Best Made Plans
Well, I’ve finally learned that the best made plans still don’t always work out! For several months we had been planning that I (Robin), Josiah, and Esperansa would fly down to Nelspruit, S. Africa in May. We had a couple doctors’ appointments to fulfill and were also going to meet up with my parent’s and Grandmother who were coming to visit. We’d spend a couple days in S. Africa so they could visit Kruger Park and then we’d all fly up to Nampula together.
Finally, Tuesday May 9th came. Dan took us all to the airport in order to catch our flight. Instead of using the commercial planes, we were taking the MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) shuttle which once per month makes a trip from Johannesburg, S. Africa to Nampula, Mozambique and then returns the next day. We had a departure time of 7 am and I’d been told they’d be able to drop us off in Nelspruit (fours hours by car from Johannesburg) around 2 pm. That was a perfect plan; my parents and grandmother were catching a flight from Johannesburg to Nelspruit and were also due in around 2pm. We could connect, collect the rental car (which was booked in my Dad’s name but I was to drive) and I should still have time to take them to the hotel to rest before needing to make our doctors appointments, set for 3:30 and 4:30 pm.
Well . . . . the headwinds that day were absolutely incredible! Thankfully the plane ride itself was smooth, however the plane was not traveling anywhere close to it’s normal speed. After making two planned stops to pick up other passengers, the pilots announced we were going to have to put down a third time to take on more fuel. Not only were the headwinds drastically slowing us down, however they were also causing us to eat up quite a bit of our reserve fuel. With this third stop it became apparent that not only would I be unable to meet my family at 2 pm but I was also going to miss one if not both of my doctor’s appointments. All of my carefully made notes with phone numbers and such on them were in my luggage which was inaccessible, but thankfully I managed to reach Dan and asked him to first call the hotel and tell them they’d need to pick up my family from the airport. They’d also need to arrange something with the car rental company and then he needed to try and reschedule my appointments. I would check in with him upon reaching Nelspruit to know what arrangements had been made. Back in the air, the headwinds continued but at least we had enough fuel now and there would be no more needed stops until I was to get off.
(As a side note, the exciting part about this entire adventure is that Josiah got to sit in the co-pilot seat and “fly” the plane and listen through headphones to various communication transmissions)! That made his day.
Finally we landed in Nelspruit at 5:30 pm; only 3.5 hrs late!!!!!
I telephoned Dan once again to learn that Dad had arranged things with the car rental company. I merely needed to go there, pick up the car and meet my family at the hotel. That was such good news! I reached the counter, gave them the copy of my driver’s license and clarified directions to the main road. I was all set to head off but then remember to ask if the car seat was already in the car. Car seat? What car seat? Ugh!!! I showed the clerk the copy of our reservation which showed we’d paid to reserve a car seat. No one has passed that information to her and she didn’t have one available for me. She promised to call Johannesburg, they had cars coming in the morning and she’d ask them to send a seat over. I did manage to tell her I appreciated that, however what was I supposed to do at that moment? She didn’t seem to understand until I explained that I couldn’t drive to the hotel while holding the baby and that the baby couldn’t sit alone in the car without a seat. She was closing up, none of the other companies had seats available either so I finally asked if she’d be willing to ride with me to the hotel. I could drop off Esperansa with my parents and then bring her back. Thankfully she agreed and I connected up with my parents and grandmother and got her back to the airport so she could go home for the night.
Back at the hotel we ate a nice supper and once the kids were in bed began to categorize and repack all our luggage. Mom and Dad had brought over several requested items as well as some gifts for the kids and their personal effects. To get back to Nampula we were flying on a chartered mission plane and so our luggage allowance was bound. We needed to get all their personal effects and gifts into bags that would definitely go north with us and then make a separate pile of things that could stay in S. Africa to come up later, if necessary. Also we were separating out one night of belongings to carry with us into Kruger Park; the other luggage we’d drop off at Mercy Air’s compound to wait for us there.
Wednesday morning we awoke early and Dad and I headed out to the compound to drop our un-necessary luggage off. Upon our arrival we were greeted and told that unfortunately, they would not be able to make the flight with us on Friday! An initial plan to use the small plane had already been scraped because there was a lack of av-Gas (aviation fuel) in most all of Mozambique. They had solved that dilemma by deciding they’d use their larger plane and just carry enough fuel with us for them to make the return flight. Well, the night before they discovered that the larger plane had a propeller that was leaking and so they wouldn’t be able to use that plane after all. They were working on contacting the commercial airlines to see what options we’d have and would also work on refunding the money we’d already paid. In the meantime we dropped off our luggage anyway (we didn’t have room for all the luggage and all the people in the rental car) and left so that I could make our three doctor’s appointments (two from the previous day and the one scheduled for that morning). Oh yeah, during this entire time Esperansa had been most unhappy and yet I was driving the car so there was nothing I could do for her.
I dropped Dad off at the hotel, picked up Josiah and my mother and off we went. I must admit that all the appointments went very quickly (minus the hour wait at the dentist office). Sometime during the morning however, my cell phone stopped working – a network error or such. Normally this wouldn’t be a huge issue except I now couldn’t get a hold Dan nor could Mercy Air get a hold of me to let me know what they’d managed to work out!
After returning to the hotel to pick up my Dad, Grandmother, and the car seat which had been dropped off by the rental company, we grabbed a bite to eat and headed off for Kruger (an additional self-imposed stress was simply that I wanted my folks and grandmother to have as much time in Kruger as possible and so I was feeling frustrated that we were getting off so late in the day, especially since if we had to take a commercial plane to Nampula then we would have to make a four hour drive to Johannesburg on Thursday evening which would also cut into our time in the park).
As we reached the Kruger Park gate I quickly used the pay phone to contact Mercy Air to see what they’d arranged. Dan had communicated with them and we’d decided they could fly us to Maputo using the small plane (av-gas was available in Maputo plus it was such a short flight they could carry all the fuel needed if they opted for that route) and take a commercial flight from there. I just needed to later get the specific details from them.
We entered the park and the remainder of Wed. and Thursday flowed fairly smoothly. I only wished I could have clarified for certain what our flight details were going to be, but my cell phone still wasn’t working and I could never get anyone on the phone whenever I managed to find a pay phone to use.
We left Kruger Park on Thursday evening and went to Mercy Air’s compound where we were to stay the night. All was set; the plane had already been loaded with the luggage which we had dropped off on Wednesday. The game plan was that we would make the short flight to Maputo, the pilot would then pay for our commercial tickets since we’d already paid money to them and all should work out fine.
Again, best made plans don’t always work out. We took off just a touch late from Nelspruit, but that was okay as we still had plenty of time. Upon arriving in Maputo we went through immigration, waited for the visitor’s visas to be issued to my parents and grandmother, and got through customs without any problem. While Mark, the Mercy Air pilot was trying to pay for our tickets we were busy getting our luggage strapped (so that things couldn’t be broken into). With all this, my grandmother was getting rather tired of standing and desperately needed to sit down, however there weren’t really any chairs available, though we did later find one. Once our luggage was strapped I went over to where Mark was to see what was taking so long (at this point we were about 1 hour from our departure time). Apparently the credit card machine wasn’t accepting the card for whatever reason. Phone calls had been made and the bank was checking into things. For time’s sake I suggested that Dad simply use his card to pay for things – Mercy Air could just refund the money. He agreed with that, however the machine wouldn’t accept his card either. I then tried to convince the clerk that the issue wasn’t the cards but rather his machine so after messing with things for five more minutes he changed machines. The Mercy Air card still wouldn’t work, however Dad’s card did so we got our tickets and then went to stand in a very long line to check in. Times aren’t quite so important here, but for my family who is used to the “need to check in 1 hr before your flight” guidelines of America, the fact that we still hadn’t checked in and our flight was due to take off in 30 minutes was rather stressful for them.
In the end, all worked out – we got checked in, our airport taxes were paid and we made it to Nampula to be greeted by Dan, Karunia, and Asher (as well as teammates who’d come to help with luggage)!
Best made plans may not always work out as we plan, but I praise the Lord that He always is in control and always will work things out! Time with my family was wonderful and I’m glad we had this opportunity, no matter how much stress was involved in it's start!
Finally, Tuesday May 9th came. Dan took us all to the airport in order to catch our flight. Instead of using the commercial planes, we were taking the MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) shuttle which once per month makes a trip from Johannesburg, S. Africa to Nampula, Mozambique and then returns the next day. We had a departure time of 7 am and I’d been told they’d be able to drop us off in Nelspruit (fours hours by car from Johannesburg) around 2 pm. That was a perfect plan; my parents and grandmother were catching a flight from Johannesburg to Nelspruit and were also due in around 2pm. We could connect, collect the rental car (which was booked in my Dad’s name but I was to drive) and I should still have time to take them to the hotel to rest before needing to make our doctors appointments, set for 3:30 and 4:30 pm.
Well . . . . the headwinds that day were absolutely incredible! Thankfully the plane ride itself was smooth, however the plane was not traveling anywhere close to it’s normal speed. After making two planned stops to pick up other passengers, the pilots announced we were going to have to put down a third time to take on more fuel. Not only were the headwinds drastically slowing us down, however they were also causing us to eat up quite a bit of our reserve fuel. With this third stop it became apparent that not only would I be unable to meet my family at 2 pm but I was also going to miss one if not both of my doctor’s appointments. All of my carefully made notes with phone numbers and such on them were in my luggage which was inaccessible, but thankfully I managed to reach Dan and asked him to first call the hotel and tell them they’d need to pick up my family from the airport. They’d also need to arrange something with the car rental company and then he needed to try and reschedule my appointments. I would check in with him upon reaching Nelspruit to know what arrangements had been made. Back in the air, the headwinds continued but at least we had enough fuel now and there would be no more needed stops until I was to get off.
(As a side note, the exciting part about this entire adventure is that Josiah got to sit in the co-pilot seat and “fly” the plane and listen through headphones to various communication transmissions)! That made his day.
Finally we landed in Nelspruit at 5:30 pm; only 3.5 hrs late!!!!!
I telephoned Dan once again to learn that Dad had arranged things with the car rental company. I merely needed to go there, pick up the car and meet my family at the hotel. That was such good news! I reached the counter, gave them the copy of my driver’s license and clarified directions to the main road. I was all set to head off but then remember to ask if the car seat was already in the car. Car seat? What car seat? Ugh!!! I showed the clerk the copy of our reservation which showed we’d paid to reserve a car seat. No one has passed that information to her and she didn’t have one available for me. She promised to call Johannesburg, they had cars coming in the morning and she’d ask them to send a seat over. I did manage to tell her I appreciated that, however what was I supposed to do at that moment? She didn’t seem to understand until I explained that I couldn’t drive to the hotel while holding the baby and that the baby couldn’t sit alone in the car without a seat. She was closing up, none of the other companies had seats available either so I finally asked if she’d be willing to ride with me to the hotel. I could drop off Esperansa with my parents and then bring her back. Thankfully she agreed and I connected up with my parents and grandmother and got her back to the airport so she could go home for the night.
Back at the hotel we ate a nice supper and once the kids were in bed began to categorize and repack all our luggage. Mom and Dad had brought over several requested items as well as some gifts for the kids and their personal effects. To get back to Nampula we were flying on a chartered mission plane and so our luggage allowance was bound. We needed to get all their personal effects and gifts into bags that would definitely go north with us and then make a separate pile of things that could stay in S. Africa to come up later, if necessary. Also we were separating out one night of belongings to carry with us into Kruger Park; the other luggage we’d drop off at Mercy Air’s compound to wait for us there.
Wednesday morning we awoke early and Dad and I headed out to the compound to drop our un-necessary luggage off. Upon our arrival we were greeted and told that unfortunately, they would not be able to make the flight with us on Friday! An initial plan to use the small plane had already been scraped because there was a lack of av-Gas (aviation fuel) in most all of Mozambique. They had solved that dilemma by deciding they’d use their larger plane and just carry enough fuel with us for them to make the return flight. Well, the night before they discovered that the larger plane had a propeller that was leaking and so they wouldn’t be able to use that plane after all. They were working on contacting the commercial airlines to see what options we’d have and would also work on refunding the money we’d already paid. In the meantime we dropped off our luggage anyway (we didn’t have room for all the luggage and all the people in the rental car) and left so that I could make our three doctor’s appointments (two from the previous day and the one scheduled for that morning). Oh yeah, during this entire time Esperansa had been most unhappy and yet I was driving the car so there was nothing I could do for her.
I dropped Dad off at the hotel, picked up Josiah and my mother and off we went. I must admit that all the appointments went very quickly (minus the hour wait at the dentist office). Sometime during the morning however, my cell phone stopped working – a network error or such. Normally this wouldn’t be a huge issue except I now couldn’t get a hold Dan nor could Mercy Air get a hold of me to let me know what they’d managed to work out!
After returning to the hotel to pick up my Dad, Grandmother, and the car seat which had been dropped off by the rental company, we grabbed a bite to eat and headed off for Kruger (an additional self-imposed stress was simply that I wanted my folks and grandmother to have as much time in Kruger as possible and so I was feeling frustrated that we were getting off so late in the day, especially since if we had to take a commercial plane to Nampula then we would have to make a four hour drive to Johannesburg on Thursday evening which would also cut into our time in the park).
As we reached the Kruger Park gate I quickly used the pay phone to contact Mercy Air to see what they’d arranged. Dan had communicated with them and we’d decided they could fly us to Maputo using the small plane (av-gas was available in Maputo plus it was such a short flight they could carry all the fuel needed if they opted for that route) and take a commercial flight from there. I just needed to later get the specific details from them.
We entered the park and the remainder of Wed. and Thursday flowed fairly smoothly. I only wished I could have clarified for certain what our flight details were going to be, but my cell phone still wasn’t working and I could never get anyone on the phone whenever I managed to find a pay phone to use.
We left Kruger Park on Thursday evening and went to Mercy Air’s compound where we were to stay the night. All was set; the plane had already been loaded with the luggage which we had dropped off on Wednesday. The game plan was that we would make the short flight to Maputo, the pilot would then pay for our commercial tickets since we’d already paid money to them and all should work out fine.
Again, best made plans don’t always work out. We took off just a touch late from Nelspruit, but that was okay as we still had plenty of time. Upon arriving in Maputo we went through immigration, waited for the visitor’s visas to be issued to my parents and grandmother, and got through customs without any problem. While Mark, the Mercy Air pilot was trying to pay for our tickets we were busy getting our luggage strapped (so that things couldn’t be broken into). With all this, my grandmother was getting rather tired of standing and desperately needed to sit down, however there weren’t really any chairs available, though we did later find one. Once our luggage was strapped I went over to where Mark was to see what was taking so long (at this point we were about 1 hour from our departure time). Apparently the credit card machine wasn’t accepting the card for whatever reason. Phone calls had been made and the bank was checking into things. For time’s sake I suggested that Dad simply use his card to pay for things – Mercy Air could just refund the money. He agreed with that, however the machine wouldn’t accept his card either. I then tried to convince the clerk that the issue wasn’t the cards but rather his machine so after messing with things for five more minutes he changed machines. The Mercy Air card still wouldn’t work, however Dad’s card did so we got our tickets and then went to stand in a very long line to check in. Times aren’t quite so important here, but for my family who is used to the “need to check in 1 hr before your flight” guidelines of America, the fact that we still hadn’t checked in and our flight was due to take off in 30 minutes was rather stressful for them.
In the end, all worked out – we got checked in, our airport taxes were paid and we made it to Nampula to be greeted by Dan, Karunia, and Asher (as well as teammates who’d come to help with luggage)!
Best made plans may not always work out as we plan, but I praise the Lord that He always is in control and always will work things out! Time with my family was wonderful and I’m glad we had this opportunity, no matter how much stress was involved in it's start!
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