It's Wednesday evening and Sue and I have been in Guinea with Kris and Ruth Altmiller for the past 24 hours. Tuesday was a long travel day, flying from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, through Lome, Togo, on to Bamako, Mali, and finally landing in Conakry, Guinea, around 7:15 in the evening. We were expecting the Mali connection, but Togo came as a bit of a surprise as we were boarding the plane.
As we flew in, Conakry impressed us as being the most dramatic entrance into a city so far on our trip. Straight out our window was a blazing sunset amidst some of the most amazing cloud formations we've ever seen while down below us was emerald green tropical landscape, steep mountains dropping down to ocean, and the lights of the city stretching on for miles. The scene was breathtaking.
When we landed, we were greatly impressed in a very different way. Walking through immigration and customs was a bit of a treacherous minefield. Immigration was no problem. After that, a woman was standing in the middle of the walk way asking for our yellow card proving we'd had our yellow fever vaccinations. We produced them. She motioned for us to step over to the woman in a small booth. We went over and the lady asked us something in French. We told her we didn't speak French, only English. We assumed she didn't speak Chinese, so didn't even try that. She asked how much money we were bringing into the country. We told her. She didn't seem to understand and asked us to step into the booth. That seemed strange, but she was wearing a uniform and seemed official. We complied. She wanted to see all our money. I opened my wallet and pulled out about $40US. She didn't seem impressed. Finally she said, "Give me some of that." I asked why. She only said, "You must give me some money." Again, I asked for what reason. She only kept saying, "You must give me money." Then she spoke in French. I told her we only spoke English and didn't intend to give her any money. She finally got tired of us and sent us away.
In the next room we collected our baggage. As we were walking toward the door, three ladies in uniform were standing behind a table. A worker in the baggage hall checked our claim tickets and baggage tags and told us to go over to these "customs officials." Again, we complied. Never argue with uniformed officers in a foreign airport. This instruction had been drilled into us over our years of missionary work and foreign travel. One lady told me to put my suitcase up on the table. I did. I expected her to ask me to open it so she could look through. She didn't. She only said, "Give me money." I asked her why. "You must give me money." Again, I asked for what reason. I told her I'd be happy to open the bag. She looked disappointed and started speaking French. I told her I didn't speak French. After a few minutes a couple of other "officers" joined in and yelled at us in French. All of them wanted money. They saw they were getting nowhere with us and finally told us to get out of there. Gladly!
Outside, we were barraged by more people who wanted to carry our bags, get us a taxi, and generally yell at us for not paying the "customs officers." By the time we met up with Kris just after we had run the gauntlet, we were so glad to finally see a friendly face . . . someone who wasn't going to say, "You must give me money!"
Today we learned that Guinea has been classified as the fourth most corrupt country in the world. If our experience in the airport is any indication, I believe it.
This morning we left Conakry for Altmiller's home in Hamdallaye. The drive was beautiful--lush green and tropical. We passed thatched roofed homes in small villages. Mangoes, coconuts, cashews, and countless other tropical flowers and plants cover the hilly and sometimes mountainous terrain. Altmillers Toyota Land Cruiser was packed full of supplies Which they can only get in Conakry. Like four, 50 kilo sacks of flour (that's about 110 pounds each!), luggage for 9 people, lots of other food and water. We were pretty well wedged in to our spots for the 7 hour drive on some smooth road and some very bumpy and rough road.
Long rides make for plenty of good conversation, and today was no exception. Lots of catching up along the way. Now that we're here on the mission compound, we're comfortably settled into our guest accommodations and look forward to the next few days of seeing their life, their work, and meeting some of their coworkers.
A more personal request here, Sue and I have realized that this trip is a marathon and not a sprint. We left home 3 weeks ago today and there are moments we feel the physical, emotional, and spiritual demands of a trip like this. We've loved it . . . but long days of travel can be a bit tiring. Pray for continued strength and stamina. We long for good conversations with Kris and Ruth, lots of time to listen and opportunities to bring encouragement and counsel as needed. Continue to pray for us.