The Road Ahead

-This Way to Ilula-

Only 9,800 miles to go until Ilula and plans are starting to fall into place. 

The visit with the travel doctor was painless - apparently I've been shot up enough with exotic diseases for my last few trips abroad that I'm good to go for the next few years.  I did the deed and dropped the cash on anti-malarials again. They still aren't covered by the Yale Health Plan so it was a sizable chunk of change to cough up. Still, in the grand scheme of things I'd rather be coughing up cash than, say, chunks of my lungs or suffering from psychotic hallucinations. The only new twist, given my extended stay in a hospital setting, is the need to pick up a couple face masks and a box of latex gloves to protect against exposure to TB and those pesky blood-borne pathogens.

On the travel front, Wed,  June 4th I fly from New York to Dar es Salaam, by way of a brief late-night stop over in Dubai. I'll be landing in Dar es Salaam, for all intents and purposes the capital of Tanzania - sorry Dodoma, just as shops are closing up for the day. Depending on my mode of transit inland [the ever-trusty, diesel-belching Scandinavia Bus, or hitching a ride with church folk] I'll spend a day or two in Dar. As far as big African Cities go -not that I have that much experience- Dar is pretty decent. Minus the run-in with the mwizi in Kariakoo, I'd dare say the city is growing on me.

From Dar it will be the all too familiar 8 hour ride to Iringa: bombing through Mikumi national park, resting somewhere near Morogoro before heading past the Uluguru Mountains and up the escarpment that leads to the southern highlands. There will be the right-hand turn off at Ipogolo and the final ascent up the bluff to Iringa town where the church spires and grain towers will read like a welcome sign.

I'm still not exactly sure what the summer will hold on a day to day basis and that is why I'll be spending the first week in Iringa. I'll pick up a simu [phone], settle my finances, and meet with leaders at the Diocese, Tumaini University, and Bega Kwa Bega office to finalize the plans. I've got a few ideas and tentative plans but also know flexibility and adaptability are key at this point in the game. 

Once things do get set, I'll hop a local bus and take the 90 minute trip east to Ilula. Then the adventure begins. . .