This last week was a hectic week. We were invited to a wedding in Mozambique and we need to take a field trip up there.
Our journey started last Tuesday when we had to catch a bus from East London to Durban. We packed our bags and caught a taxi to the bus stop where we had breakfast.
The bus was delayed for two hours. Already we were off to a bad start. I mean how do you delay a bus? In a plane you can blame the weather but in a bus at midday what do you blame? Maybe they ran out of petrol because they didn't fill up at the last gas station. But whatever it was we had to wait.
The bus finally arrived and we got on. I knew this was going to be a fun drive because my mom panics about everything and my dad likes to be in control of the vehicle. So I'm going to be with a panicking mother and back-seat driver.
When we were at our first stop, we all got out and my parents had a cigarette. After that we went and bought pies, when we walked out the shop the bus was already leaving. We ran after asking for them to stop. I felt like one of those losers in those movies where they are always running after the bus whilst everyone else laughs.
The bus stopped and we all got back on. We settled back in our seats and relaxed.
The bus trip took really long. At about 8pm was the next stop. I had taken a little nap and when I woke up my parents were outside having another cigarette. Then the bus started to drive again. I'm alone in the bus and my parents are outside. I ran to the driver and tried to stop the bus. They calmly explained that they are going to the shop and back. They are not leaving anyone behind. I calmly found a phone to let my parents know that the bus was coming back.
We got to the bus station at midnight. We called a taxi. We got in and they had a meter run to say how much it cost. And I'm pretty sure it increased incrementally as we drove. It started with 60c for 5 meters and seemed to climb to R100 every second. We are never getting a taxi again.
We spent the night at my aunt. The next day we when shopping for a camera and drove to Richards bay. In Richards bay we had a braai at a friends house and slept the night.
They said it will take 2 to 3 hours to the border. They lied. It took 4 to 5 hours. We got there late afternoon.
Our car would not survive the ride to our accommodation, so we took the border transfer. We got in the bus and went on the death defying trip. I think that car spent more time in the air then on the ground.
There was another car in front of us that randomly stopped and reversed. They reversed straight into us. No one even got out to check the damage or anything, they just drove off. I wonder if you can do that with any crime in Mozambique, just drive off?
We spent the weekend in a tent, in fact it think it was a fancy tent, it had running water, how many tents do you know that have running water?
I think 90% of this weekend was partying, 5% wedding planning and 5% waiting for things to happen. The wedding service was on the beach where it was so windy that we couldn't hear the minister speak. It wasn't anything special, it ended like all weddings, in a drunk party.
The weekend flew by and we got to catch up with old friends and have a great holiday.
Sunday we left for Richards bay, where I slept over at my best friend. We spent most of our time playing computer games.
It's funny how you see all your friends at different times, but when you say goodbye it's as if you are never seeing them again, but 3 weeks later there they are. So the whole friends whilst sailing isn't that bad.
