Yes, we finally made it home again! Packing the Isuzu was a bit of a challenge with all we had to take back: boxes of leadership books, donated used clothing, 2 doors, a vaccuum system for the wood work shop, tools, electrical cords, etc. One had to hold one’s mouth just right! It took us a day in Maputo to finish up the business of importing the vehicle and wood working equipment. Many papers needed to be signed and stapled together, then we needed to get license plates made up and put on the vehicle before we could travel. We first found 3 license-plate-makers who were either shut down or couldn’t do the job before we found one who could! We gave them the plate # we needed and they went to work on making them while we waited. When the license plates were done, a guy brought a cordless drill out to the vehicle (on a main city street) to put them on for us. He also had to slap on the required stickers. We don’t know why they’re required, they just are here. And if you don’t have these, your vehicle could be impounded and you get fined. So these are very important decals!
Maputo is a crazily busy city, so we were very glad to finally leave. The highway wasn’t as bad as I had expected with all the rain, but it had its spots just the same. Most of the bad patches in the road had no warning signs at all, they sort of catch you unawares, ambush style. In one of the worst spots the soil in the potholes is grey like the pavement, so you can’t even see them coming. Again, if you hold your mouth just right, you may negotiate that part without doing too much damage!
How do you like these caution signs on the main North-South highway in the country? Maybe our decals could be put to better use :)
It was an odd feeling to find home just the way we and the kids had left it 3 weeks previous: spare mattresses and pillows in the front room, Christmas decorations still in place and cups as they were left in the drying rack. A few new things had added themselves to this collection as well --spiders and their webs! I hate it when they do that...just move in uninvited. I wanted to unpack but soon decided I first needed to pack the Christmas stuff away and get rid of the unwanted little guests. Spiders were everywhere—in every corner, under every shelf, behind every cupboard/table...actually, it would be easier to tell you where they weren’t. So I got to work with my bug spray, broom and vacuum cleaner. I must have killed at least 50 daddy-long-legs plus a few other interesting types. This little spree quickly turned into major spring cleaning since there was mildew to be dealt with too. Then I decided I needed to get some laundry done, so needless to say, yesterday was a busy one.
Work-wise we’re still spooling up. We’ve had a few medical urgencies come to our attention already including an elderly gentleman who was found very sick and abandoned in the bush. He’d been there for likely 2 days or so and was very dehydrated and weak. Dwight took him to the Vanduzi hospital right away (since his needs were beyond the scope of our bush health post practice) and was pleased when caring, compassionate staff took him under their wing.
I guess I should sign off for now and get back to the work of finishing up laundry, unpacking suitcases and boxes and storing my Christmas stuff finally. Maybe if I hold my tongue just right, the work will get done quicker!
Like our 1982 Toyota pickup, nicknamed ‘The Beast’, the Isuzu (below) has performed a wide variety of tasks in generally tough conditions. It hasn’t been quite as durable as the old Toyota, but its smooth-riding independent suspension certainly added years to our lives. After almost 300,000 km’s of hard work and in need of major engine/4X4/front end/electrical system overhauls, the Isuzu is now best kept close to home, not doing anything too heroic! 
Transporting tools and equipment for construction.
On one of its many trips transporting food for orphans and the school feeding program.
Dodging potholes on Mozambique's N1 highway. I rated this portion as mild-medium severity because even though we have to drive on the dirt shoulder most of the time, at least the holes are less than a foot deep!
The pick up that endured 1001 Mozambican adventures! One day I'll write a book, or at least devote an entire chapter in a book, just to this vehicle and all we went through with it.
Dwight was doing pretty impressive work missing them, but one caught him by surprise and we hit it pretty hard. This is not a strange occurrence since our vehicle has driven bad roads all of its life, but lately it has been showing signs of growing tired, and that pothole proved to be the straw that broke the camel’s back! Suddenly we were sitting at a slant and it felt like we were riding on a rock. It took us a little while to eventually see what had gone awry...a torsion bar that supports the suspension had snapped in two. I think visions of us being stuck in Mozambique for a protracted period with a broken vehicle were starting to form in all of our minds! Since we were headed to Mercy Air on our way to Joburg, Dwight called Ron Wayner at Mercy Air to let them know of our little hiccup. He assured us that the vehicle was in fact still drivable, but the drive would be a bit rougher and slower. Needless to say, we were up EARLY the next morning to make good time. 
We arrived at Mercy Air by suppertime on Tuesday evening, had supper, visited with friends, and got the Mercy Air van ready so we could carry on with our trip to Jo’burg the following day. 
Here we are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for our 3rd day of travel. That day’s trip went off without a hitch other than the mud flaps hitting the rear tire and giving us a scare. By 3:30 p.m. we were at O.R. Tambo International Airport and now we REALLY breathed a sigh of relief. The closer you get to the airport, the less there is that stands between you and your flight, right?? We met friends for supper right there then made our way to the South African Air Lines desk in International Departures. The place was wall to wall with line-ups with people. As we headed to the airline desk, we were told we would have to enter the queue. Well, said queue first zigzagged by the desk like they all do, then it took off down one hallway, turned the corner and disappeared down the next! And there we stood, queued for 2 hours while the kids’ boarding and departure times came and went.
