The Travel Plan

As I sit here in lovely O'Hare Airport for the inevitable delay and wait (some of my own doing and some not), I thought I'd share the travel plans for the next several days.

To begin, I am waiting for my flight to Nashville.  There I will meet up with the rest of the group traveling to Zimbabwe.  Feeling a bit anxious about that part as I've not met any of these 10 people before; however, we,  from varied backgrounds & parts of the country, share a common purpose and for this I'm grateful.   In Nashville, we gather for orientation for our travels and for group formation (I'm having unfavorable flashbacks to HS!)

We stay over night in Nashville and depart Friday morning for Washington Dulles to transfer to our international flight after a several hour layover.  Friday afternoon/evening we take off over the Atlantic Ocean for Africa.  Eight hours or so later we'll land in Dakar, Senegal where we'll switch flight crews, possibly refuel and then continue on our way.  Another 8-9 hours later we'll land in Johannesburg, South Africa where we'll transfer to another flight which will take us into Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe.  We'll stay over night in Harare and worship in local congregations on Sunday morning before driving eastward to Mutare, Zimbabwe which is on the border of the country with Mozambique.  Mutare is where we will be for just over a week.  Mutare is the home to Africa University, Old Mutare Mission Hospital and Project Tariro. 

In all -- 22 hours in the air... one way.  Not counting the additional air travel to Victoria Falls while we are in Zimbabwe. 

I must say... quite an adventure for a someone from small town Ohio who has never traveled out of the United States.
 
But first... to get out of O'Hare...