My flight back to the US leaves Juba on Sunday so I needed to get from Rumbek to Juba. This is a quick 60 minute flight but no planes were flying. Kush Air was out with mechanical problems. Apparently, the flight I caught two weeks ago was their last one to Rumbek for awhile. South Supreme was pulled to run humanitarian aid. So my only alternative was to go by land. Moses and Justin secured a truck and driver. They know how packed these vehicles can be so they purchased all the space inside the extended cab (4 total counting the driver rather than the normal 5-6). This was about the same price as 3 plane tickets. So Thursday morning about 7:30 the truck came to Pan Dor to pick me up.
The first indication of potential issues was the driver looking under the hood. Then we picked up Moses and then about 10 other people who climbed in the back with our luggage. As you are probably aware an extended cab means a shorter bed of the truck. The driver stopped to pick up a tarp and spare tire. We got gas and off we went. (I will try to get a picture or two to Mary to include in this post). The road between Rumbek and Juba is legendary. It is a dirt road traveled by the huge trucks driven by the UN, oil tankers, etc. People at Pan Dor were giving me their "blessings" and that look people give when they feel for you.
We made several stops including the stop at the driver's family to pick up more people, a big trunk, bee hive in a 5 gallon container and two chickens. At this point I think we had 17 total people bounding along in this Toyota truck. We knew there were mechanical problems because we could hear them. The conditions of the road only made it worse. Twice we all got out of the truck and it went through the bush (side fields) rather than the road. After our stop for lunch there were complaints about the back being so crowded. A woman with a toddler who has malaria asked if she could ride in the cab with us - of course. I was already feeling bad about being inside with the rest crowded in the back. When it rained they put the tarp over their heads and we just kept going.
The windows were electric but were out of their tracks so did not work. At first they were all opened - too much when it rained - then only one was open part way. The sweat was running off my chin but I just kept thinking about the men, women, and children in the back and was grateful. After limping along into the dark (it gets dark around 7:00) we finally stopped - could not go any further with whatever was the issue with the right front tire/wheel. We were in the middle of nowhere, a couple thatched roof houses and one 6X6 "shop" that sold water and crackers. We had the spare tire but could not find a jack. Our phones did not work but some people picked up along the way had phone service because they were more local to where we were. I hope I am making sense. Anyway, we got a truck to come with a jack. Every male over 10 was looking at the situation. The decision was that we could not repair this without parts so the guy with the jack left. Now some phone calls were made to try to get us to the hotel where we were to have spent the night. But we could not locate any such possibility so we settled down for the night.
Thus my story of how I spent last night in a Toyota pickup truck with Justin, Moses, mother, child with malaria and 2 chickens. BTW, eventually the mother and child got out and slept on the ground with the others. The urine smell was the chickens.
The Rest of The Story. The next morning we were able to secure boda bodas which first took the local people to their destination which was just the next town. Then they came back to get more of us (I think 6). I got to ride my own which I greatly appreciated. It was about an hour on the boda boda to get to the "Express Bus". I had seen these buses all over South Sudan always packed to the gills with people and items stacked 6-10 feet on the roof. I often thought, "I am glad I do not have to ride in one of those." Well, here I come!
We boarded around 1:00 and spent the next 7 hours on more of those orange rutted roads. I was next to the window which means I had lots of air moving so I did not get hot. It also meant I got my left arm sun burned and orange dust from head to toe. More on that in a bit. Meanwhile, about an hour short of Juba as we traveling as fast as the road conditions allowed (I would guess an average of 20 miles/hour) the right front just collapsed on to the tire. I am guessing it has something to do with tie rods or suspension but car mechanics are not my strong points. Because of the conflict, Juba has a curfew at 9:00. If we did not get past the check point by 9:00 we would have to sleep along the road again. Everyone knew our options including the driver. He just kept inching along. You could hear the wheel well rubbing on the tire. At one point the "express bus" just stopped in a hole. The abrupt stop pushed my shin into the seat in front of me (think sardines). I thought, "that's going to leave a mark". It did. But finally we got past the check point around 8:00 and started our drive into Juba.
Meanwhile, Moses now had phone service so he made a phone call for a car to pick us up. It came quickly. Our bus stopped and we unloaded our luggage from the top and put it in the Land Rover. Within a few miles we were on the USAID road - real paved road! There were several stops to let people off, visit Jacob, etc. but I finally got to the Amarat Classic Hotel around 9:30. I was covered in orange dust. My hair was sp thick with it I could not put my fingers into my hair. From head to toe I was covered. So I just got into the shower with my clothes on and kept washing. I have a hand brush and soap just kept scrubbing. As we had been approaching Juba limping along on 3 paws, I saw the first star. "Star of wonder, star of might," I thought, "first star I see tonight. I wish I may. I wish I might stay at Amarat tonight." I called Bob after a quick bite to eat, climbed into bed, and thanked God for the journey.
Tis' grace has brought me safe thus far and grace will bring me home.
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