I had a completely new travel experience after we touched down in London. We arrived at our gate pretty close to being on schedule as well the plane stopped just short of the terminal. The captain announced that a piece of equipment had been left right in front of the gate and we would be waiting until someone could be found to move it. This may have happened before, but I don't remember ever being told about it. We sat for about 10 minutes and finally were allowed to disembark. After all of our travel triumphs and woes over the years, there's not much we haven't seen before. We can add this one to the long list.
Once inside Terminal 5, we traversed probably a couple of miles of escalators, moving walkways, a tram and just plain walking before we boarded a bus to take us to Terminal 3 where our plane would be waiting. Kevin and Cynthia breezed through security. I got a full body scan, was patted down and both of my shoes were swabbed and tested for who knows what. At least it didn't take long. There was one final passport and evisa check before we made our way to our gate.
We found a power tap and I used my UK adapter to charge all of our phones and also one for a Kenyan woman who was lacking an adapter. I posted the blog journal entry I had written on my smartphone on the previous flight and the team from Salem Tomball arrived. They had been in an eternal holding pattern and had just cleared security only minutes before boarding. I'm glad they made it just under the wire.
I'm writing this post from BA Flight 65, a Boeing 777, a much more modern craft than our previous one with all the amenities we were lacking on the New York to London portion of our trip. I'm on the left hand aisle seat in the middle of the plane and I've had a great conversation with a man named Michael on the right hand middle aisle. The seat between us is empty, so we have a little extra room for us and our stuff. He works for a nonprofit affiliated with the Gideon Society. He's based in the UK, but lived in Nairobi for 2 years. I shared what we do and he's familiar with all the places we've served in the past. We exchanged business cards and I hope to follow his ministry after the trip.
True to form, lunch was served and the choice was, get ready for it, chicken or vegetarian pasta. How original! But once again, the pollo filled me up. I'm sure I'll nap a few more times before the end of this flight, but I don't want to get too much sleep or it will be very hard to rest in Nairobi tonight.
After we passed Greece it got pretty choppy and the Fasten Seat Belt sign has been on for about 30 minutes now. We have about 4 and a half hours until Nairobi and we are flying at around 37000 feet with speed of 605 miles per hour. I expect that things will get smoother once we are over northern Africa. Other than this bit of turbulence, the flight has been pretty uneventful. I made friends with a pair of Kenyan nuns when I showed them how to work their entertainment center. I noticed them getting frustrated across the aisle when swiping get on the touch screen was doing no good. I turned it on and they gave me the biggest smiles! I guess I'm the tech guy no matter where I am.
We now have a little over 2 hours to go and we'll be at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. I'm hoping to get a few cell phone pictures during the sunset over Africa from the rear of the plane. At the moment, we're in some choppy air again at 39000 feet and traveling at 520 miles per hour.
Our last challenge will be getting through Customs and Immigration. Some recent teams were taxed on some of the medical supplies they brought. We have paperwork from the Ministry of Health and we are a registered charity in Kenya, but not everyone gets the message. Kenya is not unique, much of the world has local ways of conducting business and we just adapt as required. It is what it is.
I'm hoping to post this and email that we made it to Nairobi OK from the airport with my phone, since it will be late and Internet access is iffy where we stay. If not, I may not have another chance until after our Saturday safari out in the country. So if you see this by 2 or 3 pm in Austin, we made it! Stay tuned, we're just getting started! Thank you Jesus for a relatively smooth voyage this time. Amen.
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