Second Leg of the Trip

August 22, 2023

When we landed in Istanbul, the gate for our next flight was not on the screen yet.  We walked around a little and waited until the gate was on the screen. We found our gate and waited for boarding.

The flight to Accra was a bit bumpy. We took motion sickness medicine, but it did not work for Bonnie. The air conditioner in the front of the plane was not working properly. A flight attendant found a set of empty seats in the back so that Bonnie could sit close to the bathroom and cool off a little. When it was close to landing time, they told her she needed to go back to her original seat for the balance of the plane. 

In Accra, we went to baggage claim. All of our bags made it! We went through customs without any problems. One of the national pastors from Takoradi met us. He had hired a van to take us to Takoradi. Accra now has a Burger King. We stopped there to get some supper to eat on the road. 

The first couple hours of the trip, we were slowly moving through traffic. We picked up speed a little after that. Because it was dark, there were quite a few police checkpoints. They would shine their flashlights in the windows, see all the white people, and motion for us to go on.  At one checkpoint, the policeman said that we could not pass because his taxi was not registered for that area. He explained that he was driving tourists, and they let us continue on.

We were driving on a two-laned road. Passing semis in the dark with headlights coming at you is not a very good feeling. We had several close calls. The farther we drove from Accra, the worse the road got. The driver was taking evasive maneuvers to dodge the potholes. I got car sick. Thankfully, we had a couple of the puke bags from the airplane just in case. By the time we got to Takoradi, Bonnie and I were sharing the puke bag. Gilbert was plugging his ears hoping that he would not join us. We arrived at the Ruckmans’ house at 1:20 A.M. Bro. Ruckman showed us to our rooms, and we all slept well!