18 hour drive = 3 days drive
The 18-hour journey to from Congo to Tanzania became a
three-day long journey.
This was hardly a surprise to us. Which is why, we left
nearly five days prior to our intended arrival time. With expenses in mind we
camped from our vehicle the whole way there.
The journey started with us gathering the necessary
documents for our Toyota Surf (which is Africa’s equivalent to a 4Runner). The
insurance and registration expired while we were away.
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We parked on the plains between acacia and baobab trees, only a
few kilometers
away from the Masai—one of the most respected tribes in all of
Africa.
Photo Credit: Maciej Dakowics |
We stood the night at our friends’ Darin and Hope Phillips
humble African home in Kigali and left for Tanzania at 4 a.m. We drove through
the entire country of Rwanda and crossed the border into Tanzania by the
afternoon. As we neared Tanzania we saw trucks with signs labeled “Allah
Kamari” and “Ya rabbi wa as salaam”— Tanzania is a country with a huge Muslim
population.
After crossing the border, Andrew and I parked on the plains
between acacia and baobab trees, only a few kilometers away from the Masai—one
of the most respected tribes in all of Africa and throughout the world. We
bathed behind the car with our water bottles and made a bed in the back of our
Surf.
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| A baobab tree in Tanzania. |
We resumed our journey again at 4 a.m. and passed through
what I consider a more spectacular Garden of the Gods, with miles and miles of
mysterious rock formations. Occasionally, I would stop for a pee break—once in
mid-squat I heard laughing and singing. I guess I was peeing in someone’s front
yard. The hut was blocked by bushes and rocks and was such a natural color that
I didn’t even notice. Oops. Again, the
Africans paid no mind to it. Unlike America, Africans don’t mind wandering
visitors… In fact many African proverbs tell of being kind and generous to
wandering strangers.
We later passed
through a large town called Dodoma where we asked for directions to Iringa (the
town we would be studying in.) We were given a choice between the short way and
the long way: the short-way being about 150 miles of dirt and clay road. Or the
long-way, being about 460 miles of paved road.
“How long would the short-way take?” we asked.
“Oooh, about 3-4 hours,” we were told.
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| We spent the night camping between large rock formations. Photo Credit: Sandi Toksvig |
Again, we spent the night in our vehicle nestled between two
huge rock formations on the low-lying side of the mountain.
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Is that language native to the Congo? I thought french was??
ReplyDeleteGood story; very interesting! God going ahead as you both follows in the way of the Lord. God bless you both and keep the posting coming in. Keep in touch.
ReplyDeleteLove in Christ.
Jenny.
From Florida.
Wow, glade you made it, interesting story. God speed be with you through the entire trip.
ReplyDelete@lovelyprint - Swahili is not native to Congo, but neither is French. However, French is the language most educated people would speak. Since we work in the east among the uneducated, French isn't ideal. Swahili is the trade language of the east and it's much easier to learn than French. Although both are important. Check out the new post, which explains more. Love you all! -Amethyst
ReplyDelete