Wednesday, 3 April: Gorongosa Adventures

Today was to be a day filled with running errands and traveling to Gorongosa Adventures (check them out here), the camp where the missionary retreat was going to be held. Before the hecticness of the day began, John and I peacefully watched some Paradise Flycatchers from the veranda.

I went with Steve to do the errands. Our first stop was the ATMs at the center square beside the Café Riviera. Since Steve was only going to be a few minutes, he double parked and left me to sit in the vehicle. As I waited I noticed a couple policemen walking along with their AK-47s. This was a bit unsettling to me, but everyone else just kept going like it was an everyday occurrence. Steve returned after a bit. Of the 3 ATMs, only one was functioning. One was broken and the other was out of money.

Our next stop was a wholesale warehouse where we bought bottled water. Then we drove to Carnes na Beira, a meat market owned by a South African. There we picked up an inordinate amount of meat.

We were still lacking camarão so went returned to Praia Nova. There we met Miguel who gave us the news that only one boat had returned and his friends were still at least an hour out. We could see 3 of the dugout canoes headed back to the beach but they were still a long ways away. Steve asked Miguel to call us if they caught any large prawns. We exited Praia Nova and went to ShopRite, a South African supermarket chain. There we bought bread, eggs, and some grapes.

Returning to the house we unloaded everything. Then I took a welcome shower. When I came out of the shower, lunch was on the counter waiting. It made a sandwich and joined the others outside only to discover that I had thought was chicken salad was actually tuna salad. I don't particularly care for tuna, but I was hungry and not wanting to be a bad guest so I stomached the sandwich. I used the delicious leftover fruit salad from the night before to wash it all down.

After lunch we packed up the Land Cruiser and got ready to leave for Gorongosa. Steve got a call from Miguel that the fishermen had caught some large prawns and he was holding them for us. We finished packing and headed down to Praia Nova for our sixth trip to buy shrimp.

Since it was around noon, the market place at Praia Nova was in full swing. With all of the fishermen on the shore, Steve commented that it reminded him of what the Sea of Galilee must have been like during Jesus' time when his first disciples "left everything and followed him." (Luke 5:11b) This setting has caused one of the pastors in Steve's discipleship class to begin holding Bible studies on the beach at Praia Nova.

Boat graveyard at Praia Nova.

This was also JoLene's first time at Praia Nova. She was amazed at all the different stands and everything that was being sold. Stands full of secondhand or donated clothing lined the street. The Mozambicans rate these clothes as A Grade or B Grade. A Grade clothing comes from the United States while B Grade clothing comes from China. People buy bundles of shirts and make a business out of them. Sadly, Steve explained that most of the clothes are still too expensive for many of the people to buy. I wonder how the people who donated these clothes would feel if they knew the truth.

Some of the shirts on sale.

Steve finally returned with Miguel and a bag full of large prawns. Our quest to find camarão grande was complete! We put the shrimp in the cooler and left Praia Nova to head to the retreat.

As we were heading out of the city, we stopped at Youngson's house. Here we picked up Raimundo's wife, Tanya. She was going along to the retreat to provide childcare for Jonathan and Becky Owen's kids. I said goodbye to Youngson since I would not see him again before leaving for Zimbabwe.

In the car, Tanya informed us who had spread the rumor that her husband had tried to commit suicide. This person tried to play an April Fools' joke on us, but didn't quite understand that the pranks Americans play are supposed to be harmless. This was a reminder of the dangers of cross-cultural misunderstanding.

With all six of us aboard the Land Cruiser, we headed west towards Inchope (pron. "in-cho-pay"), the intersection of the main east-west and north-south highways. The distance to Gorongosa Adventures was 180 km (111 mi) and would take us around 4 hours to drive. The road between Beira and Inchope was paved, but with many large potholes and some sections that had been reduced to dirt.

During the trip, the scenery changed from coastal swampland to flat plain to mountainous. The flats were an excellent place for birding so we stopped numerous times for John to get out and identify the birds. This was done by Steve stopping abruptly on the side of the road (still on the road, mind you, because there were no shoulders). John would then get out of the car with his binos (British form of binoculars) to identify the distinguishing features of the bird. Steve or Chris would then say what kind of bird it was either from memory or by looking it up in one of the many bird books they brought along. After a few minutes, John would get back in the car and we'd be on our way until the next bird was spotted.

We came to a bridge over the Púnguè River (the same river the flows into the ocean at Beira) and Steve stopped because there were some fishermen selling freshwater camarão grande. These prawns were larger than the ones we bought on the beach. Many were at least 12 inches in length and had bright blue legs. Since we weren't able to get enough shrimp at Praia Nova, Steve bought some more here.

Camarão grande!

When we got to Inchope, we turned right and headed north. We were also swarmed to people selling cashews and other products. They quickly surrounded our vehicle and were shoving their wares in through the open windows. Steve bought 6 bags at a price of 100 meticais ($3.33) per bag.

As we were leaving Inchope, we got stopped at a police checkpoint. They wanted to see our passports so they could verify that we were in the country legally. Meanwhile, Steve had to get out to open up the back of the car and explain what we were transporting and why. The biggest hassle was over the paperwork for the car. If you remember from earlier, Steve had just renewed the vehicles licenses. He had not, however, put the new stickers in the windshield. They finally let us continue on our journey without asking for any money.

A few kilometers down the road, we stopped so everyone could get out and stretch our legs. During this stop I learned how the Newcomers got the two vehicles they own. When Steve and Chris first came to Mozambique, they purchased a car and had it shipped from Japan (this is quite common in Africa). Meanwhile, the previous owner of their house, a South African man, had to return to South Africa on short notice because his work permit was not renewed. He needed cash on hand so he sold it to the Newcomers for a low price. Their other vehicle, a red 1991 Toyota Hilux was owned by MCC. They didn't need it anyone so Melanie sold it to them.

Another interesting story we learned was about the owner of the Gorongosa Adventures. Recently, he was driving by the river near the park at night. He came around a bend in the road and was face to face with a bull hippopotamus. If you don't know anything about hippos, you should know that more people in Africa are killed by hippos than any other animal except the mosquito. Back to the story. The hippo decided to charge the vehicle. By the grace of God, he was able to escape with his life by throwing his car into reverse and turning the headlights off. I hoped this wouldn't be an issue for anyone this weekend.

Beautiful view from the bridge. Thankfully no hippos today!

Finally we arrived at the turn for Gorongosa National Park and turned off the tarred road onto the wash-boarded dirt road. After 8 km of extra bumpy road, we arrived at the camp. There we were greeted by one of the camp's Mozambican managers, Raimundo (a different Raimundo than Tonya's husband). We unpacked the vehicle and took our belongings to our respective tents.

View of a tent shelter.

Let me describe the living quarters for you. They were glorified tents, typical of African safaris or hunting camps. Each tent had 2 single beds, a bookshelf/dresser, wastebasket, and 2 lights inside. Each tent also had an 8x10 foot canopy in front of it. Most of the tents also had a permanent bamboo and reed structure built around them. On the ground were reed mats. My structure also had an extended sitting area with a table and 5 chairs. In front of it was a raised circular fire pit and also an oven.

My tent.

My tent was located in prime real estate close to the center of the camp and right next to bathroom. I would be sharing my tent with John Spurrier, a doctor at Macha Mission Hospital in Zambia

Sitting at the table I was able to witness quite a few wonderful things. Behind me, I could hear the ants either marching or chewing (it was quite surreal). In the rafters, two lizards perched near the light. As insects carelessly landed on the bamboo rafters, the lizards would race forward to snatch an easy meal. All kinds of birds and other called one another in the forest surrounding the camp. There were also innumerable insects and bugs flying around which avoided me after a careful application of every square inch of my body with bug spray.

Quite a smart little lizard.

Shortly before 7:00 pm, we gathered to head up to the house for dinner. Although the men working in the camp were trustworthy, we were told to bring our passports, money, and cameras along with us whenever we walked to the house. When we arrived at the house, we were met by Sakkie (pron. "saki". Sakkie is short for Isaac, pron. "e-saac"). Sakki is the main manager of the camp. He is the oldest son of Piet (pron. "Pete") and Ria van Zyl, the owners of Gorongosa Adventures. Sakki is Afrikaans and is a professional hunter when not managing the camp—no small feat for only being 22 years of age!

For dinner, we had pork in a sauce over rice with green beans. The food, made by Ria, was top notch (It puts Camp Yolijwa's food to shame). We ate in Piet and Ria's dining room in their very unique house. It is unlike anything I had experienced in my life. Their house is completely open air except for the bedrooms. It has a thick, grass roof (Despite what you may think, well-built grass roofs with proper maintenance can last for more than 15 years.). The section of the house with the dining room was in a bamboo/reed addition. The van Zyls' keep adding on more rooms to accommodate groups of guests who come to the camp (The camp can hold up to 100 people!). Despite the size of the house, each room is decorated in a rustic style that showcases the family's history.

The van Ryl's amazing house.

After dinner, I returned to my tent and went to sleep. The mattress was more like a foam pad and not very comfortable, but after a long day and a good meal, it didn’t take too long to fall asleep.