Travel days always make for an interesting time. Whether it’s by taxi, shoppa, ferry, bus, train, plane, troofie, mototaxi, or van, there is always a number of things that make you question whether or not this is real life. About a month ago my squad traveled from South Africa to Mozambique, and I decided to record every time that we stopped for something. If this blog isn’t proof that world race travel days are craycray, I don’t know what will.
Also, I have some pretty rad pictures of all this, but they currently will not upload. Sad day.
January11
10:30a: My team leaves our ministry location in Johannesburg to meet the rest of our squad at the bus station. We trek off with a few of our new friends and a few of our sweet kids that we just have to have for a little extra time before saying our goodbyes.
We get to the bus station and I carry Busi around with me the entire time. After we said our hellos to the rest of the squad we decide to get something to eat. I feed Busi while I eat, and during the middle of it she decides it would be a good idea to pee on the clothes that I will be wearing for the next (over) two days straight. Closest pair of clean clothes? Bottom of my bag. Hello pee clothes.
The original plan was to leave the bus station at six that night. Then it was changed to three.
4:00p : We leave at 4… on three different smaller bus/van type things. Luggage was on an open trailer thing hitched to the back. It’s just our whole lives in those bags. No big deal.
6:57p: Pull over for dinner at Steers in who-knows-where South Africa. Over half the squad waits in ONE line to get food. Before we head back out, we play a nice friendly game of red rover.
8:00p: Leave Steers and head for the Swaziland/South Africa border
9:50p: We arrive at the border. Mind you we just drove like maniacs to get there because we only had 20 minutes before the border closed for the night. Then we hit a foggy patch where we literally couldn’t see anything. Needless to say, the last 20 minutes or so of that ride were interesting.
January12
1:00a: We leave the border and start the visa process to get into Mozambique
6:45a: After almost 6 hours of sleeping outside, sleeping inside, chasing goats, and being told by the border people that we can’t make silly faces in our pictures, we finally are done with the visas and enter Mozambique.
8:10a: We arrive to the “bus station” in Maputo. We are thinking that we are going to get on another bus and head to our locations. NOT. The busses end up being way too expensive so we pray that the guys that currently have us will continue on with us.
8:43a: The guys agree to take us further (booyah) so we continue on in the same vehicles.
9:07a : We stop at one of the ministry locations for the month. Two teams are staying there but we all unpack and eat lunch and wait for the other bus to take the rest of the teams on their way.
12:46p : The rest of the teams (mine included) leave for Beira. We had 24 people and all of our big packs and day packs on a 26 passenger van. I dare you to try it.
1:00p: Stop for gas. The bus van thing starts shaking. “Why?” you ask? Well because they wanted to shake it so they could get 100 liters of gas in a 90 liter tank, of course.
1:31p: We get pulled over. No worries, just pay the popo.
1:37p: We stop because the luggage falls on top of the people that are sitting in the back seat.
1:53p : Luggage is retied. On the road again we go.
3:28p: Pulled over again. No worries, just pay the popo.
4:24p: Stop for random passport check. Insert men with big guns.
4:49p: Bathroom/food stop.
5:14p : On the road again. I just can’t wait to get on the road again.
5:21p: Stop again. As far as I can tell, we just stop so some guys can ask to get in with us. Fail.
6:08p: Stop again. Once again, as far as I can tell, we just stop so people can try and sell us food.
8:16p : The van dies. It may or may not be due to an unnamed honorary brother named Nick who unplugged the battery that was just hanging out in a hole in the floor of the van.
8:20p: The battery gets put back in. Great success.
8:22p: We stop at a gas station/hotel/restaurant. We are hoping to stay in the hotel for a night but it ends up being too expensive so we eat at the restaurant and take a potty break.
10:08p: We leave that gas station/hotel/restaurant and head to the toll road (that closes at 9p and doesn’t open until 4a)
January13
1:56a: Our vanbus sees a rather large bus coming. It seems that our only option is to swerve off the road as they pass us. Yep.
2:07a : My life flashes before my eyes as we hit a pothole the size of the grand canyon.
2:30a: We arrive at the toll. Some of us get out, some stay in. Some bring packs out of the vanbus to lay on. I was unable to sleep but was entertained with squadmates by catching a huge bug in a toothpaste bottle, watching the men dance and sing on the semi that was parked in front of us, watching peoples heads hang out of the vehicle as they slept, and a plethora of other things.
5:26a: The toll is open so we wake up, pack up, and get goin.
6:42a: Bathroom break. This time when the people are selling food outside our window, we accept. Hello team cashews. Mm mm good.
7:03a: Bathroom break: over. Back on the road.
7:28a: Another grand canyon pothole. I feel I should add that when I mention a pothole, it is because it is a particularly gigantic one. Normal potholes were a part of our adventure at least every thirty seconds.
8:57a: Bathroom break (because of me… oops)
9:13a: On the road again.
9:15a: Bus dies.
9:17a : Bus is alive.
9:41a: We hear a noise that is evidence of a problem with our vanbus. Ope. The tailpipe fell. We pull over to tie it back up.
9:48a: Tailpipe surgery went well. Head em up move em out.
11:43a: We drop the other two teams off at their ministry location.
12:06p: We are the last team left. We leave the other teams and head to our place (with an extra guy).
12:18p: Pull over on the side of the road. The guy from the last stop gets out and makes a phone call because none of us know where we are going.
12:20p: A man with a world race shirt on gets on our van. He is our CONTACT! Wham bam thank you maam. We drive a little ways down the road and (a short 50 hours from the time we started) are home sweet home!!!!
This is my life.
