Our Journey to Banta

We wake up while it is still dark because we know we have a long journey ahead of us. So we wash, drink our cup of coffee, and finish packing last minute things. Next we need to pack the vehicle, just one minor problem, where is the vehicle? The driver never brought it back the night before after getting its last maintenance check. So we wait, guess we won’t get such an early start! We walk to the home to say good-bye to the kids. Still the driver and the car are MIA. So we wait, and wait some more (this is so typical, every time we plan something it never goes the way it’s suppose to, the key—don’t plan)!
Finally, around ten, the car shows up. We get everything packed, the back is completely full. Why can’t I be a light packer? After kissing our African mother (Mama Angie) goodbye, we take off!
The journey hasn’t quite begun, we still need to gas up and fix the spare tire (tires have a way of getting punctured on these roads) Finally, we start heading up the mountain away from Freetown. “Goodbye Freetown, see you in two months!”
We drive on a paved road for the first few hours. This is the only chance we have for sleeping once we hit the dirt, its really quite impossible. We drive by farms, women washing cloths in the river, rows of palm trees, and village after village. When will we get to our own little village?
The dry season is now upon us and our vehicle has no air conditioning, not a good combination. As we hit the dirt roads our faces are blasted with red dust each time we pass another car. After four hours we’re still going strong!
As we pass the villages there are still buildings which tell you how hard they were hit during the war. This is an old warehouse that was owned by the mines, but was burnt down during an attack by the rebels.
It’s about our sixth hour of travelling and we finally cross the bridge that is five miles from our little home! Butterflies jump in our stomachs as we anxiously await our arrival. As we pull in we are met by some of our favourite boys, big hugs, and hellos. Covered in dust we greet our family here and breathe a sigh of relief at our safe arrival.