March 28, 2009

It has been a week now since our return from Zambia and we have been blessed all week with a variety of Flying Mission Services visitors. We are eager to share about the six days of travel experiences we had, so with this first free opportunity since our return... here we go!

On Tuesday the 17th of March, we departed Maun to the north with our friends Jeff and Staci Powers. Jeff and Staci have been the Baptist missionaries in Maun for over eleven years. Their experience with the Maun area and people that they shared with us was critical in helping us settle into Maun quickly and easily when we arrived here. Their mission decided they were now needed in Namwala, Zambia, approximately seven hundred and fifty road miles north of Maun. The day before we left a large moving van had loaded most of their household belongings, and Jeff's truck and trailer were also packed to the full. Using the rack Colin had made for the Pajero allowed us to carry the two large 11 year old dogs that Jeff and Staci have had since puppies when they first came to Botswana. Staci also rode with us to help keep the dogs calm, as they had never gone on a long trip before. We did have to take a number of rode side breaks now and then so that we could all stretch our legs a bit.

Our travels took us first east from Maun to the small community of Nata. The going was good and we kept alert for some of the usual rode hazard such as livestock and people traveling by donkey carts. Note the plastic chair in the cart pictured below, it provided more comfort than we normally see built into this mode of travel.

At Nata we traveled north to the village of Kasane. The road is known to be very dangerous as it is badly in need of repair. The first 25 miles were okay, but then for about 20 miles there were huge potholes everywhere on the road leaving cars to use the gravel shoulder as it can not even be driven on.



The next 60 miles were better, with random bad spots. The closer we got to Kasane, the more elephants we saw just feeding along the road side causing us to take a wide birth around them.


After approximately 11 hours of travel we reached Kasane and spent the night at a building in an industrial area, that a friend of Jeff's owned. There was running water and a fence around the property so the dogs could roam free. Jeff and Staci stayed in an office, while we slept in our car like we had done when we went to the Moremi Wildlife Reserve in August.

Rising long before first light, we ate a light breakfast and headed to the boarder separating Botswana and Zambia. The plan was to be one of the first to cross the pontoon ferry, pay all the fees and charges, and be on our way north again by 11 am....

Going through the Botswana side was simple, and we drove to the ferry landing to cross the Zambezi River. At the landing, tourists are bombarded by so called "clearing agents" wanting to help you with all the boarder procedures. They make a living by cheating their clients with the money exchange once at the boarder post in Zambia. Jeff and Staci had warned us of their
aggressiveness, and a fight even broke out as two men each tried to get to Jeff before the other.
Jeff went across before us as the ferry can only carry one large truck and a couple of vehicles at a time. The crossing is a major transportation route north and there are always trucks lined up for about a mile with a two to three day wait before their turn.

Two pontoon ferries transport people and vehicles across, so once Jeff was on his way the next boat landed and we were soon loaded and crossing ourselves. The Zambezi reminded us so much of the Yukon River we lived beside for over 30 years. It made us rather nostalgic and somewhat homesick to be on the river while crossing....



To that point, things had gone pretty much as planned. We had been at the boarder crossing when it opened at 6:30am, but we never imagined we would end up spending the whole day waiting to get "cleared" to enter Zambia. The boarder is lined with buildings that we needed to go into one at a time and pay for the pontoon crossing, our visas, a vehicle carbon tax, vehicle insurance, a council tax, and when Colin got to the last office to pay the road tax he was denied the paperwork as we did not have the "blue book" for our car. The "blue book" is what they call the registration, though all cars have a registration sticker on the windshield. Colin attempted to sway the official to look at our sticker and allow us to enter, but he would not budge.

Fortunately Travis had a key to our house, so we phoned him and told him where the registration papers were. He then made a copy and went to the small police station by our house to have it certified. After scanning it, he emailed it to the legitimate clearing agent the Powers had in Kasane, who had one of her workers hand carry a copy across on the ferry. It all took one hour from the phone call, a miracle in it self, but then the official made Colin stand in line for two more hours to wait for the final stamp on the paperwork.

By then it was 2pm, and the Powers paperwork had not yet been cleared. It was even more involved for them because of the move and importing a car. We spent the day watching people come and go from the boarder and even their moving van that came after us, with all the main household things, cleared before Jeff and Staci. In the end, we were the last vehicles out of the boarder gate at 6:30pm and Jeff still had to do more paperwork in Livingston the next morning.


It was just about dark and we had another hour drive to Livingston where we stayed the night at a camp ground. In the morning, we left Jeff in Livingston and continued to travel northeast. The movers where now hours ahead of us, and we needed to open the house for them to unload the truck.

The road out of Livingston was bad also, but a bit better than the Kasane road as they had filled most of the larger pot holes in with dirt. There was also a long dirt detour before finally getting to good pavement again.
There were lots of interesting things and people to see along the detour, as it took us through little settlements along the way. We stopped to look at a large snake that some people killed by the side of the road where they sold charcoal at a roadside stand. Everywhere we went, bright yellow and orange daisies grew wild and the countryside was far more lush and green than Botswana.


To get to Namwala, the new location for the Powers ministry, we had to once again leave the paved road at Monze and travel northwest on a mostly one lane dirt road. It was about 4:30 pm when we arrived at Jeff and Staci's new home and after helping to move things into the house we spent the night on cots in the guest room.

Jeff had spent another full day and night in Livingston, and it was decided that Staci just wanted to start unpacking so it would be best if we started our journey back. With hugs and a few tears, we loaded ourselves back into the Pajero and had a leisurely drive back though the rural one lane road to Monze. We enjoyed stopping to chat with local villagers as they fished with large baskets or fish nets by standing in the swollen creeks along the way.

All along the way, people used oxen and carts for transportation instead of donkeys, and we never saw any livestock left unattended as you find in Botswana.


The rivers in the north are flooding this year, due to a larger amount of rain this season. We saw a village flooding and also had to cross a swollen river on our way back. Colin took off his shoes to walk across first to see how deep it was before driving through. There were ladies in the water fishing and started laughing at his ankles and feet that are bright white where his socks keep him from tanning. The river was safe to cross, so we moved on.

Just outside of Choma on the paved road south of Monze, we saw Jeff and visited briefly and said our good-byes. By late afternoon on Friday March 20, we arrived back in Livingston to stay the night. Victoria Falls is just about 3 miles out of Livingston, so we wanted to have plenty of time in the morning to see the natural wonder. Our 27th wedding anniversary was a week away, so as a surprise, Colin decided to check the prices of a nice hotel just walking distance from the falls. It is currently the off season for tourists, and in addition the woman at the counter gave Colin a resident rate when she heard we had helped our missionary friend's move up to Zambia, so it was very reasonable.

The grounds were beautiful and after days in a car, we enjoyed walking around looking at the birds and wildlife on the property. In the background was the constant roar of the falls, in which the locals referred to as "the smoke that thunders." Our room was lovely and we enjoyed the visits from the monkeys living on the grounds.








Early the next morning we got the complementary rain coats offered to people staying at the hotel, and we headed off to the falls just a few hundred feet beyond the back gate of the hotel. A major attraction at the falls was bungee jumping from the bridge built in 1904 between Zambia and Zimbabwe, maybe next time??? Even though we could only see part of the falls due to the mist generated during the rainy season, the power and majesty of the water was still incredibly spectacular.


The Zambezi River was filled to the brim from all the rain and in the picture below, we are standing at the top of the falls near the edge as the water rushes over.

Near the entrance of the falls, there were many local artists selling their crafts to tourists visiting Victoria Falls. We enjoyed walking through the little shops and bartering with the vendors while we purchased a few mementos. Victoria Falls is definitely a place we would love to return to if any of you would like to come visit us.
On Saturday March 21, after our visit to the falls, we once again crossed the Zambezi River on the pontoon boat and returned to Botswana. It was mid afternoon, so we decided to camp beside the swollen Zambezi River in Kasane for the night before driving that horrible road again. We had a great camp style meal and enjoyed a quiet evening by the fire listening to the nearby hippos. Early in the morning we arose to a bull elephant about thirty feet from our tent munching in the thick brush. We cautiously ate a quick breakfast and while packing our car rack, we had a visit from a family group of Banded Mongoose. They chattered and murmured back and forth all around our feet before moving to a neighboring camp site to raid dirty dishes left out from the night before.

Returning to Maun, we traveled south back to Nata and then west through the Makgadikgadi and Nxai Pans. We stopped at the entrance to the Nxai Pan Reserve to ask a few questions and across the road was a large bull elephant. Some time in the near future we would like to camp at Nxai Pan as it is only about an hour and a half from Maun.

By 4pm on Sunday, we were home and shortly after were greeted by the FMS Operations Manager and his friend that were up from Gaborone. They had been camping at Nxai Pan for a few days and had all kinds of stories to tell about all the lions they saw. The chief pilot and another pilot also arrived here on Sunday for training exercises and left Thursday. On Friday, two other pilots had a charter here for the weekend so, as it was mentioned at the start of this blog, we have been blessed with lots of FMS family over the week.

In addition to having company after our return home, we were able to see Anne and Gift and give her a NIV Study Bible that was sent from our church family in Galena. We have also been gathering some larger baby things for Gift, as he is really growing fast. Please keep them in prayer, as they can only stay at the safe house for another couple of weeks and a door has not yet opened to resolve Anne's status to stay in Botswana.

Again, our thanks go out to those of you who continue to send encouraging emails and keep us lifted up in your prayers.