Journey to Tanzania

August 23 2009 Pastor Tim gave a sending service for us at the beginning of the 8 AM service, and he also told the congregation that we would be blogging about our experience. At coffee hour after the service Sherm Hendrix gave me a book on educational evaluation and measurement to add to my already heavy briefcase. We waited in line more than two hours to check in with British airways at Dulles Airport--probably would not have avoided that by flying from Harrisburg because we would still have had to check in with BA at Dulles anyhow. Because we are traveling as missionaries we get to check three bags instead of two--an advantage. Even tough we usually travel light, we are loaded down with books that the College in Mbeya has requested and also with a supply of peanut butter and dried fruit because we were not sure what would be available in Tanzania. Actually, British Airways service, apart from the long checkin, is quite good. The plane had good for feet and the flight attendants were helpful. The flight was a little late lifting off but we nevertheless landed in London a little ahead of schedule because of good tailwinds. My fears about Hurricane Bill were unfounded. Dinner was not bad, and alcohol is still complementary on BA.

August 24 2009 Because we arrived around 10 AM and our flight out would not be until 7PM we took the tube into the city and went to the British Museum to see the Rosetta Stone. I never realized it was so large. Because of our checkin experience at Dulles we made sure to get back to Heathrow by 4 PM to checkin--no big lines this time, but at Heathrow they d0 not announce gate assignments until a little over an hour before flight time, but then if you are not at the gate by 30 minutes before takeoff they pull your bags and leave without you. Eventually we leared we would be leaving from a B Gate, which takes about 20 minutes to get to but somehow we made it with time to spare. Karen and I are getting on each other's nerves somewhat at this point, having both been up for over 24 hours. The plane is not full, so we are given the option to move to other seats once we are airborne. We took advantage of that option and both got window seats by ourselves, giving us a little more room to try to sleep. There is a good movie selection--I watched "Here to Eternity" during and after dinner (cottage pie, not bad) and somehow manage to get some sleep. I was suprised to see that there are only a very few Africans on the flight--almost all the passengers are white Europeans or Americans.

August 25 Tuesday I guess--its hard to keep track of these things while traveling. Another nice thing about having moved our seats--we both got to see Mt. Kilimanjaro rising high above the clouds--a nice perk of flying into Tanzania in the morning. They say that because of global warming the mountain is losing its snowcap, but it still has some. There has also been severe drought in that region recently, which may also contribute. We land in Dar es Salaam around 7 AM local time--2 hours ahead of London and 7 hours ahead of EDT, so our bodies still think it is midnight. We avoid the long line for visas because we got ours ahead of time, but we must complete a swine flu questionnaire, which is then collected by gentleman in medical whites and wearing a surgical mask. Tanzania has had no cases, except one brought in by a British tourist and they hope to keep it that way. We indicate "Mission" as the purpose of our visit on the immigration form and no further questions are asked. Customs is nonexistant. After gathering our bags we head outside with a little trepidation but we immediately recognize Gwamanka Mwankenja, the Chaplain of the College, who has come to meet us. We had met him a couple months ago when he had come for the Lower Susquehanna Synod Assembly. We load our bags into a car that we learn later Gwamanka has borrowed from his brother-in-law and head for the Luther House hostel in the city. After breakfast at the hostel we get a few hours sleep before Gwamanka takes us out to see some of the city. We go to the beach along the Indian Ocean where Karen gets to touch the water. The tide is low, and I find the miriad of very small crabs, perhaps the size of 50 cent piece, scurrying along the sand. While at the beach we also hear sirens--a motorcade carrying either the President or the Prime Minister is passing. I had trouble sleeping despite being very tired--the room is hot and I guess I have not yet adjusted to the time change.

August 26. Another day in Dar es Salaam, the largest city in Tanzania, population several million. It sits a sea level and temperature is in the mid-80s. Traffic in Dar is "interesting" Despite gas prices around $4 per gallon there is a lot of traffic, and most drivers, including Gwamanka, are quite aggressive. Except for occasional traffic lights there seem to be no traffic control devices at most intersections. Dust is everywhere. Only main streets are paved, and even there the shoulders are unpaved. We visit the University of Dar es Salaam where we tour the library, and we also visit Tumaini Lutheran University where Mwankenja's brother-in-law is a law instructor. Back at Luther House there is a fundraiser, and we are introduced to the Presiding Bishop of the ELCT. The room is more comfortable because we have finally figured out the air conditioner, but still I do not sleep well.

August 27 Thursday? We take a very fully loaded taxi to the Scandinavian Express bus terminal to begin the all day trio ti Mbeya. The bus line supposedly has a limit of two checked bags and one carryon per person, but since Mwankenja has only a small backpack it works out OK. We boarded at Scandinavian's own terminal, but the bus makes a second stop at the city's main bus terminal, which I can only describe as chaos. There seem to be scores of buses from many carriers, not only big touring buses, but also minibuses, actually vans, called dala-dalas, and seemingly hundreds of people milling around. Among the crowd are also vendors hawking all sorts of merchandise--clothing, good sunglasses, etc. Eventually we do get underway and head out of the city on the Tanzam Highway, the maim road from Dar es Salaam all the way across the country and into Zambia. It starts out as a good two lane hard road, but after about half way to Mbeya we get into mountains and it begins to resemble a Scottish single track road, not quite. It is "interesting" seeing large buses passing big trucks ion narrow roads. Along the way the road passes through Mikumi National Park where we got to see an elephant, several giraffes, a small herd of buffalo, bushpigs, assorted antelope, and a troop of baboons in the middle of the road. Except for the baboons, the bus does not slow down, so we did not get a good view of the animals or a chance for pictures. No lions. We are told it is very rare to see any of the big cats from the highway. In fact, Gwamanka tells us that he has never seen a lion in the wild. All along the road after we left the city, and even in the small towns along the way we get to see indigenous housing that has us a little concerned about what our house in Mbeya will look like. There are a lot of mud huts, and some small brick houses of various types, some with thatched roofs. some with tin roofs, and many in various stages of disrepair. It is a very long trip with only a few short stops. Contrary to what we have been told to expect, however, there is only one rest stop that uses "the bushes". It does get cooler as we reach the Southern Highlands. We finally get to Mbeya after 7 PM. It has already gotten dark. There is no twilight in the tropics. We are to stay at a local hotel, the Stockholm, for two nights, until our house is ready. The hotel is comfortable. The stay is at the expense of the college, which we are not happy with, preferring to pay our own way, but maybe something can be worked out later.