Shannon and Collin's trip-more travel

That morning once we were up and around, we travelled from Kilamanjaro airport to Mwanza on a mid-sized turbo prop plane. The flight was just over an hour. We enjoyed looking out the window to see some of the landscape. Like Christine, we saw the land change from brown and dusty to green as we arrived closer to Mwanza which is located on the shores of Lake Victoria. After a warm welcome at the airport we were taken to the Monarche Hotel. Shortly after our arrival we met as a team for devotions. It was during this time that Collin received a word over him that he would have healing hands and would be greatly used by God. Also, that he was there for one reason but that God had more in mind. That evening we went to Pastor Richard and Gertrude's home for supper then returned to the hotel.

Christine had warned me about the 5AM Muslim call to prayer. I was expecting to wake up to that but did not hear it. I guess our hotel had better walls and the sound of the ceiling fan covered it up. Some others of our team did hear it but they were on the other side of the hotel.

Off to the island we go. What an adventure! We were to be ready by 7:30AM. We ended up being late due to discussions with hotel staff about our luggage. The ferry should have been gone by the time we arrived but it was there and we just had time to get on. The bus we were to board was already on the ferry, ready to take us on the first leg of our journey. The bus had to have been at least 50 years old. It was pathetic. As we sat in our seats watching them clicking wires together to start this thing we wondered what we had gotten ourselves into. Another bus in front of us ended up pulling us off the ferry and to get us started. Here we were on roads that weren't fit for even a bicycle. As bad as we thought the roads were when we started, they only got worse as we went further. We had to stop many times to add water to the radiator and the motor killed several times but we always had enough momentum to pop the clutch and get it started again. The total time on the bus was 6 hours of bumpy, dusty roads. Ugh.

Finally, already exhausted, we arrived at a tiny fishing village where a chartered boat ride had been arranged to take us to Maisome Island. Rev. Debra was shocked to see what arrived. Our boat was an old wooden fishing boat. It looked like something one imagines in biblical times. It had the rounded bottom and sides. It was maybe 40 feet long and 12 feet across. It had two outboard engines and they managed to keep at least one of them running...most of the time. To get on the boat we had to climb a ladder and go up and over the bow of the boat. There were no life jackets. We were joined by about a 50 member choir that Pastor James, from the island had invited along. Some members of the team became a bit nervous as they noticed water coming in at their feet. Out came the buckets and some passengers began bailing water out of the boat. They only had to do this once. We were coming towards an island and thought this must be it. Nope, we were just stopping for gas on a neighboring island. We continued on to arrive at Maisome Island about 3 hours after boarding the boat.

At the island we were greeted enthusiastically by a church choir. As we got off the boat they took our luggage and escorted us to the guest house. Unfortunately by this time it was quite dark so we were unable to see much. As we approached what would be our home for the next four nights we were truly unsuspecting of what was to come and who or what our sleeping companions would be. That is another story for yet another day.