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
Friday, January 1, 2010
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
shoulda made a list
Oh how quickly the break is passing. I can't believe I'll be sitting in professional development meetings in one week. Oh my!
I've used this break to do something I love-read. I've read, read, and read some more. In between reading stints, I have had some "fun"
I have a big fear of snakes. Just the thought of them makes me shudder. As my friend and I were slowly jogging one day, I asked her if there were snakes around here. She told me she hadn't seen one in years. I'm sure you know where the story goes from here. A few days later we are jogging again when I see something emerge from the brush about 10 feet in front of us. This HUGE snake slithers across the dirt path. It's so big it covers the path which was about 3 feet long. Let me tell you-I did a "happy" dance and quickly turned around.
One tradition the "English" speakers have here is to sing carols while cruising on the river. There were about 20 people in our group consisting of Americans, Hondurans, Swiss, and Germans. Oh, and by cruising, I mean renting a pirogue for an hour. After being on the water for about 15-20 minutes, my friend leans over during a carol and whispers, "We're taking on water." She wasn't kidding either. I guess it's common and fortunately the boat guy didn't try to be a hero. We went back to the bank of the river and switched boats (without crossing over to land). You should have a great mental picture because my balance stinks.
What else?
I'v been out to a village where I climbed rocks in flip flops and a pagna. I've been in a car when it got a flat tire. I found Mt Dew in a boutique. I helped my friend make homemade marshmallows for our upcoming camping trip. She even had to make homemade corn syrup so that we could make the marshmallows.
Adventures? Naaaa...just life in Africa.
Catch ya in 2010. (Now is it two thouand ten or twenty ten? I've wondered this for a while.)
I've used this break to do something I love-read. I've read, read, and read some more. In between reading stints, I have had some "fun"
I have a big fear of snakes. Just the thought of them makes me shudder. As my friend and I were slowly jogging one day, I asked her if there were snakes around here. She told me she hadn't seen one in years. I'm sure you know where the story goes from here. A few days later we are jogging again when I see something emerge from the brush about 10 feet in front of us. This HUGE snake slithers across the dirt path. It's so big it covers the path which was about 3 feet long. Let me tell you-I did a "happy" dance and quickly turned around.
One tradition the "English" speakers have here is to sing carols while cruising on the river. There were about 20 people in our group consisting of Americans, Hondurans, Swiss, and Germans. Oh, and by cruising, I mean renting a pirogue for an hour. After being on the water for about 15-20 minutes, my friend leans over during a carol and whispers, "We're taking on water." She wasn't kidding either. I guess it's common and fortunately the boat guy didn't try to be a hero. We went back to the bank of the river and switched boats (without crossing over to land). You should have a great mental picture because my balance stinks.
What else?
I'v been out to a village where I climbed rocks in flip flops and a pagna. I've been in a car when it got a flat tire. I found Mt Dew in a boutique. I helped my friend make homemade marshmallows for our upcoming camping trip. She even had to make homemade corn syrup so that we could make the marshmallows.
Adventures? Naaaa...just life in Africa.
Catch ya in 2010. (Now is it two thouand ten or twenty ten? I've wondered this for a while.)
Friday, December 18, 2009
Crossing the Border
Alas, I finally have something to blog about. At this moment, I am sitting in Kayes, Mali. You may be asking yourself, "What is so significant about Kayes?" Well, my good friend Danielle grew up here. I had the opportunity to spend Christmas with her so I jumped at the chance. Oh, and Kayes' other claim to fame is that it is the third hottest city in the world (based on average temp).
Our journey:
We, as in Danielle, her two siblings, and myself, left for the bush taxi area in Dakar at 4 am. We arrived shortly thereafter where Danielle had the responsibility of bargaining for luggage prices, getting seats, etc. (If you've never been to a 3rd world country, you've never seen bargaining quite like this.) Anyways, we were off and running at 5:15 am. The "we" now included the driver and 3 other African men.
Now, you may be asking yourself, "How big is this bush taxi?" Good question my friend. Picture an old station wagon that holds 8. Roomie? No. Functional? Yes. We joked that this was a magic taxi because the gas gauge always read empty, the speedometer 0 kph, and the temperature 0.
I have heard Danielle's bush taxi stories and knew anything could happen. I was warned the journey could take anywhere from 12-18 hours to the Malian border. We were (hopefully) prepared for anything. We had food, snacks, money, pagnas to use as blankets, pillows, a bed if needed, books on tape, grading. Thankfully we had a great and speedy trip. We made record time and arrived in Kayes 13.5 hours after we left Dakar! (FYI-Dad, good thing I am used to not stopping much. See, I knew my abnormal way of traveling would pay off.)
Danielle's parents met us at the border with Coke. :) Shortly after crossing into Mali, we saw a couple packs of baboons. Danielle always claimed that Mali was superior to Senegal. haha
I haven't ventured outside the house yet so I don't have many things to write about Kayes yet. My credible source (Danielle's dad) said the ave temp right now is low 90s with 25% humidity. I can tell you that equals dry. :)
Over and out from Kayes.
Our journey:
We, as in Danielle, her two siblings, and myself, left for the bush taxi area in Dakar at 4 am. We arrived shortly thereafter where Danielle had the responsibility of bargaining for luggage prices, getting seats, etc. (If you've never been to a 3rd world country, you've never seen bargaining quite like this.) Anyways, we were off and running at 5:15 am. The "we" now included the driver and 3 other African men.
Now, you may be asking yourself, "How big is this bush taxi?" Good question my friend. Picture an old station wagon that holds 8. Roomie? No. Functional? Yes. We joked that this was a magic taxi because the gas gauge always read empty, the speedometer 0 kph, and the temperature 0.
I have heard Danielle's bush taxi stories and knew anything could happen. I was warned the journey could take anywhere from 12-18 hours to the Malian border. We were (hopefully) prepared for anything. We had food, snacks, money, pagnas to use as blankets, pillows, a bed if needed, books on tape, grading. Thankfully we had a great and speedy trip. We made record time and arrived in Kayes 13.5 hours after we left Dakar! (FYI-Dad, good thing I am used to not stopping much. See, I knew my abnormal way of traveling would pay off.)
Danielle's parents met us at the border with Coke. :) Shortly after crossing into Mali, we saw a couple packs of baboons. Danielle always claimed that Mali was superior to Senegal. haha
I haven't ventured outside the house yet so I don't have many things to write about Kayes yet. My credible source (Danielle's dad) said the ave temp right now is low 90s with 25% humidity. I can tell you that equals dry. :)
Over and out from Kayes.
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