Paul and Erin for the rest of our belongings to move to Uganda.  The road is long but we travel as friends.  Point of advice: don’t drink soda on a bus with no bathroom.  The afternoon drive was somewhat pleasant however on one certain stop throughout the day I paid my 5 shilling to use the squatty in the rain but before the line is through Alison comes running up announcing the bus is pulling away.  We boot it back and I ask the driver how far to Kisumu.  He replies 90-200 KM- that could mean a long time considering the roads and the rain.  O NO!  I took my seat realizing the moment for the ipod had come and I was glad for full batteries.  We finally pulled into the “station,” I leap off the bus in the dark and there is a man standing in front of his restaurant.  He grabs my hand and tries to seat me before I can say a word.  I try to get directions to the bathroom if there is one and he points me to the back, but all I find around the corner is a woman slaughtering a chicken.  She tells me it’s too late and the only bathroom is closed for the night.  Not acceptable!  At the point I thought to myself just don’t stop moving.  Randomly heard someone say bathroom and I followed across the street to the squatty near the passenger lounge.  O Boy.  Having finished we loaded our stuff onto the bus in the wicked storm only to find out the deal we had with the bus line didn’t exist.  We had a ticket to the border.  The End.  Thank heavens for Paul, he stood in the station arguing with the teller as we huddled under an umbrella until we heard the bus honking heavy threats of leaving.  I ran over and stood half in the door half not yelling over the rain for him to please stay put.  Kyle did a good job making sure our tempered driver understood we had been travelling for 24 hours and needed to make sure we could get where we needed to go. 

 Fully drenched and without any sort of arrangement we eventually got on the bus, waved goodbye to Paul Erin and Jared and set off for the border I guess.  Point of Advice #2- don’t tick off the driver, he has a lot of control over your life or at least the well being of your stomach.  Our final stretch was most unpleasant.  On the verge of running out of airtime we began calling for a ride.  We were supposed to catch up with a driver at the border at 3pm but we left Kisumu at 11pm.  A couple of days earlier God provided a random driver to help us surely He could do it again.  If we hadn’t been praying before then we certainly all started.  Reese ended up finding extra minutes in the battery compartment of her phone no one could account for.  Also due to the volcano in Greenland some of our contacts were denied a flight home that day and where able to give us some numbers.  Forty minutes before reaching the border we confirmed a ride.  They met us on the Kenyan side with warm hugs and smiling faces, walked us through and had vans waiting on the other side.  Praise God!  We could have been stranded in the night with all our stuff and one guy to ten girls at the order of all places.  But by 1:30 we had tea and bread in a house with lights and people overjoyed to see us and us them.  Asleep by 2:00am.  Praise God from whom all blessings flow.  I must admit I was pretty crabby by the end of the day but I rest in peace knowing I have a God who sees me, that will never leave me and I am not alone…not only that, I have really good friends.

–jenessa lynn