You won't believe this but you WILL need to pray!
At 11.08 pm tonight (Monday night) - three nights before Bishop Ise-somo arrives - I received an email from him.
It is 3.08pm in DRC. Cetraca, the only aviation company flying into Butembo and then out again - without chartering a MAF plane - has just cancelled it's flight out to Entebbe on Wednesday. This flight was to connect with the Emirates flight bringing Bishop Ises-somo to Dubai and then on to Sydney.
So Ise has to get his money back, do some mad packing tonight and then tomorrow he will somehow take a bus or taxi north to Beni ( try looking this up on Google Maps) then turns right and heads for Kasindi on the border and then across Uganda to the capital and hopefully making the plane on Wednesday 3pm. I think if things go well it is an 11 hour journey - and not a particularly comfortable one.
You may remember my story in my other blog <dentalsafariafrica.blogspot.com> about Cetraca (Congo what a way to go!) and my own difficulties getting out of Butembo last October.
The airline in question have two old Russian planes. Sorry - they HAD two planes. The one I started the journey had the left engine blow up while waiting to take off (Phew! it was still on the ground) and then the second one which I left on was a unique flying experience and just 6 days later, the same plane overran the Butembo runway (yes the same one Ise is leaving from) in bad weather and crashed, fortunately without loss of life. But the plane was totally crumpled. :- (
So would you all pray for Bishop Ise-somo's safety and travel to Entebbe airport.
I will keep you posted.
Graham
At 11.08 pm tonight (Monday night) - three nights before Bishop Ise-somo arrives - I received an email from him.
It is 3.08pm in DRC. Cetraca, the only aviation company flying into Butembo and then out again - without chartering a MAF plane - has just cancelled it's flight out to Entebbe on Wednesday. This flight was to connect with the Emirates flight bringing Bishop Ises-somo to Dubai and then on to Sydney.
So Ise has to get his money back, do some mad packing tonight and then tomorrow he will somehow take a bus or taxi north to Beni ( try looking this up on Google Maps) then turns right and heads for Kasindi on the border and then across Uganda to the capital and hopefully making the plane on Wednesday 3pm. I think if things go well it is an 11 hour journey - and not a particularly comfortable one.
You may remember my story in my other blog <dentalsafariafrica.blogspot.com> about Cetraca (Congo what a way to go!) and my own difficulties getting out of Butembo last October.
The airline in question have two old Russian planes. Sorry - they HAD two planes. The one I started the journey had the left engine blow up while waiting to take off (Phew! it was still on the ground) and then the second one which I left on was a unique flying experience and just 6 days later, the same plane overran the Butembo runway (yes the same one Ise is leaving from) in bad weather and crashed, fortunately without loss of life. But the plane was totally crumpled. :- (
So would you all pray for Bishop Ise-somo's safety and travel to Entebbe airport.
I will keep you posted.
Graham
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