There is one thing that you need to know about the weather while on our trip…..

IT….RAINED…..A……LOT!!!!!!!

One night we had six inches of rainfall while we were sleeping….or rather while we were lying awake listening to the rain hitting the tent!! It was actually a very cool experience to hear the thunder. It would seem to start on one side of the camp and roll over our tent to the other side.

As we drove into the bush the next morning, these were the sights that met us…..

After my mud puddle experience from a few days ago, I kept expecting the Land Cruiser to get stuck again and for a spray of mud to appear over my shoulder!!

The water on the flood-plain was also deeper and the BV all-terrain vehicle even had a few problems……

I quit filming when the water started flowing over the back of the vehicle, choosing instead to think about needing to swim!!!! But, Julian was able to fishtail the BV backwards until it was on a surer footing and then head in another direction.

After he got us out of this predicament he announced that he had once sunk a BV…..NOT what I wanted to hear!!!

There was a lot of slogging thru knee-deep water….

and I finally learned to grab hold of the vegetation on each side of me to keep upright.

I did manage to find a pretty plant to photograph…..

….and, of course, I picked up a leech!! There is something about me that leeches love!! When we were hiking in the Himalayas, I was the trek champion, picking up SIX of them in two days. Fortunately, I now understand that there isn’t anything bad that they can do to me so I just flick them off and carry on!!

Speaking of insects….. while waiting in the back of the truck one day, I noticed this small insect and started taking zoomed-in photos of him…..

It truly is an amazing creature!!!

I also found this grasshopper with a red “unicorn” horn…..

Okay….I got sidetracked….back to the weather!!!

Because Mozambique is in the Southern Hemisphere, it was winter there, and we knew that it would be cool, especially at night. We also knew that it was the tail end of the rainy season so it could be wet, but we were not prepared for the multiple rainstorms every day.

The biggest problem was with our clothes. The camp staff took dirty clothes every morning and HAND-washed them and hung them on a line to dry. But as it continued to rain each day, they simply couldn’t get them dry!! I ended up wearing the same clothes for five days in a row!!

When we packed up to head home, almost everything was still damp!!

But, even with the cool, wet weather, it was still a sweet trip and one that I will remember for a LONG time!!!

As you get this post, we will be returning home from our second Mozambique trip so be prepared for more travel log adventures in the weeks to come!!!

As I have mentioned in previous posts, Mark Haldane of Zambeze Delta Safaris has taken a great interest in not only the animals in his care but the villagers in the area. One of the first things that he did was to encourage the family units to move closer together so that it would be easier to provide services for them.

This is one of the areas where people have recently moved from…..

I am hoping to explore this particular area further when we return.

One of the reasons for moving the villagers closer together is so they have better access to the school and clinic.

The clinic was built by the Cabela Family Foundation and we had the opportunity to visit it…..

This is Mr. Quisito…..

He is the technician who runs the clinic and we spent some time talking with him. He is there to help with emergencies that occur but his primary concern is for malaria patients. Malaria is the number one killer of people in Africa, with the death rate being highly skewed toward very young children. He said that, in April, he had treated one thousand people for this disease, including the majority of the Sena villagers!!

The treatment consists of 12 tablets, taken over a period of three days…..

These bottles of antibiotics are used to treat certain bacteria and parasites……

This is the map of the village, showing where each of the new families are living…..

It was fun to see the “baby” scale hanging in one corner of the room…..

There were also a bunch of posters designed to help the villagers with nutrition and other health issues…..

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It was also interesting to see the Coronovirus notices…..

We were told that, although the building was provided by the Cabela Family Foundation, the technician is paid and the drugs are provided by the Mozambique government.

Zambeze Delta Safaris comes into the picture by providing upkeep on the building and often giving emergency transport when needed.

While we were there, one of the ZDS employees came into camp with an obviously broken arm. He said that he was riding on his motorbike when a snake reared up in the road. He swerved to get away from the snake and managed to crash his bike!! Fortunately, the crash scared the snake away!! They had to airlift him to the nearest city!!

After hearing this story, I thought more carefully about my daily walks down the road!!!

We have spent the better part of our trip driving around the Mozambique bush and it has been an amazing experience.  Julian has done a great job with getting us where we needed to be!!

As I mentioned early in this journal, I have been sitting on the back of the truck which makes for an amazing perch to see the wildlife and enjoy the beauty around me….

I observed Wildebeest in the road…..

Baboons everywhere….

And we have “chased” many herds of plains antelope as we rode along….

In addition, it was fun to look out over the tall grass and see only ears sticking slightly above the terrain, or to see the retreating butts of various animals as we passed.

We had a good laugh at one group of bush hens.  Most of them scattered as we approached but one poor soul started running ahead of the truck.   It was almost as if he couldn’t find a place to turn off of the road, but he FINALLY took a dive into the brush and out of our way.

At night, the small antelope would become dazed by the headlight and Julian would have to extinguish his lights before the little guys would move off of the road!!

However, there were a few hazards!!

Sitting up that high, you have to stay aware of what is coming towards you….. especially “air roots” and vines that hang from the tree branches……

These look innocuous, but when they slap your face at 20 mph, they feel like a whip has been whirled in your direction!!

Mostly, I would see and successfully duck one of the vines, only to look up again and be hit square in the face by the next one.   I felt like Indiana Jones when he was congratulating himself that he had dodged a punch, only to be knocked out by the next one!!

I also had to watch for tree branches along the road.  At the end of the second day, I found a splinter in the top of my head, obviously placed there by some branch that I failed to duck!!

After that day, I always wore a hat!!  Not only did the brim help to divert the vines but, if something did hit my head, it didn’t get through to skin….only the canvas of the hat.

I also learned that when Julian slowed to change gears or to engage the heavier 4-wheel drive function that it was time to HOLD ON!!   The next few seconds were either going to be fast or bumpy or both!!

As we returned to camp one evening, we crossed a HUGE mud puddle and the Land Cruiser started to get stuck!!  Julian began rocking the truck to help the tires gain traction, but it wasn’t working.   Suddenly, one of the tires started spinning, sending a spray of mud all over myself and Dolish in the back.  I think that I said a bad word!!!

A few seconds later I heard a sheepish “Sorry Frances” from the driver’s seat!!!

I didn’t realize the extent of the mud bath until we returned to camp and I removed the sodden shirt that I was wearing and carefully scrapped mud off of my legs and face. I think the state of my hat told the story well…..

Early in the trip, I was trying to hold on and found that doing so was just beating me up.  I eventually learned to stay loose and not hold on to anything.  That way I could just sway with the movement without having my arms and legs pounding against the metal bars surrounding me.

 I know that sitting inside the cab would have been a lot more comfortable, but I wouldn’t have changed places with Michael for anything!!….

After seeing the gorgeous agricultural fields, we were wondering exactly what they did with the corn and grains that they were growing.

Mark told us that there was a portable milling machine that made the rounds to each village and today we could visit one….

The machine itself is nothing fancy…..

The dried kernels (white corn in this case) are scooped into a basket…..

…. poured into the top of the machine…..

….and this amazing flour comes out the other end……

We asked if the flour was used for bread but Mark said “no….they make porridge with it”!!

When the flat baskets are full…..

….they are combined into a large dish-pan to be carried home…..

As much as I enjoyed seeing the milling process, I was equally enamored with the way that these women carried their children.

Some were wrapped tightly around them using a large scarf…..

….while some seemed to be holding on for dear life to Mom’s back….

….and my back hurt watching this woman….

The grains waiting to be milled were laid out on cloths around the grass….

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And of course there was one little boy with a tire…..

It was interesting watching this whole process….