A TRAVEL TALE

Hello everybody!!!! It has been ages since I have posted and following is a bit of story I hope you can enjoy.

Last Saturday I got a last minute opportunity to go to Kigali Rwanda to catch a bus for Bukoba, Tanzania. Sounded like a good idea at the time as I needed to bring a donation to the Ntoma Orphanage near there. The short story is that it took me six days but I finally made it to Bukoba on Thursday evening. Now I will give you a longer version of the story because it so much more interesting and enjoyable.

Saturday morning began with a short meeting with Abbe Oswald before he left for a journey…little did I know that he was going to Kigali. He was just next to leaving when I spoke with him and he asked if I would want to take this opportunity to travel to Tanzania and I jumped at the chance. I QUICKLY packed a few clothes for a few days journey and we left hoping to arrive in Kigali before 12 noon when Oswald’s meeting would begin. Well the first delay began at the Congo Rwanda border. In DRC businesses and roads are closed for a once monthly clean up time on Saturday morning. Road closed also means that the border is closed, we could nothing but wait.

We arrived late to Kigali and the banks were closed. For me that meant I would need to wait until Monday because I needed to withdraw the funds for Ntoma Orphanage. Well now, the Procure Diocese de Goma in Kigali is a very nice place and many wonderful people to visit with, so I was thinking this would be a nice little unexpected holiday…and it was. But of course on Sunday when Abbe Oswald was getting ready to leave I also discovered that Monday everything in Rwanda would be closed again for a national day of mourning for the genocide. So, no problem, my vacation was extended for another day…I was enjoying a nap every afternoon!

Tuesday morning rolled around and I was able to get my money and to get my ticket, but was unable to travel until the next day as the travel would be a full day and I would need to leave in the morning early.

Wednesday morning I am more than ready to go and so impressed with how patient I have been, but realizing that a bit of impatience is starting to rear its ugly head. I arrive to the bus in plenty of time for the scheduled departure of 9am. But of course we didn’t leave until 10am…delayed already and I have a long journey ahead, but everyone assures me I will be to the border of Tanzania by 12 or 12:30pm at the latest. Yes, I live in hope!!!

But on the way we were delayed…. Now I had understood and everyone on the bus understood that the official day of road and business closing was for Monday for the national day of mourning the genocide in Rwanda, but it seems that the distant village of Musumo near the border thought they would close everything on Wednesday instead of Monday. Well by now we were already late to the border by many other stops and delays but I was still hoping I could make it to Bukoba by this night.

With many conversations with military officials our driver was finally able to convince them to let us pass. I think it was because they had this one white person (Mzungu) on the bus and they used this name much saying it would be bad for me to have to wait. So what kind of double system is this that it is ok for everyone else but because of this guest, this Mzungu, we can pass? Well, I have to confess I was glad for the ability to pass, but it made me feel more than a bit weird to pass, but I also am wondering if our bus driver didn’t also have to pay a little money for us to continue on, I guess I’ll never know and it is all just supposition anyway. By the way, Mzungu is the name of white skinned European types.

Then we arrived to the border of Rwanda Tanzania, almost 2pm already, but I have high hopes, I can find a bus or taxi and even if I get in late to Bukoba it will be no problem, it is a very safe place to be. Well, the visa process was a bit longer than I wanted and twice as expensive as I wanted, but by now my patience is really tested and I just want to finish and pay and get on the road!!!! HURRY UP; I HAVE TO GET TO Bukoba BY TONIGHT!

I found a taxi that needed two more passengers and so we waited. I’m really patient again, I know this system, I can wait a bit. And I wait, and I wait, and I realize I need a potty break, but the village here is VERY RURAL and not the kind of place I think I will find a great toilet. I wander around looking for a likely opportunity for a fairly descent toilet because it has been a long bus ride already and I really gotta go…hhhhmmmmm, not much to be seen that interests me. Then I see a place which looks fairly clean inside with an inner courtyard, tables and chairs, it must be the better restaurant in town. I go in with confidence that I have found my place and I walk into a bar where the patrons were all SO HAPPY TO SEE ME!!!! They had all had a few beers too many. Well, I managed to convince them a coke was all I needed and never did make it to the toilet.

As I left my comrades at the local pub I saw one of the border patrol looking for me. He wanted to make sure I was ok and to let me know that I would not find a way to arrive in Bukoba at this late hour and so this little village would be my best place to stay for the night. Well, already I knew this would not be the best place in my mind.

Then I had a great idea, I asked a local gent if there was a priest or pastor in the village and he said yes, the priest’s car was right over there. I looked and he was pointing to a car that I had noticed from the very first, even wondering if it was a taxi. It seems that priest had parked there and if I waited until he returned I could ask him for assistance. And at that moment I looked up the road and saw a priest and nun coming to the car. You cannot know how happy I was to see them.

I went, greeted them, and told them about my predicament after which they immediately gave me a lift to the next village, asked about a bus to Bukoba for me, and better yet took me to a home of Benedictine nuns where I was able to stay for the night. Of course the Benedictine sisters have an immaculate house and you cannot imagine what a beautiful farm they run. I walked with them through much of the farm. They raise cattle, goats, and pigs; beans, coffee, corn, squash, pineapple, and so much more. They also are building a novitiate which is wonderful in design and construction. Then also they manage a woodworking shop where they build furniture...oh and also a dispensary (small clinic/hospital). I enjoyed that visit more than I can say. That evening walking through the farm land and visiting and seeing all they are doing I felt my body relax like I have not felt in weeks, the pain in my neck slipped away and I new a peace that was terrific, I had been rescued and I knew it, and I also new it was a miracle to have such a wonderful thing happen to me. Why was I on the road at just the right time to see that priest and nun walking to their car??? Circumstance…I don’t think so.

That night I enjoyed a wonderful hot shower and slept on a great pillow. The following morning they fed me well again and got me on a bus for Karagwe. Then I transferred to another for Bukoba, it took all day...more delays, but I arrived in Bukoba on the evening of Thursday.

Enough of my stories...hope you get a chuckle out of it. All in all I saw some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen in my life, grass taller than me and the bus running right beside it. Oh did I mention that for a good portion of the last day we were on one lane dirt road where the bush came right to the edge of the bus. And the bush country of Tanzania during the rainy season is spectacular, miles and miles of open country like you have never seen, just fantastically beautiful. And of course I met some really wonderful people riding on the buses and at the bus stands and in the villages and in Kigali and in all the delays…so it seems patience really is a virtue and now that I am rested I can reflect and say I am glad for delays and my adventure of travel because you never know, miracles happen....like turning around in the middle of the road and seeing a priest and nun just when you need them. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.