Travelling to Tanzania...I made it!

I made it! As much as I wasn’t looking forward to travelling to Tanzania on my own, I’m so glad I did! I remember meeting a 20 something year old girl last time we came to Africa who was traveling to an orphanage in Kenya on her own. I thought,“Wow she’s so brave I could never travel alone…” Well turns out I can and I did.  When you follow Gods plan for your life never say never!

Nothing I had worried about happening, happened. I didn’t lose anything important. That probably had more to do with the fact that so many people had prayed for me leading up to this trip more so then my ability to not lose things. I have to admit there were several occasions where kind fellow travelers pointed out when I was about to walk off without something important. Which reminded me that even when I am alone, I’m not really alone and there are still plenty of good helpful people around.

No one tried to steal from me. Although I did see one official looking local man talking to another unofficial looking man at the Kenyan border.He had slipped him money and said something about a white girl.The unofficial looking man then approached my new Canadian friend Paige, and inquired about whether her friend (me) needed a visa. Fortunately I had already got a permit so I didn’t need his dodgy visa.

I didn’t miss any fights but there was one stressful moment in China. The lady at the check-in desk had to take my passport and visa to issue me a new ticket because I changed airlines. She wasn’t where she said she would be at the time she said. So I headed to the information desk and after 5 minutes of miscommunication between me and the lady there, she phoned the other desk and then the lady came up with my documents and ticket just in time for me to board my flight on Kenyan airways.

My next not so fun moment came on my flight to Kenya. I was seated by a very rude yet over friendly African man. First he tried to take my window seat instead of his middle seat. I wasn’t too bothered because I prefer being closer to the aisle anyway. But a nice African man told him firmly to move and give me my seat. He moved but as soon as I was in my seat he leaned into me and asked in a fake sweet way, if he could have my seat because he wants to sleep.
 I didn’t really trust him and he smelt like alcohol and had no sense of personal space. So I happily moved. Fortunately the aisle seat wasn’t taken so I moved so that there was a seat between us. That was fine and then he left me alone.

Then it got worse about two hours into our flight when the lights were out and everyone was sleeping I woke up cold. The man saw me looking around and asked if I was okay. I said I wanted a blanket and he insisted I used his jacket. I decided against my better judgment to accept his offer and wrapped it around myself. I put my sleep mask on and a few seconds later I felt him reach over and tuck me in. If that wasn’t uncomfortable enough there were a few too many pats right near my chest! This made me extremely uncomfortable and I was on high alert and praying for the next few hours. I considered asking to move seats but was too tired and shocked to move. 

We stopped to pick up passengers in Bangkok and I prayed that no one would claim the aisle seat because I didn’t want to have to move to the middle seat next to the African man who had, had a lot more to drink since the flight took off. A Chinese man came and was told by an African lady who had taken his seat in the line over, that his seat was the middle seat by me. He was very obliging and sat in the middle seat. Once this man who had no interest in talking to me or being in my personal bubble sat down, I was finally able to relax and feel safe. In hindsight if this were to happen again I would straight away ask to move seats and trust my instincts.

When I arrived in Kenya I thought I was going to miss my shuttle which I was told left at 8am and it was already 7.30am. I was praying and stressing like crazy and was sure I’d miss it but also felt God say I wouldn’t. However because I am still learning to trust that small voice, I was still in panic mode. Once I found both my bags (phew another thing I worried about didn’t happen). I then approached two very scary looking policeman with batons (at least I knew they were actually officials) and asked if they could tell me where to go to catch my bus. They didn’t just point me in the right direction but lead me right to the place. I thanked them in Swahili and even got a smile. I was then greeted by a lovely Kenyan women with a warm friendly smile and several other people. At this moment my faith in African people was restored it turned out that the bus wasn’t coming to 8.30 and not to worry. My bus came at 9 and I remembered this is Africa where the saying is “pole, pole” (slowly, slowly) and I truly did not need to stress.

The part of my journey that I was fearing the most turned out to be my favorite part… the bus ride from Kenya to Tanzania where I had to cross the border. It was my first ever experience crossing a boarder as that’s obviously not a thing we do in NZ. As soon as I stepped on the bus I was greeted by a young Canadian girl who was also travelling alone. I sat next to an older African man who was incredibly kind and friendly and later got us to the front of the line at the border. I chatted to an African lady who told me about her shoe business, her sick mama who she was off to visit, and who shared her Oreos with me.

I’ve decided I would rather look out the window of an African bus then watch crappy movies on a plane any day. Even though I hadn’t really slept for over 30 hours by this point, I still took in everything. I saw a dozen camels being led by a Masai man, donkeys, and cows everywhere. Children playing in the dirt, leading cattle and playing by the side of busy roads (seriously where are there parents?).  Masai people leading cattle or just walking in the middle of nowhere. Beautiful green landscape for miles. I experienced some crazy driving where I sat upright thinking that is definitely not a gap! As we passed while cars were coming towards us! Apparently in Africa it is!  I left my seat a few times as we went over speed bumps. This made it really difficult to fill in my form for the border. We also almost hit a guy on his motorbike without a helmet on, which freaked me out but I’d say it is a common occurrence here.

The border was a chaotic but exciting experience. I was so grateful to have my new Canadian friend Paige and the rest of the locals on my shuttle helping me. We were bombarded by Masai women trying to sell us stuff. Once we got through the busy Kenyan border we walked about 50m to Tanzania. The lines were huge but one line was shorter so I joined it. The man in front of me from my shuttle told me he was the last person for that line so to go in front of him. Of course the man behind the glass noticed I had joined the line, which may possibly have been because I was the only non- African in the line. All the other foreigners were lining up to get a visa which I already had. Somehow I was allowed to stay in that line even though the man was pointing at me. I realised when I got there it was because he thought I also needed a visa but then I got through without any hassle. Usually official people make me nervous and I say and do dumb things but it must have been God because throughout this whole boarder process I felt calm and sure.

An hour later I arrived in Arusha greeted by Jan, Rod and Emma. Yay such a happy moment.
I managed to make it through dinner before crashing out for 10 and a half hours!

Lessons learned:

I recently heard a good friend of mine say in his testimony that anxiety and worry is the opposite of trusting God. Even though I knew that God was with me and that I would arrive safely, I still managed to stress and worry about things that could go wrong.  It’s such a natural response, yet God continuously shows he’s faithful and trustworthy and at times even when it seems things are not going to work out they do. This doesn’t mean those things I worried about will never happen but I was reminded that there is no point worrying until they actually do happen and even when they do happen, God is still completely trustworthy. Hopefully I can learn from this and learn to truly trust God.

 I was also reminded not to put people or cultures in a box. Lately my racial stereotypes have been challenged a lot, even leading up to this trip. On my flight I came across some untrustworthy and unfriendly people who happened to be African. Then for the rest of my journey I came across only kind, friendly, and helpful African people. Neither of these experiences defines the culture itself. It just shows all sorts of people make up this world.

Phew I’m glad that parts over now I can enjoy the next 3 months in Africa!!

I'll make sure to add more photos and less words next time haha