Running and Roadtrips

For several months I have been regularly running with some friends with a goal to complete a half-marathon.  We were going to make up a route here in town when we learned of a race being planned on Ilha de Moçambique (an island that is about a 2 hour drive from Nampula).  A volunteer team was brought in from the U.S. to host the event which included a 5K, 10K, half and full marathon.  Unfortunately, the race was planned for mid-November, one of the hottest months of the year in this part of Mozambique.

In October, I went with Dave to Lesotho (a small country that is landlocked by South Africa) when he flew an MAF plane down for an engine change and some other maintenance that can’t be done here in Mozambique.  I needed to keep my training up and was looking for a good place to run.  The Program Manager of the MAF Lesotho team was awesome and asked the military for permission to run around the airstrip where they are based.  They didn’t give me permission to run on my own, but allowed me to join them during their PT runs.  I jumped in their formation and ran as they sang the whole way.  Afterwards, I finished up with stretches and exercises with the group, doing push-ups until my arms were about to fall off.

My military training...

Pilot Dave and Pilot Conrad

Lesotho from the air

While we were in South Africa (after the engine change and while we were waiting for the maintenance on the plane to be wrapped up), we visited Kruger National Park for the day.  At one point we drove around a corner and three lions were in the middle of the road.  They split up; one to the left, one to the right, and one down the middle as though they were stalking something, completely ignoring us. 

Back in Mozambique, just a few weeks later, the half-marathon at Ilha was to start at 5am.  Twenty of us loaded in the back of a pickup at 4am to be driven out to the starting line.  It felt like we were driving forever and I wasn’t sure how I was going to be able to run the whole way back.  The race started on the mainland and the last two miles were on a long, one-lane bridge to the island, with the finish being at the end of the bridge to Ilha.  The most I had run in training was 11 miles, so once I hit the bridge it was further than I had gone before.  Even though the bridge was a sign that you were almost to the end, it was a tortuous illusion.  You could see the finish line but it felt like you weren’t getting any closer!  I did make it to the end eventually and afterwards we had a great time enjoying the island with some friends for the weekend. 

Loading up to go out to the starting line

We got some strange looks, some cheers and some laughs as we ran through small villages on the way to Ilha

 

After the court case concerning the accident that totaled our car, we finally were able to get a replacement vehicle.  We ended up having a car imported into Maputo (capital city of Mozambique).  After a few problems with customs, we were able to get the vehicle in December.  We are so incredibly thankful for the many donations that allowed us to get this vehicle! 

Dave flew down to Maputo to pick the truck up and then drove it into South Africa to have a canopy put on it (theft prevention).  I met him down in Johannesburg and then we prepared for the 3 day drive back.  We left on the Saturday before Christmas which turned out to be a big mistake as it is the busiest day of the year to cross the border between South Africa and Mozambique.  We went 10 kilometers in 6 hours to cross the border, spent another hour at a toll, and got stuck in more traffic backed up at a detour.  After 16 hours we finished our first day of driving.  As you drive farther north, you hit long stretches of road with so many potholes that it is impossible to drive very fast.  The truck handled beautifully and we think it will be perfect for the rough roads of Nampula. We had the opportunity to buy a baby monkey on our way home but decided Charlie and Lobo might not care for that.

 

If you were wondering why I haven't posted blog updates for a while, one reason is I have been posting on MAF's blog site.  If you want to read any of my older postings, you can check them out:

The Bicycle Registration Process 

It's All About Context 

Family Near and Far

How Safe Are You?

For ministry news, check out our newsletter at: https://www.maf.org/holmes  (or click on the link above to the right)

And because we couldn't resist, here are some more fun pics for your viewing pleasure...

Handy Man

 Oftentimes our blog showcases the fun or exciting bits of life here in Mozambique… the wildlife, the exotic places Dave flies, or the seemingly strange differences in culture.  But more often, we are just living normal life and dealing with all the little things that come up.  There is always something broken that needs fixing, rigging, or replacing around here.  The washing machine won’t complete the cycle, the gate opener quit working, the water pump stopped, the sink is leaking, or the car is making a funny noise.  Oftentimes the parts that are needed to fix things properly aren’t available here in Nampula so we are looking for a quick fix to get us by until we can find a way to get it here from South Africa.  Other times, we can find parts after shopping at several of the small shops here, but often we end up buying a square peg to fit in a round hole.  I am so thankful to be married to such a handy guy, because living here would be hard without someone who is a jack of all trades when it comes to fixing things! 

Our most recent project has been replacing the gates at our house.  The wood planks were in such bad shape that it was affecting the security of our house.  It is also the only barrier keeping Lobo and Charlie from scaring the neighbors.  We decided to replace the wood with metal sheets which required some welding work. 

Our gate before the fix...

Isaac helping Dave while welding

Vicious dogs scaring the neighbors

 Not only does Dave get to play the part of pilot and airplane mechanic, sometimes he gets to serve other missionaries with his handyman gifts.  Recently Dave did a supply flight to some missionaries that live in a rural area.  Their son had malaria and the district they live in ran out of malaria medication.  The husband was out of the country and their car battery had gone bad so the wife had to jump the car every time she needed to drive.  Fortunately a new battery was on the flight as well.  Despite the tight flight schedule that day, Dave was able to install the new battery for her before he left.

Dave changing out the battery

 Recently the guys completed a big inspection on CMQ which required quite a bit of disassembly.  The poor airplane looks a bit sad without its tail fin!

 

Dave L. working on CMQ

When they were putting it back together, there was difficulty getting one nut screwed back on as the bolt was difficult to reach and all of the guys hands were too big to reach it.  I got to escape from the office for a little while and be an honorary airplane mechanic cramming my slightly smaller hand into the tight space.

Jill's MAF blog posts

If you want to read some of the blogs Jill has written for MAF's blog, check out the following link:
http://www.mafblog.com/author/jholmes

Lions and Hippos and Elephants, Oh My!

A couple of weeks ago we got the opportunity to spend several days at a camp in the Niassa Reserve in Northern Mozambique.  We met up with some friends in Pemba, a city on the coast north of Nampula.  From there we drove for almost 15 hours to arrive at the camp we would spend most of our time at.  It was not so much the long distance that made the trip so long, but how slow we had to drive on the rough roads to get there.  Dave commented that he could fly from Pemba to the airstrip located where we were headed in just an hour and a half.  Regardless, we were in one of the most remote areas of Mozambique.

We crossed here on foot so the car wouldn't bottom out on the logs

The long bumpy journey was worth every minute once we got there.  The camp was located on the Lugenda River and was crawling with wildlife.  We were greeted by semi-tame serval, who had been rescued when her mother had been taken by poachers.

Serval named Niassa

Where we stayed is not fenced off from wildlife so elephants came very close to the tents and we were awakened by baboons coming across the top of our tent as they headed to the river.

Baboons heading to the river

We were supposed to start our adventure off with a bit of kayaking on the Lugenda River, but our guide Donald had come down with malaria, so we ended up driving and hiking around with Nick, another guide, hoping for some close encounters with wildlife.  We were not disappointed.  On our excursions we saw monkeys, impala, water buck, elephants, bush buck, zebra, warthog, klipspringer, and kudu… And for a bird nerd like me, I was seeing new bird species every few minutes!    While we were out with Nick, he showed us lion and hyena tracks, pointed out the smell of leopard urine where the cat had recently marked the area we were passing through, and pointed out various tree and flower species that were noteworthy.

Water buck

While we were out we had 2 flat tires and got stuck in a rut...the Land Rover got us over some tough terrain!

Lion tracks

Little Bee-Eater

Side-Striped Jackal

Bearded Woodpecker

At one point Nick drove off into the bush to get a little closer to some elephants.  We all piled out of the Land Rover and hid behind a bush to watch a large herd of elephants fairly close by.  As we watched Nick mentioned that the elephant that didn’t have tusks was probably going to be trouble and to be ready to run back to the car if he told us to.  Sure enough, this elephant faced us and began to charge a few steps towards us… you should see how fast I can move when properly motivated.  You'll notice that Dave stopped filming while he was running!

When we came back for lunch one day, some of the workers at the camp had come across some honey in the wild and brought it back for us to try (apparently only a few stings in the process!)....YUM!  We actually followed around a bird called a honey-guide whose call will lead you to honey if you follow it long enough...we didn't find the honey.

In the evenings he would take us to beautiful locations where we could watch the sunset over the river.  As it began to get dark we could hear elephants and hippos (and we’re pretty sure some lions) making noises in the distance.  And, there is nothing like looking up at the African night sky in a dark wilderness area. 

On our way back to camp, we would spot some animals, including various owls, civet, and even some wildebeest.  Bona, our Mozambican guide, was even able to spot chameleons and snakes with his light while we were driving in the dark. 

 

Giant Eagle-Owl

Donald, who was feeling better after a couple of days, then took us out canoeing on the Lugenda River.  While we didn’t see any crocodiles (I’m sure they were there somewhere), we did get to see some different types of birds, a monitor lizard, and hippos.  When the river was wide, we could calmly watch the hippos from a safe distance as we canoed by.  At one point we canoed through a narrower area known for having hippos.  After receiving instructions from Donald we stayed close together as we paddled through the area.  Sure enough, we would see the ears and eyes of the hippos pop above the water for a few moments and then disappear.  The nervous part was not knowing where they disappeared to.  It was an awesome experience to paddle through a few mild rapids and in such beautiful wilderness for the day. 

Watch out for the hippos!

Saddle-Billed Stork

White-Headed Lapwing

 Our last afternoon, Nick took us to a spot where we scrambled up some rocks to look at some cave paintings.  On a mountain across the way we watched some klipspringers move there way down.

Klipspringer

Bohm's Bee-Eater

Brown Snake Eagle

African Fish Eagle

Southern Ground Hornbill

Dickinson's Kestrel

Spotted Eagle Owl