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back in the USA

christine — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 01:06:59 +0000

Two days shy of 13 months on the road, we made our way back to the US, and back to Philadelphia attempting to settle back into some sort of routine. It’s difficult to try to summarize the last year…it was obviously the opportunity of a lifetime–traveling, sightseeing, meeting new people, understanding other cultures, taking a year off from work, and spending lots of time together. But how do I wrap up the year in a nice little package that sounds witty and yet profound–I’m not sure it’s possible. Instead I will leave you with a few of my top ten…

TOP TEN PLACES:
Okavanga Delta, Botswana
Patagonia (El Calafate/ El Chalten/ Torres del Paine)
Bulungula, South Africa
Bazaruto Archipelago, Mozambique
Petra, Jordan
Galapagos, Ecuador
Tofo, Mozambique
Pammukale, Turkey
Molunlong, Lesotho
Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

TOP TEN CITIES:
Cape Town, South Africa
Istanbul, Turkey
Barcelona, Spain
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Oaxaca, Mexico
Cinque Terra, Italy
Cagnes Sur Mer, France
Havana, Cuba
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Cartagena, Colombia

Top 10 things to bring:
mosquito repellent
pony-o’s
afterbite
Lonely Planet travel book
Blackberry with international data plan
flashlight
a knife
a book
more money than you think you need
an open mind and plenty of patience to live/travel at a slower pace in order to appreciate every moment.

an island paradise all to ourselves…

christine — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 20:06:53 +0000

It turns out we were one of the few guests at the island resort, as it is the low season. That was fine for Mike and I as the weather was terrific, the water was crystal clear, we had an amazing chalet complete with outdoor shower, we had the entire beach, and restaurant to ourselves! And even more importantly(for Mike), we had high speed internet.
Besides swimming in the salt water endless pool, we also went diving, again. The diving here was reported to be just as good, or better than Tofo. We dove at 2 mile reef, and unfortunately the visibility was about 1-2 meters, and the swell underwater was pretty strong. But that didn’t stop us from seeing lots of marine life, and excitingly, hawksbill turtles.
(photo: a stop over at Pansy Island between dives)

fuel crisis

christine — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 09:15:48 +0000

From Tofo we drove north to Vilanculos before heading to the Bazaruto Archipelago, a tropical island get away. It should have been a pretty straight forward drive along the coastline, but it turned into an adventure…

We were in a small town, where the ´dot´ on the map is barely visible, and likewise the town had nothing much going for it besides two gas stations. We stopped for gas, and ended up with fuel pouring out of the bottom of the truck. The locals speak Portuguese and their indigenous language, and most do not speak English. So we asked the gas attendant for a mechanic, and he says no. I was in a panic, we just filled up our 40 gallon tank, there was already a pool of gas under the truck, and I was imagining someone striking a match. So, we head to the other gas station, and ask for a mechanic, and we are told to follow these kids who will take us to the mechanic.

Rather than a service station, we find ourselves in someoneś front yard. And in order to drive into the yard, we had to engage our 4×4. You see, whether or not a family has a brick house or a wood rondavel, the yard mostly consists of a few trees, maybe a few crops (corn or sugar cane) and sand. There is no grass or lawn, just sand. We park the car in front of two steel poles that they use as sort of a ´crane´ to lift up the back end of the car.

So, already itś a strange scene, but when we figure out the mechanic is 15 years old and his five assistants range from the ages of 8-17years old, it gets even more strange. The ´mechanics´ have to drain the fuel from the tank in order to remove the fuel tank from the truck, and they do this by collecting every plastic bucket around the house. They discover the problem is with the ´seal,´ which was poorly sealed when we got the new fuel tank at Komatipoort before leaving South Africa. The mechanic creates a new seal by using a piece of old cardboard box and using a screwdriver to cut out a circle, and putting silicone glue between the two sides before putting the lid back on and screwing it back into place.

Meanwhile, the family (3 women, one grandmother, 3 children and one uncle) invited us to eat lunch with them. We said yes, but thought this would probably mean we will get sick. Lunch was similar to Indian saag (a kind of creamed, chopped spinach, but without any spices, and some sand grits) and rice. After lunch, the two girls played hopscotch in the dirt yard, and the little boy played ´cars´ with an old plastic tub of margarine and an old lightbulb box in the sand.

After about 3 hours, the gas tank is reassembled and back under the truck, and the fuel back in the tank. Now, it was a matter of whether the car would start or not. It didn´t. They go back under the car, and switch two tubes. Then it starts! If you saw this auto-shop in the states, you wouldn´t even stop if your car were on fire. But these kids fixed the problem. We paid them, and also gave the mechanic a boogie board. They were so happy with the boogie board, they picked the mechanic up over their heads, like a hero!

diving in Tofo

christine — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 09:15:46 +0000

Depending on where you are in Mozambique, the road quality can vary greatly. Some of the tar roads are in excellent condition, then all of a sudden, there might be a 30mile stretch where the potholes are big enough to swallow your tire and crack your axle. Fortunately the roads are not busy, so itś feasible to zig zag between both lanes to avoid the potholes, or even drive off the side of the road. And during some stretches, kids will fill in the potholes with dirt, and ask for money for their service.

Getting to Tofo required us to take a few poorly maintained roads, but we got there all the same. We stayed in a nice A-frame chalet, only meters from the beach, and spent two days diving. The diving was fantastic, with high visibility, and great sea life. We dove the manta reef, which as itś name suggests, there were manta rays. The mantas we saw were 18 feet or so, but they can grow up to 25feet and can weigh as much as 5000lbs. Watching them puts you in awe. They are so graceful and such beautiful creatures of the sea.

During the day, the locals walk up and down the beach selling fresh fish– prawns (tiger shrimp), baracuda (spanish mackarel), and crayfish (lobster). We bought a few crayfish and had a delicious braii (bbq).