Jungle Ride

Our last planned adventure in Belize was a jungle horseback ride. Valerie had never ridden a horse before but she was willing to humor my burning desire to be horseback once again! After another gorgeous morning, with coffee and sunrise swim, we headed to a nearby stable.

This will remain one of my favorite places to drink a morning cuppa!

Val enjoying her first coffee of the day

We were each assigned a horse and then in the company of three guides, off we went. We rode through several orange groves and then into the jungle. Several of the guides have seen jaguars, but we were not so lucky (although perhaps we were lucky not to see them!) Partway through the ride, we dismounted and had the option of a cooling dip in the Sittee River. I was the only one crazy enough to go in the river completely, and it was worth the slightly damp clothes on the return ride. 

Sittee River

Silver and I

Upon our return, Michelle, the owner of the stable, gave Valerie and I some fresh starfruit! I have never seen this fruit on the tree before.

Following Michelle's advice, we decided the best way to combat saddlesore-ness was to spend the remainder of our day in the water :) 

The only challenge was deciding on which way we wanted to enjoy the water. The day, as you can see, was gorgeous.

A Little Lion

Last night, Anna found my lion slippers. 

She decided to wear them on her hands and proceeded to run around my apartment, going up to each person and saying "ROAR!  I got you!  I scare you!"  

She is a sharp little girl.  In the picture below, she is showing me that she got "chockit" (chocolate) on her sweatpants!  "It chockit, Tia!"  

Too Cute For Words!

Moving Martha

This weekend was moving weekend!  For a change, I wasn't the one moving.  Martha, my roommate from junior year of college, moved from New England and into my apartment.  Friday, two other friends and I drove up to Massachusetts to help her move her belongings down to Pennsylvania.

Meet Martha:

We arrived at about midnight and promptly went to bed.  The next morning, Martha rented a U-Haul and we packed up!

By 1 p.m., we were ready to get on the road!  We drove to Charlestown and stopped to let Martha say goodbye to her favorite beach and to have a picnic lunch on the beach.

We left the pizza on the rocks when we went to take some pictures by the water's edge.  Imagine our surprise when we came back to empty boxes!  We lost our leftovers to a hungry seagull!

Refreshed by our break, we got back on the road and drove the rest of the way to Pennsylvania.  

We arrived at my apartment at about 11 p.m.  I figured out that the three of us who left Pennsylvania on Friday had travelled about 800 miles in a 29 hour period.  I don't recommend it!  Bed felt very, very good!

Thanksgiving

Through the years that I have been away from family and/or overseas on my own, I have realized that Thanksgiving is a very special holiday to me, perhaps even more so than Christmas.  I'm very glad that I booked my ticket to arrive back in PA before Thanksgiving.  My family in M-burg made the drive down to the family farm for the day.  Although a part of our family is still in Moz, we were almost all together.  

We had the traditional feast, and the usual nap time afterwards.  Once revived, the kids needed to expend some energy.  Anna was thrilled to find out that Kolton and Emme have a "neigh neigh."  Said "neigh neigh" is an elderly miniature horse named Molly.  Molly has lost some teeth and one eye, but she doesn't seem her life of grazing and the occasional pony ride.  

As we put the kiddos on Molly for a walk around, the sun started to set.  It was that perfect time of evening when the world looks golden and life feels uncomplicated.  I love those moments.  It was wonderful to have the time with family.

Anna giving Emme a kiss

Never give up praying. And when you pray, keep alert and be thankful.

Colossians 4:2

Travel in Moz

October has been a busy month!  As I've spent some time on the road here in Moz, I've snapped some interesting pictures.  I wish I could capture the roads in a picture, but you truly have to feel the bumps to know what it can be like!  In some areas, the roads are being repaired very well.  Other sections of road have gaps in the tar ranging from potholes to asteroid craters.  

Regardless of the jolts, bumps, and lurches, a road trip offers a number of fascinating sights.  In the picture below, the middle truck is overtaking the truck on the left.  I'm not entirely certain what the motorbike plans to accomplish.  

Here is a fine example of a bush gas station.  These should only be used in cases of extreme desperation for the sake of your vehicle. 

Often children are sent to collect water for the family, once or even twice a day.  They use the yellow containers to carry them and if they are lucky, they will have a bicycle to help them haul the water.  I think the saddest sight I have ever seen was a little boy using a metal cup to dip water from a muddy puddle into his yellow jug.  

I do not know how these goats got onto the top of the truck!

Butterflies on Bougainvillea

I have always loved bougainvillea.  We have three different colors blooming in our little corner of a garden: purple, a dark reddish pink, and a very beautiful orangey red.  As I sat on the veranda reading, I noticed two butterflies flitting around the blossoms.  

I think every African garden I've been in has a magical capability to slow time.  Maybe American yards have the same affect, but I suppose we don't sit in them long enough to feel the effect.  It takes me back to my childhood to sit on a camp chair in the shade, feel the hot breeze, and believe that this day will last forever.  

The stillness is a little deceptive, because it's only the larger creatures that stay in one place.  Butterflies fly from one flower to another and the wood borer bees disappear and reappear from their holes in the support beams.  Geckos and other lizards scurry around on the support beams, floor, and walls, and dash under the shade of ferns.  Doves, bronze manikins, bee-eaters, orioles,and the occasional coucal visit the birdbath in the corner and retreat to the shade of the bushes.

A garden is a grand place to wake up slowly.  I am savoring the days when I can crawl out of bed, make a cup of coffee, and sit in the quiet.  Oh, it is not entirely quiet, given the school children, air con, and traffic on the road in the distance.  But is a good place to think, observe, or just be still.  I saw a lizard drinking water laying in a puddle under our air conditioner.  I don't think I've seen a lizard lapping water before.

Summer is arriving in Mozambique.  The grass is getting a sun bleached look despite the best efforts to water it.  Temperatures are rising.  Last Saturday, we slowly baked in 36 (96 F) degree weather, with a heat index of 46 (115 F).  Most days are not quite that hot, but the typical temperature seems to be in the thirties.  Mosquitoes are becoming bothersome.  Deltaprim and mosquito nets are once again a part of my life.  I don't mind the mosquito nets though.  I think mosquito nets took the place of a canopy bed in my childhood fairy tale princess dreams.  

And now it is October.  I have thirty nine days more to savor the Southern Hemisphere.  

Goats

Goats can be found in the most unlikely places in Mozambique.

Momma and Baby both getting a drink 

Enjoying the shade at a gas station

Poor things!  I thought the humans were packed into the chapa, but the goats don't even get a seat!

Goats generally seem to end up as a meal.  While in the village last week, we frequently had matumba (goat intestines stuffed with goat meat) and rice for dinner.  Our first night in the village, there was a goat tied to a tree near the village.  The next day he was suspiciously absent.  

Unbeknownst to me, one of our translators told the cooks that I do not eat meat.  For our lunch and supper meals, they would provide beans or eggs for me.  I didn't ask for it, but I will admit to being very grateful.  In this setting, I could have simply not taken meat and no one would have been offended.  It would have been a long few days to only eat bread for breakfast, and rice, ncema, or millet for dinner.  The beans were very tasty and they cooked the eggs well also.  

The one night, Lazaro and Luis started asking me about my diet.  Lazaro could not believe that I would voluntarily eat only vegetables, fruit, rice, and bread.  (He didn't seem to mind having an extra portion of matumba!)  Lazaro said something in Portuguese to Luis with a little chuckle.  Luis translated into English for me, prefacing it with a little explanation.  "He wants to joke with you.  He's saying, 'Is she sure she's really African?'" We all had a good laugh over that comment!  I told Lazaro that he isn't the first to ask me, but I know two other Africans who are vegetarians.  We are certainly a rarity.  

Milpark

In our travels last week, we needed to spend a night in Chimoio.  We stayed at the Milpark.

Chimoio is 731m above sea level.  We welcomed the cool evening after a long hot drive.  The road from Beira to Chimoio cannot be described with words or pictures.  You have to feel it to know how bad it is.  Thankfully, improvements are being made.

As you can see, the hotel has a lovely location, complete with peacock, pea hens, ducks, chickens, and even a few turkeys wandering the ground.

The gardens are very pretty.  Mom and I couldn't identify this one tree, though.  If you have any guesses, feel free to leave me a comment!

Mr Peacock wouldn't show off his tail feathers for us

Bird of Paradise

The restaurant had good food and friendly staff.  When we drove back through a few days later and stopped to collect some things left in their storage, they didn't charge us for a cup of coffee while we waited for the storage room key.  I thought that was very kind, especially considering they let us store some things there as a favor rather than a typical practice.  (My dear mother was very considerate.  She assumed that we weren't communicating clearly and left money to cover the coffee anyway.)  If you find yourself in Chimoio and need a place to say, I think this was a good choice.  I personally voted for a little place called the Pink Papaya, but the appeal was mostly in the name.

Cuddle Therapy

I love animals, except for some of the creepy crawly variety.  This past week, we spent two nights at a camp on our journey home from our village stay.  The best part of the camp was the welcoming committee...the four legged kind.  

When we arrived, no one seemed to be around.  Dad and Orville each started wandering off in search of assistance.    Our welcomers came dashing out, with tails wagging and yipping all around.  I wasted no time in climbing out of the car and starting to scratch ears and tummies.  With three dogs and only two hands, it was a complicated venture indeed.

A man who worked at the camp came over and started laughing when he saw me amid a pile of squirming puppies.  Between my fragments of Portuguese and his patience, we could at least greet each other and I could say where we were coming from and that sort of thing.  I also told him how much I adored the dogs.  He grinned, and called into the house for "Pumba."  He laughed and laughed at my face when a big old wart hog came wandering out of the house!  Soon I was trying to pet Pumba while being nipped at by three jealous pups.

The puppies followed us to our camp site and they stayed with us for both days.  Their owners were away and I think they were a little lonely.  The first morning, Mom came out and found them all asleep, two of them sleeping inside the cement fire pit, enjoying the warmth left by the ashes of the fire.  

Enjoying the residual warmth from the fire

Dad playing with Pumba

Pumba nibbling on my knees...it tickled!

My favorite picture

I was the first one out of bed on Friday morning.  The pups heard me up and started pouncing on my tent, clearly feeling playful.  I unzipped the flap and let them in just to keep them quiet, but they complicated the process of tying my shoes!  The one little monkey grabbed my deodorant and took off with it, while another one nudged the lid off of my trash basket and started pulling out tissues!  After getting a little bit of order restored, I took my journal out to write by the fire and watch the sunrise.  They had other plans.  First one, then two, then all three hopped up onto my lap!  I didn't mind in the least.  

Ferry across the Shire

Our journey of the past week required a river crossing.  The Shire River isn't very wide at the particular point we crossed, but it would be during the rainy season.  The surrounding area is gorgeous, as you can see from these pictures.

This picture above explains my comment in an earlier post about the Beira Hillbillies.  We packed every possible space, both in the car and tied to the roof rack!  We sat three people in the front, three in the second row, and two in the back along with luggage for all of us for five days, tents, sleeping bags, two 50kg bags of rice, teaching supplies, and an accordion. (On the way back, we didn't have the two bags of rice, but we gained two huge stalks of bananas and four (live) chickens.)

My parents!

The ferry can accommodate four vehicles at a time, with some careful parking.  The men use a hand-crank to move the ferry along the cables.  The river isn't wide, but the time to cross the river depends on the number of cars and the weight of the cargo. The ferry costs 80 meticais per vehicle (roughly $3).  

For smaller items and groups, a canoe presents a faster option.  Crossing the river in a dugout takes about five minutes.  As muzungus, we paid about $1 per person, but I doubt everyone else pays that rate! :)

I recently read a book about David Livingstone and suggested it to Mom.  She was reading it on this trip.  She brought a passage to my attention that mentioned Livingstone's crossing the "crocodile infested Shire River."  Our crossing didn't involve either crocodiles or hippos due to the activity in the area, but they still swim in the Shire.  On our return trip, I was offered a change to ride in one of the dugouts.  Of course I said yes!  

My Livingstone Moment

I felt the thrill of history in my brief canoe trip.  Livingstone probably had a few rides in the same kind of canoe in his day, on the very same river. 

Livingstone said, "“If you have men who will only come if they know there is a good road, I don't want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all.” He also once stated, "I will go anywhere, provided it be forward."  I think I would have liked him.