Answered Prayers on the Road

Monday morning, Mike drove me to the international airport in Windhoek, Namibia. He said I only needed to be there an hour ahead of time. He was correct; it was plenty of time. Several arrived after I did. After an uneventful flight to Lusaka, I passed the ebola screen and arrived at customs. I asked for the Kaza-Uni Visa which is a special tourist visa for Zambia and Zimbabwe that allows one to cross between the two as many times as you want for 30 days. The customs agent looked at me like she had no idea what it was. Upon further prompting, she knew and went to get someone else to issue one. After about 15 minutes I had one. Answered prayer

I changed some money to Kwacha. While doing so, I asked bank teller what a fair price for a taxi to the bus station was. He stated between 200-250. I walked out of the bank and just about literally walked into a taxi driver. He was very polite and asked if I needed a taxi. I said I needed one to the bus station. I asked him how much it would cost. He quickly stated 200. Another answered prayer. I did not have to bargin and got a fair price comparable to online suggestions and the local suggestion.

The taxi driver told me some simple facts about the area on the way. He made sure I had the right amount of money for the bus ticket separated from the rest prior to arriving. He drove me right up to the ticket kiosk and warded off several people trying to shuttle people to certain bus companies. I made my way up to the crowded counter and asked if there were still any tickets for the 2:30 pm bus that day. Online it suggests buying a ticket 24 hours ahead of time. It is unlikely if you walk up that day to get a ticket. They responded "yes." Another prayer answered. After landing at the airport at 11:30 AM, I had a local money, the correct visa, and a bus ticket for the 2:30 bus by 1:10 PM. Answered Prayer.

My seat was next to a friendly local female from Livingstone who had come to Lusaka for the day to accomplish some business. As we got near Livingstone (1.5 hours longer than expected), I had asked her how much a taxi should be to Fawlty Towers Hostel. She told me no more than 20 Kwacha. Once there at 10:30 PM, she warded off several aggressive taxi drivers and negotiated one for me. She even rode with me to the hostel even though it was the opposite direction she wanted to go. She stayed with my large luggage while the driver and I went into the hostel. They did indeed have a room still available. Answered prayer.

I quickly checked my email before going to bed. I had received an email from the Shockwave rafting company stating that I needed to be ready to raft at 7:00AM the next day in Zimbabwe (A day before the schedule rafting day).  Sure enough, the next morning, I was picked up and driven to the Zambian border. Stamped out no problem. Driven to the Zimbabwe border, stamped in no problem with the KAZA Uni visa. I was whisked away quickly to go pick up two other rafters before arriving at the rafting company's office all before 8:00AM. Hooray for answered prayers and safe travels!