Autumn hangs in the air. It rustles the leaves and beckons
for scarves and fleeces. The days remain warm, but the mornings are chilly and
the evenings call for getting cozy. I know, May and it’s autumny.. Welcome to
the Souther Hemisphere! This week I discovered the camp has hot water bottles.
Upon discovery, I asked for one, and as I write this, it’s making an awesome
foot-warmer!
Two weeks have passed since I last blogged, and it might as
well have been two months! That week passed with packing, finishing a gripping
Agatha Christie novel, and bussing ourselves off to Mbeya Friday to catch the
train for Zambia on Saturday. And thus started our nine day journey of
adventure…
Funny story: Friday morning before we left for a field trip,
and then Mbeya, I was asking Amanda, the owner of the camp, about packages,
since I was expecting one. She was explaining how long it can take, and in
walks Godfrey, one of camp’s drivers, with an arm load of mail. I got three
packages, and two letters. Hehe, perfect timing: right before we left! Thanks Mama
and Aunt Jeanne. I love everything I got! Sam and Tessa, I cherished your
letters and read them on the train J
I must note that one of the only things that seem to be on
time in Tanzania is the buses. Our bus for Mbeya was, in fact, early and was
just aching for us to leave on it, honking its horn and inching forward. And
that seems to be the norm for most buses here, especially the honking
horn/inching forward thing. The bus drivers seem to think that going as fast as
possible is the best way to transport large vehicles full of people. Live people. People who could die if they went faster than possible
and wrecked. On our bus back from Mbeya on Monday, we almost got side bumped
from a truck we were passing that was passing a motorbike. Eeek! Of course
after traveling all the way through Zambia on public transport we would come
back to our Tanzania and get in a wreck! Thank you Lord we didn’t.
The train on Saturday started out arriving late and leaving
even later. Instead of 2:45, it was 4:30ish, and we left the station at 6:30.
The train was full of germs, and God knows how long it had been since the
benches were sanitized. Our second class cabin consisted of about 4x7 feet (not
meters!) of space with three bench type beds on each side it. We got a mini
table and a window too. Yippee! We slept fitfully, me due to cold feet, my
blankie being too small, and fearing the roaches Garrett saw by what I thought
was the edge of my bench bed. We got to enjoy our first Zambian sunrise, and
lots of bush/tree scenery. Oh, and on the way there I read about half a book.
We railed our way to Kapiri Mposhi around eight Sunday
night, caught a mini-bus filled mostly with wazungu, and pulled into Lusaka at
midnight. I found myself quite amazed and pleasantly surprised by the cleanness
and nicer looking buildings in the towns of Zambia. I even, honest to goodness,
saw a Subway in one if the towns. When we pulled into Lusaka, it was as if we’d
arrived in a certain part of Portland or else Johannesburg, South Africa. What
a huge city!
Monday, after sleeping in, we had the tasks of getting
money, buying bus tickets for more of our journey, and getting our visas.
Unfortunately, on the train crossing into Zambia Saturday night, the immigration
people didn’t have the patience to wait on the train for us to get our visa
money. And upon arrival at the train station in Kapiri Mposhi, immigration was
gone. So here we were stamped out of Tanzania Saturday night, and hanging out
in limbo land with no stamp or visa in Zambia. Whoops!
Immigration was a process that required lots of waiting. We
didn’t even get it all taken care of until mid-afternoon! But we got it done,
so that’s what counted. And we got to
enjoy some yummy street food in the process and I got to discover what a
Zambian eggroll is… When you think eggroll you think Chinese roll with
veggie-type goodness inside, right? That’s what I thought and ordered two. What
I got were two rolls with egg and veggies in the middle. Ha! DJ and Garrett had
to eat my second one.
We enjoyed visits with DJ and Tricia’s friends the Turnbulls
who so sweetly opened their home to us and fed us wonderful food. Tuesday we
went back into Lusaka and got to, wonder of wonders, go to a mall. We’d briefly
gone to a strip mall to get money on Monday, and Charles (who traveled from
Iringa with us) and I went through a bit of culture shock. Kind of overwhelming
going from small-town type Africa to big city Africa!
Tricia was hunting for a dress on Tuesday for a wedding she’s
going to the end of June, and I with my dress-love was looking for one because
I could. I fell in love with a bunch, bought none. The one I loved the most
needed a medium and a half to fit me right. Oh well, shopping was still quite
nice. Afterwards, I got myself a coconut mocha and Tricia and I split a
chocolate chip muffin. And this wasn’t just any chocolate chip muffin. This was
a Mugg and Bean chocolate chip muffin. That means you must put butter, jam, and
cheese on it. Strange, right? That’s what I thought. Until I tried it. It was
yum! And so was my mocha. Ahh, vacation, how I love thee!
On Wednesday, we settled in for a six hour bus ride to
Livingston. We also discovered that Zambian buses are quite nice. They even
stop at real toilets for ten minutes! We relaxed at Jolly Boys backpackers
place, I had soup for the first time in a while, and we even met this awesome
older couple and their daughter from The States. A wonderful surprise!
We awoke and were in a taxi by about eight Thursday morning
heading off to set our eyes upon one of the World’s seven wonders – Victoria
Falls! It was a wonder, this is for sure. A wet wonder. Before you even
arrived, you could see the spray of it, especially it being the end of the
rainy season. There were parts of the Falls you couldn’t even see due to the
spray. We started out quite dry. But, as one can imagine, we left quite wet. It was like dashing through a
rain storm, without the rain and gray clouds. I loved it. Until my jeans were
soaking and sagging. The experience made me smile, and the pictures can tell
you the rest. What an incredible wonder to witness. One of God’s many truly
beautiful forms of art!
Before we left, one of the raiding baboons in the Fall’s
parking lot had to give me a story to take home… He saw I had a bag and thought
sure I might have food in it. So, he grabbed it and pulled. I didn’t even see
it, but felt it and screamed! Yes, typical American tourist, screaming. But
that was my natural instinct. I feared an attack. Baboons are not nice creatures!
He let go, and this left Tricia and even more, Avery, laughing. I was too
scared to laugh. Stinkin’ creatures!
After rushing to and fro, we made it to town in time to eat
yummy food at Wonderbake, get a soft serve ice cream, and jump back onto a bus
bound for Lusaka. We got in that evening to the power being out at the Turnbull’s.
First the water pump (when we got there Sunday), now the power! I honestly
think the best shower I had all of vacation was, well, wasn’t. It was here at
Rivervalley!
Sandwiches were in order for dinner instead of pizza. They tasted delicious J We packed up, and headed out
the next morning to take another bus back to the train. As we drove to the bus
station, DJ gets a call: the train isn’t running today. It’s running tomorrow!
Thank goodness we hadn’t bought
tickets the night before for the bus. God is good! We stopped at the strip mall
place again, and DJ saw a paper headline about the train. A bunch of the
workers were on strike and got laid off. Oh boy, will we ever get back to
Tanzania at this rate?!
Friday was a most relaxing day, and that night was actually
got to eat the pizza. That afternoon I even got the chance to sit down and
write down pros and cons of different options for this fall. It felt quite nice
to get things down on paper. All I’ll say for now is, keep praying for my
future! And thanks for all your already prayers!
Saturday our bus left Lusaka earlier than scheduled. It left
at 5:45… AM! We pulled into Kapiri Mposhi around 8:30. Our train wasn’t meant
to leave until two. Oops! We hung out at a gas station type place for a while,
almost got kicked out due to our large amount of luggage and I guess it being
an eyesore or something. We taxied to the train, bought tickets, and boarded at
one. Right before two we phoned Charles - who loved Zambia so much he decided
to stay a bit longer - to sing him happy birthday (a day late I think!). And
right after that, a miracle happened: it was two and the train left.
Hallelujah, glory be!
We slept a bit better that night, although I had to pee all
night but was too lazy and kept smelling strange smells coming from the hallway,
like alcohol, and hearing things like some guy who sounded quite intoxicated
saying funny things. Plus, Avery was my toilet buddy and I didn’t much like
going alone. The toilets are squatty’s that just shoot out onto the tracks. How
nice! I finished my book Sunday. The train was such a fun place to just relax
and read things. Sunday got us stamped out of Zambia, then into Tanzania.
Immigration came onto the train in Tanzania with forms to fill out. The usual.
We filled them out, and then they came back. Stamping went on. But alas, in the
mess of five passports to stamp, mine got missed. Thank Jesus I checked, and DJ
hunted them down on the train. Phewf, that was a close one! And in fact the
main reason for our week of travel – to get my visa re-stamped so I could stay
another three months. One little stamp could have caused a big trouble.
Emphasis on could, thank goodness!
We stayed the night in Mbeya again, and took off on another
bus at six in the morning. On our huge adventure we saw a total of four early
morning skies, which is almost the average of what I usually see in a year!
After over a week’s worth of travel and adventure, thanks to
God is quite necessary…
v
For a total of about 80 hours using African public transport, and surviving!
v
Zambia being a step up: they have real toilets.
But they’re still working on the whole toilet-seat thing…
v
Gazing at the wonder of God’s handiwork –
something we didn’t think we’d get to see – Victoria Falls
v
A baboon non-attack
v
Going to a country where you could successfully
communicate. In English!
v
Edible, actually tasty, train food
v
Gracious and hospitable friends
v
Missing bunnies, and then, surprise! Sarah
Turnbull had one. His name was Tycho. And while there, I shone a new light on
Tycho: Tycho wasn’t a he…
v
Having a chance to enjoy the last five weeks in
Iringa
v
Finding out (thanks mama!) over break, that I
got the Treacy Company scholarship. Again J
v
Psych
antics (Laura and Kama if you’re reading this, you can smile now!)
v
Home sweet home
v
So far, receiving since being here, four
packages and three letters: the same amount of African and North American
countries that I’ve visited, respectively
v
God’s provision in all things
Happy May friends and I hope your springs are feeling quite
springy about now! PS- sniff a lilac for me when you get the chance, please and
thank you J
