Grand Adventure

Over the weekend, we decided it was time. High time for this family to get out in the bush and do some exploring!

We as a family have always enjoyed backyard birding. In the States, we set up a feeding station and throughout the year, waited to see what would stop by for a visit. It’s amazing to see all the winged wonders that live in Indiana.  Yeah, it’s okay. We’ve been called bird nerds before…I know you were thinking it.

When we read in our Zambia travel guide book about a place called Chembe Bird Sanctuary not too far from where we live, we decided to go for it. When we finally arrived, we decided it was a great place. The views were breathtaking and we were pumped to do the drive all the way around the lake. The man running the sanctuary was named Bonaventure (Good Adventure) in French. From his heavily accented English we learned that the road around the lake was open, because as you may remember…it is currently the dry season. We ate a quick lunch while spotting a few cool birds with our binoculars. No crocs yet, but surely we would see some before the day was through!

We piled into the van with the kids hanging out the sunroof. We were having a grand time yelling out our discoveries to each other as we bumped along the rough road. After about 20 minutes we came to a spot that looked a little treacherous. We got out of the van to look it over and thought for sure we could take it, no problem. Climbing back in, we all braced ourselves (EHO y’all!!). 

Erik gunned it, we came to a grinding halt. Nothing. Stuck. In the muck and the mire. Assessing the situation, we were unsure how to proceed. We were in the bush about an hour away from anybody we knew. We had no shovels to dig ourselves out. No tractors in sight so that option was out. As we stood there, we realized the ground we were standing on was actually quite boggy. The longer you stood…the more you would sink. Suddenly from the bush, children began to emerge. They all came and shook our hands. With their limited English, we exchanged greetings. They walked around our car chatting to each other, smiling and pointing. No offers of help came. I don’t know if they could have said it in English anyway and with our limited knowledge of Bemba we couldn’t have understood them.  Soon, a young man appeared who spoke pretty good English and knew just what to do.  He got a shovel from the village and we began jacking up the van on sticks and placing additional sticks under the tires to raise it off of its frame.  As time wore on, more and more people began showing up to watch the show.

The kids started playing in the water. I was trying not to freak out but the creek they were playing in is known to be infested with bilharzia. I told myself, "no need to worry, they aren't drinking it and their faces aren't even in it." But no surprise...Claire completely fell in a short time after my self talk...causing this mama to relinquish control once again and to trust that He has it ALL in control.

While work continued on one side of the van, play went on in the creek. The kids caught a ton of tree frogs.

After about an hour and a half, we got the van to the point of trying to get out.  As Erik backed up, the van slipped off the solid ground back into the swamp, stuck worse than before.  Undeterred, our Zambian helpers began jacking and adding sticks just like before.  Following another 90 minutes and several unsuccessful tries, we finally got out.  Erik coated a few Zambians and myself in mud as we worked to get out. It was crazy. 

Part of our crew that helped us.  And just a few minutes before additional challenges.

Our helpers said they would show us a way to the road without going back through the swamp so we began to follow them through the bush.  We only went about 100 meters when a loud POP signified additional trouble.  We had blown a tire on some sharp stumps in the path.  No problem, get the spare.  As Erik reached up under to loosen it he realized it would be no help. It was flat.  So we drove on the blown tire up to the village.  Someone knew someone who had a bicycle pump so they went and fetched it.  Another 45 minutes of pumping and beating on the tire with sticks to get it settled on the rim, and we were ready to depart. 

In the meantime, our girls were teaching the village girls to jump rope.  Jonas had been running around barefoot and got a thorn stuck in his foot. The ladies and girls were all trying to pull it out.I finally remembered I had a tweezers in the car. They were totally impressed by my handy tool.

It was really insightful for us to see how simply these people live.  And we were impressed at how helpful they were.  Perhaps these crazy Muzungus were a welcome distraction to a life of constant survival.

The very best part of the picture is the red hair net falling to the ground. Our kids wear these when they are harvesting in the fields. We gifted them to the girls and they got a good chuckle out of it.

As the good Word says,  Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. (Proverbs 27:1) Little did Bonaventure know what the Author of Grand Adventure had in store for us that day!

Lessons learned:

1. Make sure you clearly understand what you are hearing.

2. Clearly establish the ground you are driving on is indeed firm.

3. Ensure your spare tire is inflated at all times.

4. And most importantly…LEARN the local language.

The spiritual correlations here are obvious, but this post is already way too long. I will leave it for your own reflection.