My Life as an African Gypsy

My husband loves adventure.

Me too I guess, as long as you catch me in the right mood... but isn't that true of every statement? Ha! Anyways, Jon found a beach on Google maps and decided we should check it out. We marked the coordinates in the GPS, packed some lunches, and off we went!

We knew we probably needed to off road a bit, but according to the images we saw online, it looked as if most of the way was paved. After about 10 minutes we were on a dirt road. =)

It is fun driving through different villages and seeing how they build their houses and just operate everyday life. What they sell. What they carry. Things like that.

Finally we got to the turn off road towards the beach. It was a big low lying field that looked as if certain time of the year could be a marsh. Here we go! For the most part the little two tire track was no problem, but then we came onto some mud. Jon hopped out and switched us to 4-wheel drive and for the first couple sections, the Bison (our vehicle) took it like a champ.

We were almost through the field when we got to a bigger puddle. There was a Mozambican standing on the other side who kind of waved up in the direction we should take. We held our breath and went for it.

Opps.

We were stuck.

One tire got spinning and we were going nowhere. The guy who had waved us on came to help, and right behind him about 6 more boys from the village came running. Suddenly we had become the entertainment for the day. I didn't mind much, at least we had help! I stayed in the car while the guys tried to figure it out.

It was decided they should go get some branches for traction. Jon and one of the guys left, and I stayed chatting with some of the boys. They were quite shy at first, as I don't think they have much interaction with white people out there.


After a bit some women came up, and I decided I should get out of the car, otherwise I would look like this prissy white lady having everyone push me around in the car. I took my flip flops off, opened the door, and stepped in the mud. As I did this, the women gasped as if they were thinking, "Why would you do that?" Ha! They were standing there in the mud, but for me to get my feet dirty was strange to them.

With the branches and everyone pushing, we got out. As the car began to move, there was cheering from all of us. I started walking to where the car was now, and the women were sure to tell me where to walk so I wouldn't fall. Too funny.

We made to the small beach and observed a neat fishing community and trade area. All in all it was a great day full of adventure.