a long journey home...

We have been working on not leaving the property for as long as possible because we want to be at home more and when you move around, you spend more money. So, our goal is to buy groceries for a month at a time and to go to the city only once a month (the city is about 1.5 hours away). We also are trying to not go to town (that’s the relatively big village about 20-30 minutes away) any more than once every two weeks.

Last week, we heard that they had the dirt roads graded (run over by a tractor that is designed to flatten it out and removed the big potholes and such), but we hadn’t been out yet. This week we planned to make a trip to the city to get supplies and celebrate Floyd and Troy’s birthday.

The day before their birthdays, it rained all day. The morning that we were leaving, our friend Franco arrived early. He told Floyd that because the roads had been graded and then it rained all day, they were really bad. Apparently, the boda drivers were charging 20,000/= to come from Kapeeka to our village. The usual cost is only 5,000/=, but the roads were so bad that it wasn’t worth it for them to try to make the trip. Franco and his crew had walked because the cost for transport was so high. It took them a couple of hours to make the walk.

Of course, we assumed that it was an exaggeration and that the roads couldn’t really be that bad. So, we loaded up to head to the city. Sure enough, we were fishtailing most of the way and we ended up in the ditch a few times. Fortunately, Bertha never got stuck. Twice we drove with one side in the ditch for at least a good 20-30 yards. Then with Bertha’s might and Floyd’s good driving skills, we were able to get back on the road and continue along the path. I took a couple of videos but you really can’t tell just how bad it was. This is about 30 seconds out of an hour. The left side (passenger side) was in the ditch until Floyd got back in the center of the road. Basically, it was like going mudding. I do not know what's up with my voice, but it's real people, so I'll share anyway. J

Now, coming home, the adventure got even more interesting. Just as we passed the first larger village on our trek home, we came on a large truck stuck in the road. He was literally blocking the entire road.

After Floyd searched for any possible alternative, we had no choice but to back up. We literally drove backwards down the road until we were back in the village where a large crowd had been gathered. The kids chased us the entire way. If a mazungu (white man) driving through the village in a huge white beast isn’t entertaining enough, that same mazungu driving that white beast in reverse will definitely do the trick. :) Here is a picture of the kids following us as we went in reverse. 

We have limited language skills when it comes to unique situations, but there are some people who speak a little English and we know the names of the villages along our route. We managed to find out that there is actually another route to our property. They told us that the roads are narrow and not traveled much, but our beast could make it. So we took directions and headed on our way.

We finally found what seemed to be a road, so we turned. Eventually we came to what appeared a dead-end in the middle of a village. Another man there spoke a little English, so again he helped us a little. It was really funny because when he saw us, he came to the window laughing. Floyd started to try to tell him where we needed to go, but he interrupted saying, “I know where you’re going.” I guess it is true that everyone in at least a 30 minute radius knows where the mazungus live.

Come to find out, we had missed the original road but found another one. This man told us that we could take another road, even smaller than the ones before, and come out next to a village called Kifampa (that’s where the medical clinic is and many of our students live there, so we know it). Again, we took his directions and headed continued. This time, the trail was definitely narrow. It felt like a walking path. Every time we came to a place where the path seemed to split, we would roll down the window to ask for directions. At this point, there were no crowds; just homes with people out doing their normal tasks. We’d roll down the window and call it, “Kifampa?” They’d smile and nod and point us in the right direction.

Now, we came to one of these junctures and the lady pointed us in the right path. Just as we started to turn, a man came walking from that direction and was shaking his head. He spoke enough English to tell Floyd that there was a truck stuck in the road. We got gestures to know it was a big truck. Floyd was asking if there was any way around, but the guy just said, “you first come to see.”

Floyd followed the other man just a short distance down the path. Suddenly, the truck was visible and all we could do was laugh. The kids and I sat in the car as Floyd went to get a closer look. If ever there is a way around something, Floyd will find it, and he certainly did. He talked to the residents of the home that sat just off the road where the truck was stuck and got their permission to attempt his plan.

It turned out that we could turn into their compound, circle between the trees and the front of their house, barely fit between two trees, and then barely pass through some trees and the stuck truck. If we made it through all of those parts, we would be able to continue on down the road. Here’s a video that doesn’t completely show the excitement of the situation, but I think you’ll still appreciate it. Again, ignore my crazy voice and laughter. The one time that I sort of shout, we had actually made contact with the other truck. And I'm laughing and turn the camera to the guys outside because they had realized that I was recording and they thought that was funny. :)

We continued down that path for a ways longer and then came out on a road that we’ve seen before. We were in Kifampa, just down the way from the clinic and the home of one of our students! Most of the folks in Kifampa recognize our car, so when we came out on the side dirt road, they had some funny looks on their faces. We could tell they were confused and wondering what we had been up to.

Fortunately, with the Lord’s help and Floyd’s driving skills, we made it home before dark. Our entire detour probably added only about an hour. It was fun but Floyd was glad to be back on the familiar trail.