Arrivals and Departures

Thank God we made it "safe and sound" to Bongolo. God provided for us as we traveled. We are grateful to you for your prayers for us. Some details of our arrivals and departures.

Our friend, Don, arrived in his van at 12:30 PM to take us to Rochester International Airport. After loading our luggage and picking fresh holly for the Thelanders we were off!

Checked 10 pieces of luggage and carried on a personal item each and a carry-on each for a total of 14 pieces! The United manager waived the fee on two pieces for us thus we were blessed with lighter fees. Our luggage was checked all the way to Libreville.

Our plane to Washington DC departed and arrived on time. The international terminal at the DC airport is fairly close to where we de-planed. Our security check through Lufthansa went smoothly; our lay over was just 2-1/2 hours total. And we are off to Frankfurt albeit late because the plane taking us arrived in DC late; nonetheless we arrived in Frankfurt ahead a schedule due to a tail wind.

In Frankfurt, we had a 4-1/2 hour layover which passed quickly; after boarding the plane the captain announced that we'd be delayed because the co-captain's window would not close; we waited an hour before the mechanics were able to repair it. Had a good dinner on board and went to sleep (more or less) shortly thereafter; had breakfast and arrived in Libreville one hour late. Made it through all security checks; retrieved all 10 checked bags and made it to the Guest House before 8 PM in time for a swarma dinner complete with Pomplemousse (a grapefruit soda) with Alace, Steve, Dr. Dave, Becki, Hanna and LeaAnn. Off to bed; up at 5:15 AM to begin our 6AM trek to Bongolo with Steve at the wheel of his truck which was loaded high with our luggage that was covered with a huge tarp to keep out the rains.

This being the rainy season, the roads were somewhat muddy but still a bit dusty. Some pot holes covered the entire width of the two laned road and were a good 2-3 feet (yes, feet) deep. Made a stop at a gas station that had a bathroom with a toilet seat but water had to be poured into the bowl for it to flush (luxury stop with the real toilet seat). We have now been on the road for a little over three hours. The shop that made pain au chocolate had been raised to make way for widening of the road out of Libreville. As a result we had snack bars and little water for breakfast. PTL we had some bars leftover from our flight. Arrived at the designated rendevous spot in Lambarene.

Luke and Keir met us with big hugs and big smiles in Lambarene; the men transferred our 14 pieces of luggage plus some AIDS/HIV medicine that was coming down from Libreville to Bongolo. After 45 minutes of hauling and repositioning luggage into the Thelander Land Cruiser, we departed for Bongolo and took on the remaining 5 hours of the 10 hour drive. The quality of the roads is much improved on this part of the trip since our last visit.

Arrived at House #4 to see Joanna and Sarah running down the path to meet us. We were greeted with more hugs and smiles. Had homemade pizza and more pomplemousse for dinner; turned in at 11 PM local time.

Recap of the time: Departed Pittsford at 1:00 PM (EST) on Thursday and arrived at Thelanders of Gabon at 10:30 PM (EST) on Saturday. We are grateful to God for his mercies to us during our travel.