Pièce de résistance: Kruger Park

This is my Pièce de résistance.

I took it early in the morning, while we were on our morning safari that went from 5-8 am. I had seen a print similar to this that caught my eye a few months back. After a bit of tweaking I feel like it really is a decent photo. Many of the ones that I took were blurry from the safari trips, but I was so happy that this one was in focus and so crisp.

The safari experience is interesting in the fact that you are essentially driving around looking for animals the entire time. It has the potential to be three hours of complete boredom, but for me it was moving. There is something ethereal about happening upon a cheetah just at dawn, when the sky is still a murky grey, awaiting its colors of the morning. Turning a corner in the road and seeing a giraffe twice the size of your van crossing the street is surreal, and watching lions 30 feet away eat their prey isn't horrifying, but a fascinating moment.

I remember last year being utterly disappointed with the idea of staying on paved roads, I envisioned driving through grasslands in an open jeep looking for rhinos and lions in the tall grass. But, after seeing it all, I am happy the safari was the way it was. My pictures don't do it justice, but my memories will last-and that is all I need.

A Teaser (or two, or three, or more)

Here is a taste test of things to come. This very well might become a photo blog for a while. I am home now in Utah after spending four days and lots of moolah in London. But anyway without further ado, some pictures from Africa.

Influene Orphanage, Mozambique


Macaneta Beach, Mozambique

Sunrise over Savane Beach, Mozambique

Zona Verde Machamba, Maputo Mozambique

Kruger Park, South Africa

Don't worry, there's plenty more where those came from!

Sitting, Waiting, Wishing...

I love that Jack Johnson song.. that is me right now, I'm sitting, waiting, wishing in the airport waiting for my London flight.

Anyway, greetings from the first class lounge in Johannesburg, South Africa! Kailey's flying first class with Air France and got me in here too...

Yesterday was good, we tied up some loose ends in Maputo and went down to the Feira to buy some last minute things. Then we packed cleaned and woke up early to get ready for our flights first to SA then to London. We were all ready to go and waiting for our cab, and a half hour goes by without him arriving to take us to the airport. So after waiting a bit longer we decided to hire a random car.

We get an old Datsun pick-up to take us (Kailey and me) to the airport and I tell him to take the fastest route possible. Hahaha...so we are going on these tiny dirt roads through these little canico (reed huts) homes neighborhoods, Kailey is in the back with our backpacks and I am sitting shotgun to talk it up with our driver and make sure he really is taking us to the airport. We were quite a sight! When we got to the airport, we were able to check in and get our bags check without having to pay any fees, which was great! Our flight arrived in South Africa without any problems and I have been here since noon, and my flight leaves around midnight. But I have been window shopping, had something to eat, and now we are living the high life in the lounge.

But enough about that...I wanted to write some memorable moments from Mozambique:

Getting a ride home from work in a Semi truck
Meeting Alice and going to her church
Killing cockroaches with spoons in our kitchen
Nights at Changalane and the misty early mornings
The time our tire blew out on the way to Beira
Seeing the Red Tide of the Indian Ocean
Giving a talk about education at the youth fireside
Going on splits with the missionaries in Matola
Cooking tacos in our apartment listening to music LOUD
Awkward dance competitions in the living room
Teaching a music appreciation class with just a drum and a guitar
Staying overnight in a random hut on the coast of Beira
Cougar Talk with Kailey and Christina
Going to take pictures with Mike at sunrise
Teaching my culture class students how to do a water balloon toss
Eating an amazing Indian dinner on the coast in Beira
Watching a garage band practice of a friend in T3
Waking up each morning to someone yelling about their coconuts or the sound of a rooster
Meeting Elder and Sister Nelson and getting to talk to them a bit.
Watching one of our econ class students get baptized.
Praying late one night to see Isaura, and seeing her the very next day.
Endless inside jokes between the fearsome foursome and other members of the group.

As you can see I had some memorable experiences in Mozambique. The funny thing is that I really hadn't been planning on coming back so soon, but now I can't imagine it any other way. I have grown to love Mozambique, the people, the culture and everything about it. I feel like this experience has been 100% different than last year's, and I am glad I have had both trips to take in two very different sides to what Mozambique has to offer. I am grateful to the Kennedy Center and to my boss for pulling some strings to get me here. I am thankful to my parents who raised me to appreciate other cultures and to try walking in other peoples shoes for a while. I am thankful to my Heavenly Father, this experience has been a strength to my testimony. I have enjoyed seeing the church growing here, helping the missionaries, and serving in the church. I saw how much God loves each of his children-whether they are living in utter poverty or in the nice beach homes he loves them all. I am thankful for everything I have learned on this trip, and I hope to someday come back to Mozambique.

Bayete Mocambique!

Week in Beira

So last you heard we were in a hotel after a long LONG busride.

Sunday morning we went to church, and let me tell you, we were so blessed for doing so. We talked with the Zone leaders and explained why we showed up to sacrament meeting in church clothes with our backpacking backpacks with us. They told us that there is a home two blocks from the beach that belongs to the mission that wasn't being used and that we could stay there for free. So we went to check it out after church and it was perfect. We stayed there for the week and avoided paying hundreds of dollars. And there was a kitchen and a washing machine, it was heaven!

Monday we went to see a wood carver out in Manga, which is on the outskirts of the city. I bought some souveniers and also was able to meet up with Mike and see Care for Life, where he is working for this week. It was neat to see the place I have heard so much about from so many people in the US. He is having a lot of fun out there helping train people and observe classes in rural communities. Later that night we met up for dinner, and right as we all went to pay the check with our card, the lights went out. For the whole neighborhood. It was pitch black! We paid in cash, walked back to the chapa stop enjoying the breaking waves and the stars, and went home.

Tuesday we went to the beach, which is a long story! We rented a van to take us out to the river where we would cross to get to the beach and pick us up. About 45 minutes into the trip he stops us in the middle of nowhere and demands that if he takes us any farther we pay him more. It was ugly, mainly because I cannot fathom doing that to someone, it was so dishonest. After all of us taking our turn chewing him out in Portugese for doing that he finally drove us the rest of the way. We paid him for the ride there and told him we didn't need a ride home. So we cross the river and upon arriving on the other side we see that there is a little inn on the island. We talk to the owner and to stay in a little hut on white sand surrounded by coconuts it cost only $12. We decided to stay the night, eventhough we had no change of clothing or anything. It was a good choice! We went to the beach and swam till the sun went down, then ate dinner while the generator was still running (they only have electricity from 6-9pm each night) and then we went back down to the beach. Just the night before Mike was explaining the red tide phenomenon to me, and as we get to the beach we see red tide. It was AMAZING! I had never seen it before. Then all of us went in the water because it was too cool to pass up, but we weren't in our swimsuits and didn't want to get our only clothes wet, so I'll leave it up to you to figure out what happened there :)

Wednesday after we rode home from the beach in the back of a truck with the catch of the day and about 30 people, we went to help the elders construct a jungle-gym for an orphanage. It was fun, and then that night Mike came out to go to dinner again-this time it was indian food....mmmm! I loved it! After he left Chrstina, Kailey and I made a batch of no-bake cookies in the microwave for our busride home, and packed our stuff, and Dusty found us a ride to the bus terminal for 2:45 am.

Thusday 2 am we wake up, Dusty calls the ride, and he says he can't come. Lucky those same elders that found us a place to stay said they would take us to the terminal. Those to deserve major blessings! So Kailey, Dusty, Christina and me rode home on the bus for 15 hours. It was a nice bus this time, we could put our feet up, there were movies and snacks, air conditioning and a bathroom! HEAVEN! So now...

We are back in our apt in Maputo with a few days left here in Mozambique. Just today and tomorrow basically, because I start my journey to London on Sunday with Kailey and Christina. I will be sad to leave this year, I have a feeling this will not be the last time I am here however. I will find my way back somehow. Even when I get home I will be writing on here, about things I didn't have time to write about and putting up pictures.

I hope everyone has a good weekend, I know I will!

Love you all!

Lots has happened...

So I am writing this past midnight at my hotel in Beira, which is a long ways from Maputo, but let me recap this past week before I get into that can of worms...

Monday we left on the bus for South Africa where we picked up our vans and drove into Swaziland. I was driving the BYU student van, on the right side of the car, on the right side of the road. And it was a stick-shift. Good times! Let's just put it this way, no one died while I was driving!

Tuesday we spent in Swaziland visiting a village, and some of the group jumped in the waterfall that I got in last year. Seeing how it was freezing water, raining, and I had a cold I didn't want to chance getting even more sick!

Wednesday we drove into South Africa to Kruger National Park for safari. Thursday was the best though, because...

We saw amazing animals, like Cheetah and a whole family of elephants, and seven lions who had just killed a zeebra or something and were eating with their cubs. It was like watching a national geographic video live, it was incredible.

Friday we came home, tided up loose ends, unpacked, packed again, and left for Beira Saturday morning at 5 am. I slept most of the way here, and it was pretty uneventful other than the tire blowing out and us being stuck in the middle of nowhere for about an hour until a big-rig helped the bus.

Tomorrow I think all of us will be sleeping in, I am glad we all made it to Beira safe and sound. Most of us will be here only a few days, we just wanted to see the city here and get to know a different part of the country, and then we will catch some chapas home that stop along the beaches in the lower two provinces on the way back to Maputo.

As you might have guessed, our program is officially over and after the traveling here in Mozambique I will be going to London with Christina and Kailey for a few days. I am excited to do that, I loved London last year and on the way here this year, so I'm thinking it is still going to be good a week from now. I hope everyone is well and I will see you soon!