English post

Hey Guys,

My whole blog is written in german and last weekend I thought about writing something in English for everybody, who doesn't understand german, because I spend a lot of time with English speaking people.

This weekend my hostsibblings and me went to Manica (city about 60km from Chimoio) with Rory and Zach. Rory is from UK, he worked here for nearly nine months and now Zach will displace him. In Manica we visited Georg from Germany, who lives there and works for the GIZ.

When we arrived, we ate something and then we decided to go to the waterfall of Penha Longa. The whether was ok, but when we left the house, it began to rain lightly. We didnt thought about it and started driving on the bad roads.

After half an hour we had to decide if we go the worse way, which is shorter, or if we take the better way, which takes a lot of more time. So we decided that the landrover (best car ever!) can go anywhere and took the short way. After two tries we got „in“ and went up the hill. Because of the rain the small becks in the street got bigger and bigger. Then suddenly the car got stucked and was very sloped. Rory tried to drive forwards and backwards but nothing helped. We got out of the car just on one side. We saw the dilemma on the other side. The wheel fit perfectly in the „river“ and was already deep inside. It was shrouded by a thick film of slime and couldn't move.

We all were standing in the rain and got wet. After a few minutes we were crowded by ten mosambican guys who tried to help. We also had audience; four little boys watched the spectacle under their umbrella, that we hadn't. After the decision if we try to go forwards or backwards, everybody picked up stones and plants to put them under the wheel. Then Rory went forwards and ten men pushed the car up. So after half an hour we were free and continued to drive up the mountin. The waterfall is on 1500m heat and we weren't arrived yet. After a few minutes we reached the „good“ road and followed it because everybody (except me!) was convinced, that we still had to go there.

For that reason we got stucked again! This time I was faster out of the car than anybody else and already pissed off. This time was not as bad as before but now there was nobody to help us. So we (Zach, Rory, Georg, Chamss and Kamal) had to seek stones and branch again to get grip for the wheels. We also had to decide if we still want to go up to see the waterfall or not. After a man's walk up the road, they accepted that the road only get worse. Now it was easier to get out of the slime because we went backwards down the hill. Rory had to drive about 30 m backwards until he could return the car. Then -everybody wet and oozy back in the car- we went down the hill. Sometimes Rory couldnt control the car and I was really scared about gliding down into the valley outside the street. It was like driving on ice but after a few minutes we were back on the „real“ street, which also had suffered from the rain. On our way back home we were shaken like a martini and ready for a shower and our beds. To warm us up, we played tablesoccer (I have to say that I won four of five games) and then we went home to Chimoio. Everything went well but we all had to tell something. My hostsibblings never had been in Manica before and now they „like“ it. It was a real adventure, we tested out the landrovers limitations and I was happy when I was back. It was not planned but although a nice trip and after all, we can laugh about it! =)