Adventure to Kalangala

The adventure stated earlier than expected. I woke to no power and I was to leave for my Retreat at 8am, and at 6:47 the taxi driver, Robert, rang to inform me that his van was full and he wanted to leave now, now for the ferry landing. He said in a very insistent voice, prepare yourself Rita. Frantically I rushed around the house in the dark throwing the last few things into my travel bag, and washed my face, my teeth and had Rogers prepare a “grab n go” breakfast of peanut butter & jelly and a banana.
Once again Robert phoned me saying, “Can you meet me at the Kalangala stage in Nyendo?” I didn’t want him to leave me so I looked at Rogers and he said, “Yes” as I relayed to Robert, “I will meet you”. Rogers and I ran out the door and down the stairs, but to my dismay when we reached the car park our car was blocked in. I phoned Robert and he said, “I am already driving to pick you!” Alas the van stuffed with people meet me outside our flat entrance. Thank God Robert saved a front seat in the van for me. Though I was cramped I had a window seat and I wasn’t shoved in the back with people on top of me!
So we were all off to Kalangala! We raced into Nyendo and down the horrible, rough, pothole riddled road to the Butakata ferry landing. As in most situations in Uganda you hurry up and then wait, sometimes for hours, and this time was no exception. We arrived at 9:15am and the first ferry had left at 8am. For the next hour and half we set and waited, listening to music, talking, taking little walks to the canteen and the toilet, all to pass the time.
Finally the second ferry arrived. We all prepared ourselves and qued up, as vehicles are not allowed to passengers in them when they board the ferry. All the vehicles were then loaded, 8 in all, and then the passengers. It was nice to take my first ride on the new ferry. This new ferry is much bigger and nicer than the old one. I took a seat and enjoyed the views of Lake Victoria, as water mist splashed upon me from time to time giving me a bit of cool refreshment; I sit and peered out over the big blue lake. I could not help but be in awe of God’s creation.
Then all of a sudden my calm, peaceful ride was interpreted by an abrupt stop of the ferry engines. All was silent. As I looked to my left I could tell the ferry was drifting and turning tin circles. I thought, “oh that not good, there is a pretty strong wind on the lake today”. Then there was a flurry of ferry personal moving about the boats deck. After about 10 minutes or so an auxiliary engine stated and the ferries’ anchor was dropped. I knew it was time to pray!
After praying I went for a walk on the boats deck to do a little inspection of the happenings. Sure enough there were four crew members working frantically to render the broken engine. I set down on a metal stoop not far from the repair scene and prayed again. Just as I finished my prayer the crew turned over the engines. I thought to myself, “Wow, the lord sure can answer prayers fast at times”. Just a few minutes pasted and we were off again. I have to thank the Lord for showing Himself so suddenly, for His favor and for His protection.