Traveling Realities

Our last trip took us to Burkina Faso and and Ivory Coast.  This meant that we spent 3 full days on the road to get to our destination before Joel then continued on his own to Ivory Coast.  We drove over 3300 miles in 2 weeks.  It was quite the trip.  Here is small picture of what travel is like here on the road.

• First of all we can’t tell you how much our car is a blessing we are not sure what we would do with out it as it makes travel just a little more comfortable.

  

• Each day is a full day of travel which means we stop as little as possible.
• There aren’t really rest stops here so bathroom breaks are either along the side of the road in “the wild” or perhaps a squatty potty at a gas station when we get gas.  I am not sure which is more preferable.

  

• Stopping to eat would often take too much time so we try to pack stuff to fix a sandwich in the car.  Thankfully bread is easy to find in most towns.

  

• Joel and I rotated driving.  We can usually go 2 or 3 hours and then switch unless we have a bad stretch of road and we needed to switch sooner.  He is much better on the bad roads as he had more practice playing mario cart than I have.
• The road would go from smooth and nice one moment to filled with potholes and village made speed bumps the next moment (which could be made of rocks, tires or whatever trash they found).  The changes in the road would happen quite suddenly so you have to remain vigilant all the time as you never know what might show up on the road in front of you.

  

  

  

• Knowing which way to go on roads we haven’t traveled is always hard.  There are few signs which makes navigating new areas tricky.  We have to stop many time to ask for directions.  We got lost about 3 times on this trip and ended up back tracking twice as we ended up on the wrong road.

  

• Thankfully most people are willing to help.  However we do have to be careful as usually they will only give us the next step and then tell us to continue straight (which means continue on the right road until you get there – you might have to turn a few times but stay on the RIGHT road).
• Most days we crossed a boarder crossing which are always interesting.   You never know when to stop or where or how many stops there will be as it can range from 3 to 9 depending on which country you are entering.  It is like a big guessing game!  Thankfully for the most part we could all stay in the car as Joel went in a dealt with paperwork…bless his heart!
• Our car was so dusty and dirty by the end of each days drive.  Thankfully it was not hard to get it washed at the local car wash. 

  

• Its best to come as prepared as possible.  Joel was able to fix our tire with his tire patch kit and then pump it back up with his air pump, which is helpful when you are driving in the middle of no where!  We had one tire blow out, but then thankfully all the rest held on until we got home.  Our new tires arrived while we are gone, so we are praising God for that!
• There are always fun sights along the way.  Things that make you say wow! Here are just a few we saw.

• Each night after driving we would crash and sleep hard as it really does take a lot out of you!

So there you go!  Just a little bit about what travel on the road is like here.  We were happy to get back home!  There is more to share about our trip, but that will have to be enough for now.  We have only been back a few days, but Joel and I have one more trip that we leave for tomorrow.  I will share more about our travels once we return from that trip in a week.  Thanks for praying!