Journey from Mombasa to Tanzania

Our journey to Korogwe started out a bit rough. It was pouring rain on Monday when we left our hotel at 5:00am. Our taxi driver was a bit late and the rain made her drive very slowly. Our bus was to leave at 6:00am and I wasn’t sure we were going to make it. At 5:40 we were still heading toward the bus station and George realized he didn’t have his passport. I saw it at the hotel, but assumed he packed it. I knew if we went back to the hotel, we would miss the bus. For some reason I decided to double check my bag to make sure it wasn’t in there and I found it. In my Bible. Isn’t that weird? I didn’t put it in there and neither did George. I thanked the Lord as we kept pressing on to town. At 5:52 we pulled up to the bus station. Or so we thought. Our driver took us to the wrong place. We raced to another place and got there at 5:59. Literally as we stepped on board, they pulled away from the curb. We barely made it.

Just as we were getting settled in our seats, the bus pulled over and everyone was told to get off. They allowed me and a few other women to stay. Neither George nor I knew what was going on. I just saw the passengers walking down the road and I was scared. There have been kidnappings on the coast of Kenya recently and of course my mind went to the worst conclusion. Soon the bus left and drove onto a ferry. Apparently we had to cross the ocean to get to the other side of Mombasa and all passengers had to get off the bus and ride the ferry over on foot. They let a few of us stay on as a courtesy. Once the ferry reached the other side, the passengers reloaded and we headed to the Kenya/Tanzania boarder.

The border was chaotic. Buses are notorious for leaving passengers behind if they take too long. For that reason, anytime I am at a border, I am so stressed out. I think I was the only person that required a visa so my process took a long time. In fact they took my passport and disappeared with it for a while. I was still waiting to get it back when I noticed everyone else was back on the bus…except for George. He has been pulled aside because he didn’t have his yellow fever vaccination card. If people don’t have one, they are not supposed to be let across the border. Or, the authorities demand a big bribe. George didn’t have money on him and they really harassed him. By the grace of God, he was eventually allowed to cross. I thought for sure our bus would be gone (along with our stuff), but one of the conductors stayed to make sure we got on the bus. That was a miracle. The bus drivers are ruthless, normally, and won’t even stop if someone has an emergency.

We headed back on the road towards Tanga where we would switch to another bus going to Korogwe. On the way, we had the pleasure of experiencing the coast highway. Not so nice as the 101! This was all dirt and full of bumps. At one point our bus went into a ditch and almost overturned. Everyone screamed and luggage flew off the overhead racks. One fell onto George’s head. It was bad, but I am so thankful it wasn’t worse. Once we reached Tanga, we were told there were no more buses going to Korogwe (we later found out that wasn’t true). Our phones weren’t working so we couldn’t reach Herbert to find out what to do. George talked to a few people at the bus station and came up with an alternative plan. The bus would carry us on to Segera for free where we could catch a bus to Korogwe. As someone who follows plans religiously, I was panicked about changing our plan. Maybe we should stay in Tanga until we could reach Herbet. George decided we should go with this alternative plan and trust God to get us to Korogwe. I admit, I was reluctant to agree, but I said ok.

Then alternative plan ended up working well. When we reached Segera, we immediately were directed to a bus to Korogwe. By this time, our phones were working and we were able to reach Herbet to let him know what was going on. 45 minutes later we were in Korogwe and I was so relieved. A few minutes later, we met up with Herbert. Right away, I was comforted by his huge smile. He warmly greeted us and said his wife warned him not to starve us so we went to eat lunch. He took us to this beautiful outdoor eating area and we indulged in beef and chips (fries). It was SO good. They also had the Fanta citrus I love so much. It was a good sign of what was to come.

After we finished eating, we headed to the house. As we drove there, we got to see the beautiful landscape of Korogwe which is surround by the Usambari mountains. It was very green and tropical. While we were there, it rained 80% of the time which I loved because it kept the temperature cool. Normally at this time of the year, it’s very hot so I was extra thankful for the cool weather.





When we got to the house, we met his wife, Emily, along with the rest of the family. Then we had a chance to hear about Herbert and Emily’s early ministry days. They had a lot of obstacles in building the children’s home, but God pulled them through. Their stories of perseverance were amazing. Later we had a yummy dinner followed by prayer and an early bedtime.

Herbet and Emily were very welcoming as was the whole family. I had a lovely, room to sleep in with a giant bed. I knew I would sleep well the whole week.