Once upon a time, there was a missionary family that lived in Mali. They entertained people with their travel adventures. When you heard them, you thought, "Now those are missionary stories." Then a young lady named Annie went to stay with them. Her journeys to Mali went smoothly, perhaps too smoothly.
Fast forward to New Year's Eve, 2009. The family was to camp near some gorgeous waterfalls about 4 hours away. The trip would involve traversing some rough terrain, but the trip was worth it (or so I was told).
We started off early in the morning, stopped to see the location of the new Mali dam and basically bounced along enjoying the company. There were times when we were able to drive in third gear and everyone was happy with the progress we were making. Then we hit the rocks (which I later named the rocks of despair). We had to put the vehicle into 4-wheel drive which proved to be fatal (to the vehicle). We lost all the oil in the vehicle AND got a flat tire. We quickly determined the vehicle would not hold oil anymore.
The time: 11:30.
Time into the trip: 3.5 hours (only 3 hours of driving)
Location: approx 6-7 kilometers from a village
Danielle's dad was able to get into the village and find a mechanic. Little did we know it was someone trying to be a stunt driver. We were tied by a small rope and the man was going way too fast. (I am not exaggerating here.) After several stops for rope breaks, we made it close to the village. The last task-climb this big hill. Unfortunately the car couldn't make it up and we had to end up pushing the car up the hill and being towed by another vehicle.
The time: 1:30ish
Time into the trip: 5.5 hours
Location: some village I cannot spell
We had a small problem, besides the broken down car. There were other people waiting at the waterfalls with tents. They weren't going to leave until we arrived. There was no cell phone coverage so we had to hope they would get into range, drive by etc. This meant we had to sit alongside the main road and wait...and wait...and wait. I am sure we looked quite funny in our chairs, reading books, completing Sudoku puzzles, etc, especially since we were the only white people there. I started to take pictures of things that came down the road pretending I was watching a parade. (If you want to see pics, check out my facebook page.)
The time: 5:00ish
Time into the trip: 9 hours
Location: same village I cannot spell
We were able to get a hold of a family friend around 3 who was willing to come and tow us home. Unfortunately he wouldn't arrive until 7. After sitting for such a long time, I proposed that we find the river. Us kids (and Chester the dog) set out. After some climbing, it was a success. The views were beautiful.
Around 6:45 we arrived back in the village. The sun was starting to set which meant we couldn't read anymore...Alas, I was with the resourceful family so we read by flashlight. Then we looked up to see the "full" moon. I remembered reading on someone's facebook page that it was to be a blue moon. Only the moon didn't look full so I justified it by saying it must have been full last night. (more to come on the moon)
The time: 7:10
Time into the trip: 11ish hours
Location: same village
Our hero arrived ready to tow us back! We hooked up to the back of his vehicle and we were off (much slower this time). As we were driving, we noticed the moon getting more full. We pondered this and came to the conclusion that it was partially covered by a cloud before. (Later we realized that we had witnessed an eclipse!)
The tow trip was going well, all things considered. We were getting covered in dust but that could not be helped. Then kathunk...several things fell off the roof rack. Fortunately, Ben realized that some things had fallen completely off the rack and he ran down the road to find the grill and mats. After retying the items, we were off. (Our only other problem was coming unhooked on top of a bridge).
The time: 11:40
Time into the trip: 15.5 hours
Location: home!
Needless to say we stayed up until midnight to ring in the New Year. (I'm still wondering if this was just a ploy to get me to stay up so late.) ;)
Thanks for reading my short story.
AP
