Saturday, 6 April: Mt. Gorongosa

Today was the day we were hiking up Mt. Gorongosa. I got up at 5:15 am to get ready before our 6:00 am departure. A light breakfast was served at the small kitchen area in the camp where everyone gathered. Shortly before 6:00, Sakkie showed up with his dad's vehicle. Steve was the other person driving. I had the privilege of riding in the back of Steve's Toyota on a bench seat sans seat belt. Heather was on the bench seat opposite me. The others in Steve's vehicle were Doug, Julie, Earl, and Lois.

Being in the back wasn't too bad for the first hour (40 km) of the trip since we were on a tarred road the entire time. The second hour (20 km) was on a dirt road that required four-wheel drive. It was very bumpy but Steve did a good job of avoiding the nastiest of the bumps.

The scenery along this road was mostly grass that was at least as high as the vehicle and farmland where many different kinds of foods were growing. Every now and then we would pass a small village. Many people and children waved as we passed by. We stopped in one of these villages and Steve bought some tiny bananas.

A stand at one of the villages.

At the end of the road we came to a gate. Sakkie got out of his car to talk to the gatekeeper. He opened the gate and we proceeded up to the top of a ridge. At the end of this road, we parked.

A group consisting of Sakkie, both Johns, Doug, Jake, Heather, Julie, and I began the descent into the valley while the rest of the group stayed with the cars. Our pace was slow due to the difficult trail and because we stopped every time someone spotted a bird (which was quite often). The trail was difficult for two reasons. First, the tall grass made it so you couldn't see where you were stepping. The second reason was that there were many large rocks in the path that were slick. Not being able to see them made them even more hazardous. Fortunately, no one was hurt from falling despite numerous people tripping and slipping. The only major fall happened when Heather was crossing a small stream. She slipped on the rocks and landed in the water, her jeans and shoes getting wet.

Mt. Gorongosa shrouded in the clouds.

John H. shrouded in the grass.

Much of the hike I spent talking with Doug about running. He was training for a marathon and was asking me about different training techniques he had read about. I was able to affirm a lot of what he was doing and gave him a few tips I learned from running in my college days.

Red-collared widowbird.

Eventually we reached our goal, Mt. Gorongosa. The ecosystem of the mountain was much different from the grassy valley. The entire mountain was covered in a rainforest. The path to into larger rocks covered in moss. We stopped by a small brook and sat down. Sakkie explained that at this point it was best to wait for the birds to come to us.

A scene in the scenery.

After a short while, we were blessed with the bird we had come for, the green-headed oriole, which can only be found on Mt. Gorongosa. I'm not into birds, but having the chance to see a bird that few people in the history of the world have ever seen was something special. We were able to four or five of them before a group of us headed down out of the forest.

The avid birders of the group.

The prize of our search, the green-headed oriole.

We waited for the other group for a while. When they still hadn't come we started back towards the cars since it was now 10:20 am and we were planning to be back at the cars by 10:30 am. After a short distance, something didn't seem right so we turned back and ran into the other group at the spot where we had made a wrong turn. We arrived back at the vehicles around 11:15 am.

View of the mountain on our hike back.

Our next stop was a nearby waterfall where we were going to eat lunch. The waterfall was beautiful even though we were above the main fall. There were a few small falls where we were. The layout of the waterfalls made it so a large pool had formed below one which was about 10 feet high. Sakkie, Doug, and Steve all dove into the pool and swam out to the edge of the main waterfall to look over it.

You can see them on the right.

Heather really wanted to jump in and was trying to get me to jump in with her, but I chickened out. In retrospect, I wish I would have. There are only so many things that come as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that should be done when you have the chance. This was one of them.

Contemplating the jump.

After lunch, I found a lookout spot above the falls with an amazing view. There were also some steps that led down to the edge of the waterfall. I hiked down them, but the view wasn't very good because of all the trees.

This picture doesn't do justice to the view.

When I came back to the rest of the group, I could see that Heather was completely soaked. She had finally decided to jump in, jeans and all. It was time to head back to the camp, so we all piled back into the cars.

When we returned to camp, I took a shower in the little free time we had before the session. It was also at this time that I discovered how bad of a sunburn I had. My arms were really red, but worst of all was my neck. In the session, we split into groups and discussed stories dealing with conflict.

The first group studied the story of the widows who weren't being fed. The second group, which I was a part of, dealt with the Jerusalem Council and the issue of whether or not Gentile believers needed to be circumcised. The last group studied the story of Paul and Barnabas's disagreement over John Mark. Each group used the inductive Bible study method.

The next item on the agenda was dinner at the house. Supper began on a somber note when we learned that Sakkie had developed malaria-like symptoms. The meal was good, but all I remember about it was that we had butternut squash. Unfortunately, my description here doesn't do it justice.

View of the dining room at the house.

The other highlight of dinner (not for me, but for everyone else at my table) was Julie cracking a joke about my sunburn. It went a little something like this, "[talking about birding] John really lit up when he saw that one bird. I believe it was the red-necked Sam." I had to give it to her, it was a good joke, but her punch line delivery needed some work.

After dinner, the Malawi team led devotions. They gave ministry updates and someone prayed for each team member. They ended the time with a humorous song (lyrics are in the description if you click "Show More") about minibus drivers in Malawi (although the song fits for any country in Southern Africa).