Now we are only 7

Hattie: Well today Rachel left to go to Beira and the 7 of us remaining are on our way to Zimbabwe. We had an amazing time in Mozambique and met some truly beautiful people- we will post some photos from Zim. Time is always a pressure for us as we rush to make various deadlines. Today it is getting to the border before it closes.
We plan on spending the night in Mutare and then getting down to Bulawayo tomorrow. Looking forward to having some time to update the blog properly!!
Lots of love to you all.
xxx

Photos

Hattie: Finally we get to the internet and can put up photos and write the blog!
Everything has been going well, we are quite near Mozambique and are very excited. Sending love to you all!
xxx

Photos are of Rachel Christening the Car Ruach, Rachel Flying the Kite on Wilderness Beach, Rich & Sophie in the car, The Stone Cottage where we stayed early on and driving with people on the roof!

Hopefully more photos to follow!

A quick update:

Anna: So the first week - there have been many highs and fewer lows on this trip. That's actually a rhythm we've got into every evening we've been telling eachother the best and worst parts of the day Perhaps it might be interesting to here some. The highs have involved an amazing afternoon at the beach, where we raced on the beach, played tag with the waves, attempted to fly a kite and had a lot of laughs. We've also been sharing our life stories with eachother as we don't all know everyone and that has been really special We've spent some beautiful times with God and driven through some breathtaking landscapes. We've watched whales playing just beyond the breaking waves and stayed in places where deer roam freely and right up to our balconies, last night the hostel had it's very own pet Zebra! Oh yes and the offroading has been awesome especially when we road on the top in the middle of the mountains and horses surrounded the vehicle (very man from snowy river!)

The lows have included gigantic spiders, waking up in the night screaming possibly because of one of those spiders on my head. We've had two flats and an incessant beeping on the blackbox in Ruach ( we named the landrover Ruach - Rich dreamed it in the night - it's Hebrew for breath of God) which we have now learnt to shut off. Our communication with eachother has had some teething issues but we're getting past them.

We've begun to drive through more "African" towns where people stop, smile or reach into the car simply to shake our hands and I've begun to dream of a new way of relating to God and others. Much ove to you all :-)

Travel Update

Hi there,

Just thought we'd give you a quick update as to how far we've got! We are currently in Durban getting some stuff fixed on the car and watching some surfing. Hoping to move on tonight further north. It's been a good first leg - we have all learnt a lot about landrovers, off road driving, cooking for 7 and living in community! After a few days of preparation in Cape Town we finally set off last Wednesday. We spent 2 nights in the western cape on a farm near Riverdale where we stayed in a little stone cottage with no electricity. Really enjoyed cooking on a big fire and just living 'simply' in beautiful surroundings. Amazing bird calls and insects - had some rather close encounters with (very) big spiders! Had a chance to do some off roading with the landrover on the farm which was ace - definitely where the car feels most at home!

After Riverdale we headed east along the coast and the garden route. Very lush and beautiful. Found a gorgeous beach at the Wilderness national park where we had the place to ourselves and a great time to chill out. Stayed a night at the Tree House lodge near Knysna which was very peaceful - cabins in the woods with deer wandering around. Plus a jacuzzi bath - which Emmanuel enjoyed a lot! ;-)

Next day we drove through Plett and Storms river and had our first puncture! Infact a full blow out on the front tyre when we were going about 80kmh, but praise God the car did not veer at all and a guy stopped to help us change it so it didn't take too long. That night God brought us to a nature reserve by the beach just past Jeffrey's bay - a perfect place that was free. We deliberately didn't make any plan on where to stay and felt we should just pray about it and trust God ...and he totally came through for us. So learning about that has been good.

Similarly the next day, after driving past Port Elizabeth and stopping for lunch in Grahamstown (where Soph's Mum grew up) we ended up near Port Alfred. After carrying on a bit further we turned off to the little villiage of Klein Monde and went down to the beach. There were a few guys there and Rich felt we should get out and ask them about some where to stay. The only guest house was closed but one of the guys gave us his mum's number and said she rented out holiday cottages and may be able to help us out. After ringing her twice she didn't pick up and we were a bit stuck as we had no where else! Then we prayed about it as a group, tried again, and within 20 mins we were settling into a 3 bedroom house with a jacuzzi outside!!

Yesterday was the longest day of driving as we went all the way to durban. Amazing to see how the landscape changes so quickly. Went through some areas inland which were high up, very hot and dry and not a white person in sight. Felt more like Kenya or Uganda! Lots of small bustling towns full of school kids and people catching minibus taxis back to their villages heavily laden with a week's shopping. Also lots of people and livestock on the roads and crazy drivers which made the experience a bit nervewracking at times! Felt totally different to the wealthy, lush garden route. South Africa is certainly a country full of contrasts and almost a country full of different worlds that don't necessarily ever meet.

Glad to finally get to Durban and be united with Amy! Just some laundry and car stuff to sort out and we'll hit the road again. No idea where we will stay tonight, but that's kinda fun!

Soph Xxx

Ps. We're staying safe :-)

Catch up

The Redistribution of Wealth

Hattie: There is a well known phenomenon in Cape Town called the redistribution of wealth. I unfortunately fell fowl of this yesterday while writing my previous blog entry about Sparky. Oh what irony. As I was sitting here bemoaning my little VW Chico someone was helping themselves to it right under my very nose. I returned to my space to find another car in its place and no Sparky. The saddest fact of all is that Mr Penguin my mascot made by my diligent niece has been kidnapped. The scoundrels have also driven away with my newly installed and paid for radio, my jacket and the newly purchased winter clothes I bought to survive in freezing Cape Town.

A nice passer by lent me her jacket and drove me to the police station where I made my statement. The policemen then drove me home- my first ever ride in a police car. Half an hour after arriving home there was a knock at my door and it was one of the police officers I had seen at the station. He asked if he could come in and asked me for the same details I had given at the station. I was a bit suspicious and then he cheekily continued to change the subject….it became blatantly apparent he was not interested in the car! You can imagine the hilarity as he asked me if I was married, then if I had a boyfriend (I am afraid I lied- his name is ‘Jack’, he lives in Zimbabwe and he would be terribly disappointed if I broke it off)!

I am wondering whether I should have done a deal with Police constable Sharif. Something like ‘if you find my car, with my belongings inside, we can go for a coffee’.

Joking aside I am not surprised crime is high here although it is not nearly as high as it is in Joburg. Richard and Sophie wrote in a previous blog entry about the inequality here, the continued divisions in society where people are still segregated in their racially defined areas. People try to insulate themselves against poverty and crime behind their big alarmed fences so distanced from the reality they live in. I have come back to where I am staying most days to find local women and children rummaging through our wheelie bin to find food or anything they can reuse. Our global economic system is failing the poor- the homeless and slum dwellers left to rummage through our waste. These women are blatant about their activities- they don’t stop when I arrive, some don’t even look at me, they just continue in their desperate attempts to find food. I feel, deep down, that there must be a better way. Surely there is enough to go around? Can we not share a bit more and be less greedy? I am not a communist but I know we were not designed to live in this self-imposed isolation from each other.