Week 2: Mozambique!
OK, my summary experience of Mozambique is that everything is FUBAR, all the time. The perfect example is the truck we rented. We had to rent a 4 x 4 vehicle because the drive into the diving resort we stayed at is literally about 3 hours ( but only 70 – 80 miles) of potholed dirt and sand (think 2 – 3 inches deep) road. Unfortunately, there is never snow here, and the 4 x 4 vehicle is not common. So after several days of multiple people madly working in different directions to try to find us even one appropriate vehicle, we still didn’t have one. Johan and I got up at 6 a.m. to be driven (thank you Ma and Pa Visagie) an hour and ½ to meet up with a couple friend of Johan’s. Then we went to those friends house and waited. And waited. And waited. At 2:00 pm we gave up and got driven to the Mozambique border where a driver employed by one friend’s father picked us up and drove us to the city of Maputo. We dropped the driver off and then drove her (the friend’s) father’s car to our resort. We arrived around 9 p.m. Her father actually still needed his car – he just happens to work in Mozambique and has a 4 x 4. So then the next several days we tried to coordinate with her father how to get his SUV back to him and get us another appropriate vehicle. Finally, the driver drove those 3 hours to us (taking about 5 to actually get there) to swap vehicles. He showed up a) two hours late while we waited for him in a neighboring town, b) with friends in the car, and c) drunk. The vehicle we got, once we switched, offered the following features:

• Wires instead of radio

• Shifter knob missing

• Lights went on and off without turning light knob

• Dirty windshield and no washer fluid

• No windshield wipers

• Almost no brakes

• A tire went flat. So did the spare

• No jack

• Expired license disk (similar to U.S. tabs). We had to bribe police to get out of that one.

For this we actually paid $900 U.S. for one week of use. The original price had been $1200 U.S., but we complained after the week was up. $900 was the reduced price. See first paragraph about how there are no 4 x 4’s for rent in Africa.

I wish I was making some of that up, but I’m not. Every time we thought nothing else could wrong, it did. In the end we were just happy that we didn’t end up in jail and we didn’t die or kill anyone. Hey, set your goals high… But that was representative of Mozambique in a nutshell. Getting progress made on anything involves a real ordeal. The resort/dive school we stayed at (currently run by S. Africans) is up for sale. Any takers???

But I did sortof get certified in scuba diving while I was there. Yay! (I think.) It’s not quite past scary yet for me and not yet fully fun, but I’ve now completed 4 dives and am doing another one tomorrow in Durban.

I did thoroughly enjoy Johan’s friends who I got to know on the trip. Dries and Marna were with us throughout the whole ordeal, but with multiplied stress as Marna is on kidney dialysis in a sterile environment every 5 hours (re-reread trip times above with that in mind now). Most of the time we spent with them that did not involve transportation of any kind were fun and relaxing, and their company made any difficulties easier. We also got to know the owner of the resort/dive camp and his wife. Johan went to school with Elizma. And Michael just has his work cut out for him. They want to run a cattle ranch further north in Mozambique and not deal with tourists any more. Go figure.

Next up: A week of American observations on S. Africa as we spend a week just hangin' out with the folks!

No Lions, Tigers or Bears, but lots of other cool animals!

Hey! I'm finally finding both the time and internet connection to drop that line I've been promising! We're in S. Africa now, but we didn't have much internet at all the first two weeks.

So, what have we been doing? Well, the first week was safari, the second week was scuba diving and time with two of Johan’s dear friends, and this third week is home with the family. I’ll recap one week at a time.

First, safari. Well pictures are worth a thousand words, so I’ll try to let them speak for themselves. The wildlife reserves offered spectacular viewing with the absolute highlight being that we were fortunate enough to stumble upon a newly born giraffe (only 4 or so hours old) and we watched her take her first steps. Really an unbeatable experience. We had seen her pregnant mama the day or two before, but didn’t expect to be THAT lucky!!!! We also met some nice other Americans and got to see a Zulu tribal dance. We spent 3 days in a lodge and 3 days in their tent camps. It was really great and relaxing. Some lessons:

• 
  Impala and Nyala are both types of deer and look similar, but Impala is much easier to say. Just call them all Impala (except the mature males, and then you look like an idiot if you get it wrong)
• 
  Crocodiles and Hippos look deceivingly lazy. Do not be fooled.
• 
  Kudo are also a type of deer, but are majestic and I never got tired of looking at them. I was made fun of for this, as they are “only” deer and everyone else was looking for Rhino, Elephants, Water Buffalo, and the big cats (Cheetah, Leopard & Lion). Silly American & the deer.
• 
  When a bull Rhino is determined, not even a 6,000 volt electric fence can stop him. An intimidating scene, that, even after the fact. There had been a new female introduced to the reserve and the bull they owned and the bull Rhino on the reserve next door decided to go head to head over her. Through the fence. Ouch. Those fences are designed to temporarily knock out the largest animals and most animals learn the lesson quickly and stay away. These Rhinos had been there long enough to know what they were up against and went at it anyway. Those girls are nothing but trouble!
• 
  We also did see Rhino, Elephants (a matriarch, mother, and daughter), Water Buffalo (a great number of those, and very close. Both genders have the Pippi Longstocking horns), Giraffe (my favorite) and a Cheetah in a rehab center (no, not drugs, silly), warthogs, wildebeasts, monkeys, and Zebra (rhymes with Debra in S. Africa). All were very impressive.

For photos, follow this link:
http://adventureworldtales.smugmug.com/gallery/5751719_vsuLo#355487900_WpQMf

Second, scuba and the country of Mozambique. Mozambique is just north-east of S. Africa, but it is a much different place once you cross the border. It is much more third world. But the diving is spectacular! I’ll give that update on a future blog, as this update has taken a remarkable amount of time given the internet connection speed here!