Travel…always an adventure

We are on a bad string with travel adventures.  It makes me realize how blessed we were before as things have gone pretty smoothly for us with airport and flight travel even with some of the small more local flights we end up taking.  The airplane seats might be broken, but we get there and have even mostly been on time.  However this past few months every flight we have had has had issues.

• It started with a lost bag when returning from Turkey, that has never been found.
• Then my adventure in the Liberia that caused a missed flight
• Then Joel’s flight to Guinea got canceled because they cut a wire one accident while loading the bags on to the plane.
• His next flight security took his batteries out of his flashlight because the picture of things they couldn’t let pass included a car size battery.
• Our last trip to Burkina just as we were getting on the plane security came for Joel and left with him for 20 minutes while I was sitting on the plane with the kids wondering what on earth was going on.

Yesterday I arrived to the airport for my flight to Guinea.  I was flying a major airline, so wasn’t expecting issues.  There was no check in counter open.  I asked a check in guy for another airline and he said they stopped that flight a week ago.  Well that was tricky as I had a ticket for the flight.  There was no personnel from the airline as those folks only come when there is a flight.  There was no way to call as they have no office in Dakar.  The flight was on the monitors and I could see that the flight was still listed online.  Finally someone shows up from the airline.  He informs me that the authorities of our country are no longer allowing them to pick up passengers here.  The flight still stops and lets people off and then continues to Guinea, but they can’t pick up passengers because our country wants to start their own flight there.  However that flight isn’t scheduled to start up for a few weeks.

Huh?!?  Well what now!  Why didn’t they send me an email? Who knows and don’t even try to ask.  How do I get a refund?  Call someone later about it because that is way beyond what he can do.  How do I get to Guinea?  Well others fly there but you will have to ask each when they fly.  The problem is again that our airport is only staffed when the airline has a flight.  So only 25 percent of the airlines were even there.  Internet was as a slow as dial up so checking that way is hard not that all of them even have websites.

Well here is God’s grace in my story.  When brainstorming one airline name came up and Joel was just boarding a flight with them at that moment as he was traveling to a different area we work in.  I run down to their booth as I knew the plane was boarding so it will close soon.  He was about to leave, but I asked if they have a flight and sure enough there was one the next day and yes there was room.  No one takes credit cards, but there was an ATM.  I pull out money and pay and he even reduced the price for me (but then asked for a tip for his transport home 🙂 )

So here I am today giving it another try.  Realizing once again how life is just by the moment here.  I still don’t handle the stress of situations like this well, but somehow despite that through Gods grace I end up making it through.