The Journey

I left the US last Monday and spent three days traveling to Kajo Keji, Sudan. Both long flights went very smoothly. I even struck up a great extended conversation with my seat-mate, Agnes, who was returning to Uganda for the first time since childhood (she was at least 60). And finally I arrived safely in Kampala, Uganda late Tuesday night.

Julie and Vincent Mbalangu met me at the Airport in Entebbe. They are Ugandan missionaries with the Navigators who Missy introduced me to when we were in Kampala last November. Julie and Vincent were kind enough to let me stay with them in their home for two nights. They also gave me a grand tour of Kampala on Wednesday and I feel I know the city much better now.

We had an interesting night on Wednesday. We drove to Entebbe Airport to pick up Rudy, an American who was speaking at a conference put on by Julie and Vincent in Kampala last weekend. On our way back, at about 11pm, when we were halfway between Entebbe and Kampala on quite a deserted stretch of road, our car broke down. Unable to get a taxi to stop, Vincent eventually just took off walking into the darkness in hopes of finding a gas station. Thank God he turned up an hour or so later in a taxi and we made it home a few hours later without trouble.

It was a bit of a trick making my MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) flight into Sudan. I called Wednesday to double check which airport I was leaving from, which is not as clear-cut as you might think. I asked the guy on the phone if I was flying out of Entebbe International (the main airport) or Kajjansi (the MAF airfield). He tells me I’m flying out of BOTH Entebbe and Kajjansi at 7am. Of course this makes no sense but he is insistent. So I decided I’d go to Kajjansi first (its closer) and I could still get to Entebbe if I chose wrong.

I also ended up having to get to the airfield an hour early due to last minute transportation issues (Vincent’s car dying hours earlier). The airfield wasn’t even open yet and Vincent and I had to convince the night watchman to let me unload my 300 lbs worth of baggage and wait sitting in the dark for the MAF folks to arrive.
It turned out that our flight flew out of Kajjansi, landed at Entebbe a couple miles away, and then flew out for Sudan. So I was in fact leaving out of Kajjansi and Entebbe, both technically scheduled for 7am departure. Good times.

And since there were 6 of us (and because of my luggage), we got to fly the big plane (above). And Gareth, our Scottish pilot, was a real pro so we made the trip up to Sudan in only a couple hours and without incident. A long three days but I arrived in Kajo Keji on February 10 without major incident. God is good.