Ariel was an idiot

I confess that on the first drive through the streets of Maputo, I was a bit disappointed. When I had first decided to move to Mozambique, I pictured myself living in a lush, rural area with dirt roads and open skies; running past monkeys swinging in trees and lines of grass huts, exploring trails along a white sand beach with a crystal clear ocean. Surely a combination of books and movies formed this image in my mind and even upon learning that I would be living in the capital city, the image of my life in Maputo was one in a quiet, peaceful, naturally beautiful area. Thus, as we drove through the congested streets of downtown Maputo all those months ago and I was coughing from the smog, squinting from the dirt in the air, cringing from the trash overflowing onto the streets, gagging from the stench of human urine and garbage, and searching for a piece of sky somewhere between the dirty high-rise buildings, I immediately had to come to terms with the fact that my expectations would not be reality. Don't get me wrong- I have come to love my somewhat smelly city:) It is colorful, vibrant, full of culture and beauty in unexpected places. Instead of passing by monkeys, huts and clear ocean water, I pass by laughing children, animated conversations, smiling women selling their veges and toothless old men giving me the thumbs up. It is not what I expected but it is beautiful in its own way and I truly love it. That being said, last weekend I drove with a group of friends about 6 hours north and ended up inside of my dream version of Mozambique. My Swedish neighbor, Henrik had planned this rondevu to Tofo (pronounced "Tofu") so me, Henrik and Lisa drove with Cassia and her two kids and met up with 4 American girls who were friends of Henrik. As we bobbled along the dirt road headed towards Tofo, we passed a tree with no less than 25 young boys sitting on the branches of a huge tree, all watching a soccer match below. It was at that point that I knew I was going to love this side of Mozambique.

We rented two houses just a few yards away from small "grass-hut communities" which both overlooked the aqua ocean. We were without some of the luxuries we enjoy in Maputo and were graced with plenty of roaches, but the clean air, open sky and amazing coast line more than made up for any of the "shortcomings" in the Mozambique of my dreams. When we arrived, we immediately began exploring the breath-taking surroundings and ended up eating lunch/dinner (linner??) at a restaurant right on the beach. I'll never live down my blond moment of the evening when Lisa told me that people from Whales were originally from China and I believed her. Yes, I taught geography and molded young minds.

On the first full day, I took a scuba class along with Stephen, Cassia's 10 year old son, so we could go on our first dive in the ocean later that day with everyone else. (Lisa, Henrik and Jen, one of the girls we met up with, were already certified) We practiced breathing underwater in a deep, murky pool and pretty soon I had adjusted to wearing a weight belt, knew how to adjust my vest to go make myself buoyant and I felt like I had gills. I didn't really have the option to ever be nervous since I was taking the class with a 10 year old and while our instructor was busy with another class, Stephen and I played, "find the hidden candy wrapper at the bottom of the pool." After enjoying a leisurely afternoon at "Tofo Scuba," and eating the tastiest panini of my life (I ate a total of 5 of these in 3 days), we suited up to prepare for our ocean dive. Here is our fearless squad wearing our super cool wetsuits. Yes, I am sporting a good ol' fashioned french braid which nearly killed me. (story to follow)Can you feel any dorkier while wearing a snorkel? I suggest that you cannot.

After some serious struggling, we pushed a little zodiac out into the ocean and headed out for the open sea. Our instructor had never taught Stephen and I how to actually get into the water so we gave each other a scared look when he said, "OK, hold onto your weight belt with one hand and your mask and regulator (thing you breath out of) with the other and flip into the water." Yeah buddy- how bout you teach us that first. It ended up being a piece of cake and actually quite fun- I've always seen them doing it in the movies and wanted to try. Stephen and I were the only "non-certified divers" so the instructor insisted on taking us down individually. This meant that everyone went down to the bottom and the instructor took Stephen down and said, "You'll be fine up here for a bit yeah?" Ummm...sure. Did I mention there were huge waves at the time? The boat had left and as everyone made their descent to the depths of the sea, I clung to a buoy for dear life and then tried to adjust my braid because it was hindering my mask. Suddenly I was slapped in the face by a huge wave, my mask came flying off and my arm nearly was pulled out of the socket because of my kung-fu grip on the buoy. I was clearly struggling. Apparently, during my mini-freak out a giant whale shark was swimming right past. I was too busy trying to stay alive but the divers already under the water got to see this amazing beast and yes, I was teensy bit envious although I still got to see many amazing things. Once the instructor came back up, he must have noticed my panic-stricken face and assured me it was much calmer under the water. He was right. I was glad.

I've always loved snorkeling because you can peek at this mysterious, wondrous, beautiful hidden world in the sea but when scuba-diving, you can do more than just peek- you can actually visit this underwater world and mingle with the locals. For forty minutes, I was in the midst of part of the world I had never seen before and it was by far, one of the coolest places I've visited:) As we maneuvered over vibrant coral reefs, passing schools of fish with colors Crayola hasn't imagined yet, I was in a constant state of awe. Giant blue starfish were sprawled out around every corner; giant fish with stripes and polka dots and every pattern imaginable leisurely swam around us and I couldn't help but think that Ariel was an idiot. She had it pretty good "under the sea." My main line of thinking while diving was that it would seem impossible to see this intricate beauty and deny the existence of a incredible creator. I hope to get certified one day so I can continue visiting this absolutely amazing part of God's creation. Lisa mentioned that she felt a bit like a super hero when she sports the wetsuit. Indeed there is a feeling of invincibility when wearing all the gear and although I didn't feel like a hero when I was clutching the buoy, I did feel unstoppable under the water. We decided to do a "superhero pose" post-dive and apparently this is how I think a superhero would stand...what the...?The dive was definitely my favorite part of the trip but a close second was my morning runs. I have discovered my new favorite beach in the world. I've been to quite a few but this one takes the cake. I could try to describe it to you but my words would not do it justice and the second day I brought my camera along with me so I'll never forget this amazing spot on the planet. It was even more spectacular than the run I had envisioned when I had idealized Mozambique. Here is a virtual tour of my run:One of my favorite aspects of this beach besides the obvious splendor, was the fact that I had it all to myself. Miles and miles, as far as I could see and not a single fellow soul. I did pass a herd of goats grazing on the hills beside the sand but the only humans I saw were a few solo local fishermen. The last day I saw three rocks move in the ocean and then realized I was actually seeing three heads and as I neared, three little naked boys popped up from their baths in the ocean. They stood in the water holding long sticks for fishing poles, waving at me and if I had fewer inhibitions, I would have taken their picture- the image was straight out of National Geographic- but I couldn't bring myself to take pictures of naked little boys although I was at quite a distance. Here is a fisherman that I did sneak a picture of by feigning that I needed to tie my shoe. I should have joined the CIA.
At this point my batteries died which is a shame since I explored the cave to the left in the above picture. I have always been an "explorer" so this run each morning turned into a mini-exploration for me as I harassed crabs, collected shells and found awesome hiding spots. I will forever be a little kid:) The first day, I ran until it started to rain and then raced the storm clouds back to the house. The second day, I ran until my legs hurt and then turned around and ran back. If I lived in this community I think I would be in the best shape of my life.

In the evenings we would hang out at on our balcony surrounded by silence and stars- two things you can't find in Maputo. One evening while we were playing the celebrity game (aka "CINQUE!") I looked around the room and couldn't help but observe the oddity we were. There we were, 6 blond American girls in our twenties sharing a small room in a little house on the coast of Mozambique. It was so neat to hang out with girls whom I have much in common with and it was really strange how not only did we have similar personalities, we all kinda looked alike. It was an unexpected blessing for the trip and I only wish I could have had more time to get to know these girls. Lisa and I felt a bit spoiled because the other girls all live in remote areas and were stoked to have running water and cereal.

Between the incredible beauty, adventurous escapades, peaceful surroundings, delicious food and fabulous company, this was definitely one of my favorite weekends in Africa. I sincerely enjoy life in Maputo but was so refreshed by this venture into a more remote area of Mozambique. When I reflect on my time spent in Tofo, I am reminded of the well-known Psalm speaking of how my God comforts me:

"The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake....Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever."

Noticing the Impalas

I'm interested to hear others' perspectives on life in Maputo so the other day I did a search for blogs about Maputo and came across one backpackers' take on my beloved city. I think their reflection on the city would be indicative of most tourists' opinions of Maputo:

"We have really enjoyed our day in Maputo, but don't think we would want to spend too long here. There is a certain charm to it, but there is more rubbish here than any Asian city we have been in- parts of it are extremely dirty and smelly."

Reading this made me chuckle to myself. There certainly is a "certain charm" to Maputo and when you first arrive, it is certainly hard not to notice the trash and smells. However, if I had met these backpackers, I would have let them know that if they moved here, they would fall in love with the city. Maputo is not a place for tourists- there really isn't much to see for travelers- but it is most definitely a great place to live. After a few weeks, the trash fades into the background, the smells seem to disappear and beauty seeps out of the corners of the city in places you might not expect. It truly has been a wonderful city to live in but that being said, it is also necessary to escape into South Africa every once in awhile. Madalena and I recently went to Kruger Park on my final "farewell trip" through the park. This is one of my favorite spots on the planet which I will greatly miss.

To give some semblance of order to the gazillions of pictures I took on my farewell journey, I'll start with the animals at the end of the alphabet because there were a ton. First, vultures. I've never seen so many in my life and would be OK if I never saw them again. Did I mention my slight bird phobia? I wasn't kidding. We stopped to take pictures of a bunch of them sitting in a tree which was odd and then suddenly there were at least 50 of these terrifying feathered beasts flying over our car and circling a carcass that apparently was lying behind a bush right by the road which hindered our view. I was incredibly tempted to run out to sneak a peek but then I remembered how I run extra fast past crows because I'm scared they will pluck out my eyes (I think I was traumatized by that scene from The Passion of Christ) so we opted to just take pictures as they landed on some poor dead animal.












We also saw several of the not-so-adorable-in-my-opinion but very entertaining vermet monkeys. I do not believe in evolution but could not help but notice this one particular fella who seems to be blessed with the infamous "Hardeman toes." At least we don't eat the jam from our toes like he was doing. I don't ever get this apparent "jam" in my toes and don't really understand that expression if I'm totally honest. Do people really get gunk stuck in between their toes?

























Now to the W's... The very first animal we saw was a Pumba (aka a warthog). We stopped at the bathrooms at the entrance and a mama warthog was feasting on the grass with one of her little ones. I don't have a fear of pigs so I squatted rather close to get the picture. A man watching me take the pictures said, "Aren't they beautiful?" which made me awkward because I wasn't sure if he was kidding or not. "No, no they are not beautiful. They are hideous," is what I was thinking but I guess some people think all of God's creatures are beautiful. I, however, do not belong to that school of thought. Some animals are just plain ugly. They're still cool but let's face it, they're quite repulsive. Later, we were delayed on our drive by another mama going for a jog with her 4 little ugly offspring trotting along behind her.













The next animals don't sound as impressive as they truly are. Wild dogs are really rare so they rank up there with the big 5 and cheetahs. We didn't get to see lions or leopards on this trip but it was pretty cool to see this rare species hanging out by the side of the road. Funny how if something is rare, it makes the animal that much cooler.












We also saw a bunch of waterbuck on this trip. They are the ones with a white target on their butt (how could anyone deny that God has a sense of humor?). I've only really ever seen their rears so it was a rare treat for me to get a good look at their faces. Why don't the females get any cool horns? Unfair.












The final "w" animal was one of the most common beasts on this particular trip: the wildebeest. They are usually quite anti-social so I've only ever seen them from quite a distance but this time we saw several very close. Mada and I went on a tiny back road early in the morning and stumbled upon a big herd of them right by the road. Horses get a lot of crap for having long faces but check out the length of the faces on these guys!












We didn't see any Xenopus toads or yaks but we did see plenty of one of my all-time favorites: zebras. Zebras win the "party animal" award of Kruger because they seem to have made friends with several other species. They even have befriended the typically anti-social rhinos and wildebeests.
























The following is perhaps my favorite picture from all my ventures to Kruger. I didn't even notice the apparently very angry zebra until I put my pictures on my computer. Although one will often see the same animals when visiting Kruger, each trip is special because you never know what the animals are going to do. I've seen plenty of kudus, giraffes, elephants and hippos but I've never seen them do the following:












Need I remind you that I grew up sharing a bathroom with Trent and Travis? Of course I enjoy bathroom humor. Madalena grew up with 4 brothers so between the two of us, we got such a kick out of catching animals relieving themselves. Four pooping animals in one day! That has to be some kind of record. We really wanted to see a rhino in action because apparently they have some very unique bathroom rituals but the hippo made up for the rhino. We were in a viewing station with two other people who were speaking in whispers so as not to disturb the animals. Suddenly we heard what sounded like a machine gun rapidly firing. We whipped our heads around, searching for the sound and saw a hippo who had sneaked out of the river without us noticing and was projecting his poop like rapid fire and his tail was whizzing around in a circle simultaneously. The other two people watched in apparent awe while Madalena and I couldn't hold it in and started laughing hysterically. I laughed so hard I couldn't get a picture of it actually happening but did get a shot of the culprit so I'll never forget:) Mr. Elephant on the left appears to be a bashful about his doo doo and has ducked his head.













Speaking of elephants, I always love seeing these ginormous beasts and they did not disappoint on this trip. We saw a bunch of lil "dumbos" and for the first time I got to see them bathing at two different watering holes.
























Other highlights included seeing two types of animals which aren't often seen in the park and that I would never want to meet on foot: rhinos and ostriges. (That fear of birds is only magnified when the bird is super fast and giagantic)
























Just try and tell me that if you saw that monstrous beast to the right lifting his wings like so and exposing his muscular thighs, you wouldn't freak out too. Apparently that is what an ostrige does when it is hot.

There is a common tendency among tourists in Kruger Park to consider it an unsuccessful trip if you don't see a lion. I, however, strongly disagree. I love seeing lions but there is so much beauty in the park which sadly, often goes unnoticed and I made it a point to try to be more appreciative of the beauty around me. On this final trip, I was ooooed and awed yet again by God's creation. Even without the animals, there were many many breath-taking views with His fingerprints all over them. Here are a few:early morning
dusk
sunset
sunrise

Mada still teases me about the first time we went to Kruger and I made her keep stopping so I could take pictures of impalas. These antelope are full of grace and beauty but aren't appreciated because there are so many in the park. A common conversation in the car goes like so: "See anything?" "Nope. Just impalas." Just impalas. Just these amazing animals but they are common place so let's keep driving. We all do it. We all drive by without pausing because they are "just impala" and the park is overflowing with them. Sadly, I confess I often have this same attitude about God's blessings. I am eager for the "big blessings" for the "lions" and often fail to appreciate the "commonplace blessings" or the impalas. He provides and blesses me every single day with glimpses of beauty and grace and mercy, but do I take notice? Do I stop and thank Him? Sometimes I do, but not nearly enough. I am so thankful for the "lions" in my life- the big blessings of coming to Africa and now having a job at Valley. However, I want to also be daily mindful of His other blessings. Perhaps if I stop more often and acknowledge the simple beauties, I will notice amazing things like Mada and I did when we stopped once to acknowledge some impalas:

His beauty and blessings are everywhere. The question is, will we slow down to notice and appreciate them?