I Made It… (Barely)

My trip to Mozambique was supposed to take about 48 hours total to make it to Maputo. It ended up taking a bit longer…..After I got to Johannesburg, South Africa, I spent the night at a lodge and got dropped off at a gas station/bus station, to catch a bus to Maputo at 8AM. When I got there I asked which side of the building the bus to Maputo came on and was told a certain block. By 8:45 i decided that I should start sking around some more. Turns out that my first helper was dead wrong,I waited in the wrong location, so I missed my bus.

I Tried to get some change to use a pay phone, but no one there had ever seen american dollar before and would not accept them, so I bummed some Rand (South african currency) off some nice people and called the bus company, who changed my ticket for the next bus-10PM. So i just chilled at the station stranded for about 7 hours total until the lodge people could pick me up again for a nap in their lobby rather than sit on the street. I went back to the station later and while waiting for my next bus was talking to a South African guy who turned out to be homeless for the time being, and was actually living at this station, guarding cars during the day and sleeping there at night. My bus came and I threw my bags in the back and boarded. The attendant asked for my passport when I got on board, and I informed her that I would need to get a visa for Mozambique at the border (these were my instructions). However…she threw a fit about it and refused to let me ride the bus. So, despite me trying to reason with them, they took my stuff out of the bus and drove off without me. Now I was REALLY stranded. Since I had no place to stay the night and there was no ransportation around, I arranged for another bus to take me to the border at 5:45AM the next morning, and the South African guy I met-Eric-and I slept on the tile in the gas station. So I can officially say I’ve been homeless in South Africa one time.

I finally made it to Maputo yesterday evening, the Bowers family is extremely nice, with two out of control toddler girls and a jr high boy. My first day had a little more action than I was expecting. I went with the family on a walk around the city, caught my first glimpse of the Indian Ocean. Then in the afternoon, my internship coordinator picked me up and took me to a youth group event and had me share my testimony in Portuguese. I knew I would have to do some work here, but I wasn’t expecting to speak the first day. The service was awesome, lots of dancing, great music. Loving it here so far!  Hope you are all well!

Homeless in Johannesburg!

Sharing, first day in Mozambique.