arriving in Benin

So right before leaving Brussels,  a very cool airport by the way, I ran in to a rather large group of  ladies headed for the ship on  the same flight as me. We chatting for a few and ended up with a few of us sitting rather close together. Once again we were spoiled as the flight was not very full and we all had extra empty seats around us to stretch out a bit. A lovely gift on a long flight. We touched down for what was supposed to be a very brief stop in Ivory Coast. Well the president of the country was arriving on his private jet, their version of air force one. We all had front row seats to his arrival. it included a REAL red carpet that came down the stairs from his plane, ran across the tarmac, in front of his full military corp in dress uniform, his full marching band, and a handful of men dressed in what I can only guess is traditional Ivory Coast wear. It looked like Roman togas with red capes and full headdress's and spears. It was all  quite the to do.
It turned our short stop in  to about 90 minutes in the plane as we watch the whole  show and then waiting for air traffic to clear.

Arriving in Benin was really simple. we got  off the plane and made out way through customs. A few disturbing signs in customs about Ebola with quite graphic images greeted us as we made our way to the counter. Immigration was super easy thanks to the wonderful work of Mercy Ships prior to our arrival. All of documents were in order and we passed though easily.

every ones luggage arrived and we quickly made our way outdoors.This is definitely Africa. It is nearly 9 o'clock in the evening and it is still quite hot. The warm humid air hits you like a wave as you step out of the terminal. A wall of men dress in vibrant colors stands before you all waiting to see if they can help you or drive you. And then we spot our  friendly driver from Australia awaiting all of us wearing his official Mercy Ships shirt . He and another crew member help us load all our gear into 2 waiting vehicles and made a short drive to the port.

All  of us were very tired and were thankful to be process in . We had photos taken that I'm sure you can imagine were just wonderful after spending  a day or two in travel. One girl had come  all  the way from  Australia and had been traveling  for  2 1/2 days. Needless to say we all looked a bit rough. Now these photos grace the front of our crew badges every day. I think maybe we should all have a worst photo contest. ha ha.
We were then shown to our cabins. I am  on  deck 2 of 7. I have a nice room with only 1 roommate. I am on the top bunk which is quite humorous. If I don't make it home it will not be because of malaria or terrorists but because I have fallen and killed myself while either getting into my bunk, attempting to get out of my bunk or rolling out of it in the night!
It is really quite the sight.

My bathrooms, there are two close by is shared with about  8-10 other girls in near by cabins. both are a short walk , maybe 30 feet down the hall. Each bathroom has 3 showers and 3 sinks and toilets. They are very clean and Thank you Lord are equipped with HOT water. For this I am more grateful than you can know. We have to take sea showers but the water is hot so it is not so bad. For those of you that don't know, it just means you turn on the water and get wet, turn it off, soap up and shampoo, turn it on again to rinse, turn it off, condition, then rinse again and then your done. very little water is used. Important habit to be in when you head to sea and have to make most of your water from the sea water.

I will tell you about the food later... and will try to post some pics this weekend. If you are reading this, leave me a comment or send me an email . I would love to hear from you.
bye for now