Journey Home from the Retreat

Just a quick note to let you know I made it home from the retreat. Mark isn’t back yet.

We had a good time and it’s a beautiful place – unfortunately it was overcast most of the time so we didn’t get any super pictures and it rained off and on – but it was still really pretty.

It was nice to get out of the city and hang out with colleagues for a couple days.

There were 5 cars there – 2 from Uganda and 3 from Kigali. When we were loading up our car, Mark discovered we had a flat tire so he changed that and we were on our way. The 2 cars from Uganda were caravanning, Bonvallats and us, from Kigali, were caravanning and the other car, Rossingtons, wanting to get home, went on ahead. We were caravanning with the Bonvallats because we wanted to see some property they are possibly going to build a camp on. So we headed off down the road and then we got a phone call that one of the cars going to Uganda was having trouble. Fortunately, they had made a wrong turn and were on the same road we were on, just ahead of us. But, Mark realized that the car we were driving was getting really hot so he stopped and we had to add water. We eventually caught up to the other car. The other car going to Uganda had taken some of the broken down car’s passengers and continued on, caravanning to Kigali with Rossingtons. (Going through Kigali is one way they could take to get to Uganda).

The car that broke down was the Hollenbeck’s. Bonvallats ended up towing Hollenbeck’s car to the closest town, Ruhengeri. Mark had to stop every so often and put water in the car we were driving. We ate lunch at Ruhengeri and the guys found a flat bed truck that could carry the Hollenbeck’s car to Kigali. Dale Hollenbeck, rode in the truck with his car and we rearranged passengers and stuff in order to all fit in Bonvallat’s and our car. However, our car didn’t look good. The water pump was leaking like a sieve and we had to stop every 5 or 10 minutes and refill it with water. Oh, Bonvallats waited with Dale to make sure the car got on the truck okay. We started off because we knew we would be slow (we were up in the mountains and going up and down steep hills.) Finally it got really bad and Mark began to think we would have to find a different way to Kigali. I think I forgot to mention that we had Steve and Debbie Wolcott with us and they had a plane to catch; we transferred them to Bonvallat’s car at the restaurant. Anyway, as we sat by the side of the road, we were watching as several public transport vehicles kept passing but they were all full. They we saw a safari tour company vehicle coming that looked like it had empty seats. One of our passengers (Kathy Hollenbeck) waved at them and they actually stopped and came back to see if we needed help. Here was Mark with 4 women, 2 kids and an overheating car on the side of the road. They happened to have enough seats for us and said they were heading to Kigali and we could hitch a ride – free! So we piled into their vehicle, leaving Mark with the vehicle.

Everyone has now gotten to Kigali safe and sound although the car on the truck is having difficulty getting off the truck. Mark just now got here. We have Kathy Hollenbeck and 2 of her boys sleeping here, Dale and their other boy is sleeping at Bonvallat’s. A single gal went to spend the night with Melissa. We were able to get bus tickets for the Hollenbecks and the single gal so they can go on to Uganda in the morning. Their car will have to have the engine overhauled here in town and he’ll have to come back later for it.

We are all tired but God took care of us and we’ll sleep well. Tomorrow will be busy with getting everyone to the bus station and starting to work on vehicles. Oh, yes, Wolcott’s arrived in Kigali with enough time for a cup of coffee with the Bonvallats and still get to the airport on time. Rossington’s helped the other car from Uganda get to a coffee shop in town to meet up with friends. We assume they made it back home okay – we haven’t heard otherwise.