I have always prayed for a car, but, I never learnt how to drive one. So, it got me thinking! What if God is ignoring my prayers coz I can’t drive? So I sought out some driving skills. But, since I don’t have a car, I tried riding a boat. It was a bad idea.

On a warm summer evening, Tor ådne, Johan and I set out on a fishing trip. Ideally, the trip was supposed to be just a fishing trip. So, I rode the boat practising for my future car. I was the Captain! Captain of a boat that moves at 20km\hr!! But, forget the boat and it’s ridiculous speed. Let’s focus on my two friends Tor ådne and Johan. This two are the craziest! craziest! craziest! people I have ever met in my life! And, I say this with no exaggeration whatsoever. Allow me to explain… Our fishing trip was meant to be fun and relaxing, a short trip. The boat I was driving belonged to the school so we were to be very careful of how we used it. We had few litres of diesel and though the boat does’nt consume that much, we were adviced not to travel a long distance. That rule was the same one that my new found friends were so eager to break! Johan – the chief mastermind, somehow convinced Tor ådne and I to join him on a boat trip to Bergen, which was like 30 Kilometres away. I agreed because I was excited to drive a boat for the first time in my life! Take away the bicycle and that’s more like the first thing I have driven in my life.

The trip was exciting at first. The weather was sunny and the sky was clear, we stopped after a few kilometers to fish. We caught 3 big fish, cut their heads and fed them to the hungry birds. We were having so much fun! Then we sailed deeper into the sea, really deep. Many kilometers away from the coastline, that is where it started getting a bit crazy, the boat felt like it was moving slower at full speed.. The clouds seemed to gang up in hostility… darkness encroached.. the water too was hostile! It looked like it was bullying us or something. I don’t have the perfect words to explain it, but all I can say is that, it got very very scary! It started to rain. Only Johan had the appropriate clothing for cover from the rain. Tor ådne and I wore normal clothing and a jacket. Being african, I had an extra sweater but Tor ådne only had a T-shirt and a jacket. It rained long and hard. My hands were freezing stiff and the water was heavy and hostile, at some point, I lost control of the boat and we almost capsized into the deep sea. It is at this point that Johan volunteered to drive but I wouldn’t hear of it! besides, my hand was frozen stiff on the steering thingie anyway! We were starting to get worried, we had sailed for hours but we hadn’t reached Bergen yet! We questioned our sense of direction.. Tor ådne and I threw worried glances at Johan questioning his decision to bring us out here. We wished to arrive like sailors who had been stuck in the waters for years. Several speeding boats had passed us and we envied their speed.. We had passed 3 bridges and still no sign of the city.. we argued whether to turn back but the idea was deadly since the sea was hostile and it would take even longer to go back. At some point, I thought about home, Africa. I missed the sun and the smiles.. I wished for some chapati madondo.. I wished to sit at the local fundi wa baiskeli joint laughing heartily with the makangas… Stuck in the sea… I longed for Africa.

In a miracle of sorts, we took a left down the third bridge and hidden in clouds were tiny houses on hills. BERGEN!! We rejoiced and sang swahili and Norwegian songs. We had overcome the raging storm and made it to BERGEN. One of us was frozen stiff! I will not reveal who it was to avoid embarassment

We docked close to the Sentrum in Bergen and illegally parked our boat somewhere… Cold, wet and freezing we took a bus back to the school. We went back the following day to retreive the boat. The trip back home was fairly smooth, we only stopped at some island to pee and some other petty adventures. But, in the 3 weeks I have spent in Norway, this foreign land. This is the best adventure I have had .

Lots of thanks to Runar who drove us back to Bergen as we searched for the boat having forgotten where we had parked it the previous night.