I am sitting at a delightful (since the power and hot water came on an hour ago!) guest house in Entebbe, Uganda. It is sunny, about eighty degrees and I am in a small restaurant about 75 feet from my room in the shade and a nice breeze. It is a welcome reprieve from the craziness I have experienced until now. The photo for this blog is the view from where I am writing.
Let me pick it up from where I left off for post #1 at the Amsterdam airport.
We arrived with about three hours for a layover. It goes quickly but we are now so familiar with this airport that we know our way around well. After deplaning and taking care of our necessary biological functions, we headed toward a KLM Airline (Delta’s partner in Europe) counter for our flight to check on the visa situation. We were told in no uncertain terms that we were not going to be able to get on the plane. Uh-oh. We explained that in all our previous trips we could and had gotten visas both online and in person, as recently as August. This means they could not pull the old but we’re in COVID time now, because we had already gotten in person visas during the pandemic. They were not impressed. We asked for a “higher up” to appeal to and they sent us to T-6 (one of the transfer stations) where several KLM people worked navigating challenges for travelers.
We spoke to a woman (seriously long eyelashes-no, not natural!) who heard our case and proceeded to consult her computer. She shook her head and told us to go fill one out online.
What I should disclose now is that Peter, Mike and I had all tried and failed to do so online, encountering different problems. I also know from experience that when you apply, the process takes 24-72 to complete so that’s not helpful. I also know that you can simply show up at the Entebbe airport and get one during COVID, which Mike has. We checked with Kris Mobbs, our partner in Gulu who told us not to worry, that yes, you can get a visa in Entebbe. So, filling one online would be a waste of time.
I texted Kris and told him our dilemma as we headed back to our gate. He did a Face Time audio call and we filled him in. He said he “had a guy” and he’d get back to us. We were seated now in a waiting area and Peter suggested we pray. For the record, I had been praying regularly, but we had not prayed together about this. So, we paused and when we finished, a private jet picked us up and flew us the rest of the way! Not really. We started discussing alternative plans should Kris’ “guy” could not come through. We realized we might need to simply turn around and come back. We could get stuck in Amsterdam till our return flight came through (not a bad place to get stuck) on Nov 6. We could not apply for an online visa and wait a few days because it didn’t work and still probably get there for our teaching assignment.
Kris called back after talking to his guy and a colleague. Since we (Mike and I) had been to Gulu the last week of August and first week of September, our visas were still valid. I got on my computer and found my e-visa I could use this to get through to Entebbe. Mike did not have one because he got a hard copy last trip (proving you could buy one in Entebbe during COVID). Kris’ guy said we were out of luck on the e-visa for today. We decided that I would try to get on the plane and that Mike and Peter would stay behind and scramble.
By the time I got up to the counter, the waiting area was about 85% empty. I presented my documents (passport, COVID test) and held the e-visa on my phone. She started looking up my name and couldn’t find it. Turns out that based on previous conversations they assumed (because we didn’t have
