The guy in the blue hat was the guy in charge on the farm. A nice South African fellow, who'd lived in Angola for 12 years or so, he met us on the main road at a bar. He was driving the tractor and had a beer in hand, but was more than ready to take us on for the night.
Some of us were feeling adventurous, so we jumped in the back- we were obvious newbies- you don't sit when you're in for the ride we were about to embark on. It's waaay too bumpy.
We crossed this beautiful river, and then turned off onto a dirt track...
...and headed into terrain that looked like this.
It was beautiful!
Along the way, we picked up some extra riders! That was great! That little baby might have been a little scared of me ("it looks like a person, but it's not the right color!"), but she was sooo cute.
Then we picked up even more!
When we reached their dwellings the ladies we kind enough to let us take a picture. When we showed them the image on the camera they laughed and laughed- they thought it was great!
Then the other ladies got out...
This is where they lived.
Oops, out of order! :)
When we finally reached the farm, it was sunset- beautiful light.
Some gorgeous pictures were available...
But then of course, Joel had to get down to the business of unloading the car...
And the boys helped the guy in charge get the business of the goat on the spit going.
Eventually we all sat around the fire bellies full (most of goat, mine not) and having a mostly good time. I might have had a mini (or not so mini) break down that night, which is why I might be crying in this picture. But regardless, a good time was had by almost all most of the night!
It's past my bedtime, and there is much more of this story to tell... without any photo evidence to show for it, I can tell you that that night progressed into a wonderful public service announcement against the usage of alcohol. People got naked, people climbed on roofs, people yelled, people were being just plain silly- and by that I mean they were being drunken idiots. Girls' sleep was disturbed (of course, we smart ones all went to bed earlier!). But all is well that ends well, and morning came... I'll continue with more pictures tomorrow of the next day on the farm- fantastic scenery coming your way!
2 comments:
This is one hell of an experience you are having over their. Is this crazier than all the rest of the places you have lived. And by that I mean th most eye opening to how so many people live in the world with so much less than us, and still seem to be smiling. Whats up with the anxiety level being so high?
Yeah, one thing that has struck me over and over and over and over again is how so many of these people have nothing compared to "us", and yet, yeah, you're right- they all have smiles on their faces. It really makes me question the things I feel I "need".
The anxiety was all about the road. I do not do over-roading/4x4 driving. I don't know if I died in a car crash in a previous life or what, but, driving at any speed on a road like that just had me gripping anything I could, barely breathing. One time when we finally stopped, I got out of the car and burst into tears. I've never experienced anxiety like that about anything. Kind of scary- but it was totally limited to those roads. Once we were back on the paved roads I was calmly reading or sleeping in the back seat!
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