Multiply Trip East Africa 2015 Day 2 August 12

With Viv, Hilary and me on board, plus Janet's main luggage, Sam put his foot down.  We soon cleared the M40, and next came the Heathrow perimeter road as we headed for Terminal 4.  Although we were an hour ahead of our 5pm rendezvous time, Len was already standing near the Kenya Airlines' automatic check-in machines.  Then Janet rang.  There'd been a mix-up with coaches from Birmingham, and she wouldn't arrive until 6.30pm.  The desks closed at 6.45pm for departure.

As we sipped our coffees, hoping for better news of her progress, Len offered, "There had to be something to make us pray."  He wandered off to the Airline desk seeking advice if we could get on and check in.  As we got to the last bag, Janet burst into view. 

A few more delays, and we boarded.  The air hostess looked Viv and me up and down, and suggested we swapped for long-leg seats.  Bonus.  Another steward gave us his phone number so we could give him details of the conference. 

We descended into Nairobi late, but not before I'd nodded to Viv to notice the sunrise.  It always gets me.  We lost more time faffing about trying to get through Immigration in the new terminal.

Gregory, Bishop Joseph and Pastor Daniel were grinning across the crowd, and did us a full-on reception line greeting.  Hilary and Janet went off to Sister Anne's house with Daniel, and the rest of us piled into the legendary minibus.  We headed round a new partly-completed ring road, hardly slowing down along the sections that were just substrate.  Kabira slum passed on the right, a glaring contrast with the smart condos sprouting up on the city's rapidly-expanding suburbs. 

We paused at the Sundowner Apartments just long enough to drop off our cases and pick up Rukundo, who'd stayed overnight.  Then we grabbed some breakfast at JMB's Bar and Restaurant.  This is all familiar territory, matching my stay here in March last year.

The priorities of the day included changing some currency, getting local SIM cards, stocking up with provisions for our self-catering challenge at Sundowner, and planning out the conference sessions and preparation work.  We started with a visit to the recently reopened Westlands Mall, where Daniel and the ladies joined us from the other side of the city. 

When all was done, and Viv had had his first gurgle of Stoney, we headed for Bishop Joseph's church for a planning meeting and preview of the sewing project.  It was very useful, but inevitably meant more work - revising some of the presentations and getting handouts copied.  Phibian, the project champion will join us tomorrow morning.  By now it was 3pm and Anne was keen to avoid the evening traffic build up, but we needed time for a late lunch.  Gregory guided us to a Cafe near his church.  Most of us tried something adventurous, but Len was disappointed that goat stew wasn't on the menu.  An hour later the radiation from the corrugated sheet roof and heat from the charcoal cooker suggested we moved on.

Back at Sundowner we unpacked and spread out.  Viv slept for an hour, I had a shower and Rukundo caught up with emails.  I got out the red crosses, scissors and string and invited everyone in the lounge.  Len found out how to make the gas cooker grill work, and we rounded off the evening with toasted currant rolls, local green tea and phone calls home. 

Rukundo's promised me a draft of the 'Discipleship' session on Thursday that he'd really like to do, and Viv's working out how to set up local WiFi.  A great start.  We feel settled.   

Multiply Zambia 2014 Day Zero - We Fly

My bedside digital clock said 4.44.  I spent two hours lying rehearsing the day's last-minute jobs and evaluating various permutations around repacking.  Mary had to take Barrie to Northern General Hospital at 8am, so when Phil and Donna texted at 7.00am, I too relinquished the bed.  Then Gav rang: he had all the family gathered round the phone to wish me goodbye.  When I told him the flight was 7.00 in the evening he rang off to get on with breakfast.  Harriet breezed, "Did you see what Ali posted on Facebok last night?  'My last proper night's sleep for two weeks.'"  "Did she tell you about the travel iron?" I followed. 

Actually, the last hours had been eventful for us all.  When the rest of us were away in Birmingham, Steven, our Jesus Centre publicity supremo, had arranged to got to Bridlington for a few days away and to attend a wedding.  Only he'd taken rather more of his stuff than he needed, and then texted Mary to say 'things had come up'...  Sunday supper was a non-event. 
 
On Sunday night and Monday morning I'd desperately tried to find an online bookseller who could deliver ISBN 0691007373 "Wildlife of East Africa" before I left Sheffield.  Hannah had failed in her attempt to check in on line.  James had found that Viv had nicked the best of our camera tripods, and I would need to get it to him before baggage check-in.  Both Len and I had clean forgotten to agree about picking up the two Multiply video cameras, but James (Jimmie to his friends) had thoughtfully snaffled them.  He'd also posted a copy of the Sheffield Jesus Centre video he's just completed on line at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtgHXLKUSZI

The first email I checked was Steven saying the advance budget money still hadn't arrived.  The folks in Lusaka were desperate for it, else we wouldn't be able to keep to the conference arrangements.  Andy rang to say he'd been trying to use the Skaino credit card, and had locked out the password.  He apologised that I wouldn't be able to use it in an emergency.

Time to get to the station arrived faster than I'd noticed, juggling how to transport the tripod and all.  But, at Sheffield station my train had been cancelled.  A landslip had required maintenance work, and only one, not three trains per hour were running between there and Chesterfield.  And they were being very slow about it.  I texted Len to say 'Save me a place in the baggage queue'. 

Sitting on the delayed train, I realised I'd left $500 of conference 'contingency' money at home in my briefcase.  Somehow, I didn't feel like eating my packed lunch.

Past Leicester, the driver opened the throttle and we seemed to catch up on lost time.  I saved a few minutes on the tube and Heathrow Connect train, and surfaced at Terminal 4 just an hour late.  The rest of the gang had taken over Cafe Nero.  Jake, the driver from Northampton, and Jimmie were tinkling on the concourse piano.

Farayi introduced me to his wife Brenda and two children, plus their adopted daughter who'd be travelling with us to join another member of the family in Ndola.  The Kenya Airways check-in was straightforward, not least because the plane was only half full and the usual crush of passengers was absent.  We had a last-minute photo shoot while Mary rang to say that her hospital checkup had gone okay, but she has another one on Tuesday.

On board, I texted Gav to say we were due to switch off 'all electronic equiment'.  But 'We love you, Granddad.' arrived on my answerphone just the same.  Len was like a kid with a new toy fiddling with the in-flight entertainment console, and Jimmie was shooting still photos and videos of the terminal building through the window.

After the crew served the meal, Len passed round half his bread roll as our little Agape.  I headed towards the back and took over three empty seats together.  With three hours time difference they would be serving breakfast at local time equivalent of 4.00am.  I saw Jimmie's screen flickering, but sleep was first priority for me.