Made it Safe and Sound!

Wow. Talk about a long trip! Thank you for the thoughts and prayes for safe travel!

31 and a 1/2 hours of traveling!!! I left Oshawa at 12pm on Thursday Canada time and arrived at the ship Friday night at 11:30pm Sierra Leone time (which is 4 hours ahead... so 7:30pm in Canada). But I am here now safe and sound and am happy to not have to be in an airport for 6 weeks!

Here is a quick recount of my travels for anyone interested:
I left Pearson at 6:30 pm and had an overnight flight to London, England. The flight was nice and uneventful, although we did have to return to the terminal because just before take off the crew was notified that there was a passenger who did not make the flight but whose bag was on the plane. They were very efficient at getting the bag off and we were soon underway.

I arrived at Heathrow at 6:20 am (1:20 am Canada time). It was a weird feeling because I had not slept on the plane and I was tired but the sun was shining and I felt as though I should be awake. I went through customs hoping that I could find some grass to sit on and get some fresh air during my 6 hour layover... To my disappointment there was just a lot of construction and concrete.

Arrived at Heathrow... what a warm welcome

(This picture is for you Natalie!!! 2 am)

I could have ventured out on a bus to the city, but since I had not done my research and didn't know where to go or how to get back I figured it would be best if I just stayed at the airport. I decided to wake up 'Natalie style' by drinking a diet coke (this was now 2am Canada time) and headed back into the airport. The layover went relatively quickly as Heathrow does have nice stores in the airport and I was able to get some english breakfast.

My second flight departed at 1:15 England time and was with British Midland International. We had a 3 hour flight to Marrakech where we made a 'technical stop' to refuel and get water and then had a 3 hour flight the rest of the way to Lungi airport in Sierra Leone. One of the best surprises was that another lady named Chris (who was coming from the US) had been delayed and ended up on my flight with me. It was really nice to know that I had someone else to go through the rest of my travels with!

landing in Marrakech, Morocco

Sunset somewhere over West Africa

The landing into Sierra Leone was very interesting. First of all it was pitch black. Usually you can see the city as you approach, but there were just 1 or 2 scattered lights here and there. The second interesting thing was that we landed in a thunderstorm. The lightening was striking right outside of our plane! When we landed we walked onto the runway and through the rain to the 'airport' which was basically one room for customs and one room for luggage claim. We had to go through customs and show our proof of yellow fever and then wait for our luggage. I am not sure how the security works in the airport, but there were tons of people milling about and calling to us saying they would take our luggage. Luckily Bridget (a woman from Mercy Ships) found us (I think we may have stood out a bit :) haha) and helped us gather our belongings. Bridget's son and a paster from one of the nearby churches carried our bags on their heads to the car and drove us down to the ferry.

My first experience driving in Africa was quite interesting as well! It was about a half hour drive to the ferry docks on a dirt road with no lights and it was raining and lightening! There are many people on motorbikes as well as people walking on the road. The general rule is that the bigger vehicles win so when they honk everyone else moves out of the way! When we arrived at the ferry we had to go thru security again and were able to get onto the the boat.

The ferry ride took about an hour because of the bad weather. There was a big crash as we came into Freetown, I thought it was maybe just a rough landing but apparently we hit the wharf! Everyone was okay though and we made it to the shore! The Mercy Ships welcome crew were there to meet us when we arrived and we hopped into their vehicle to drive to the ship! The drive thru Freetown was quite interesting as there are many hills and the road is very narrow and full of people as well as vehicles. Once again the horn and size of our truck worked wonders! Finally we made it to the dock. There is a huge fence surrounding the ship and a big gate that keeps the area secure (I will get a picture up in the next few days if I can). We checked in with the reception, had our pictures taken (not excited after traveling for so long) and then were welcomed with a bite to eat!

Arriving at the ship at 11:30

After no sleep and all of that traveling I was very excited to try out my new bed! I had a good sleep and was up early this morning for breakfast. Chris and I met with Marylin this morning who is one of the long term crew members (she has been here 4 years now) and she gave us a tour... A couple of interesting facts about the ship:

• There is a pool on the top deck... its quite small but it does exist and we can go there to relax and cool off after a long day of work.
• There is a deck with an outdoor play area for kids/families to play at. There are many opportunities to go off of the ship in groups and expore!
• There is a gallie kitchen where people can do their own baking or cooking
• Even though the ship is huge it still rocks. There is a constant sway back and forth... good thing I am used to boats and motion!

 Alright, I am off to my room to unpack and organize my stuff. I will try to get some more pictures today so I can post them and show you more of the ship and Freetown!