Caution: May Contain Nuts

We are so excited to have a place to call OUR home!

I am pleased to announce that last Tuesday, October 27^th, we officially moved into our new home in Zambia.  This is very exciting for us, not just because it’s our first home since we got married in May 2007, but also because it has taken a lot of time, prayer, and hard work to get here (not to mention a lot of flying and driving!!)

Since I have failed miserably in my original intention of updating this blog once a week, I will quickly highlight the major events that have taken place.  It may take a few days to do that…

October 14^th- The engine on the Toyota was finally finished and we were able to pick it up- yay!!!  All in all, the truck was in the shop for over four weeks, and needed a rebuilt engine, turbo, and diesel pump.  What a project!  We praise God for providing the funds needed to make these repairs.

October 15^th -16^th – On Thursday we packed to leave Cape Town.  In the evening Timothy prepared to hook the trailer to the truck… only to discover that the hitch had been stolen.  This was an extremely frustrating moment for us.  Then, adding insult to injury, it was too late to buy one that night.  So, instead of leaving at 5am the Friday morning as originally planned, Timothy went in search of a new hitch (not as easy to find in stock in South Africa as it would be in the States.)  He finally found one that he thought would work, but it was just a tiny bit too big.  He spent another 2 ½ hours grinding and fitting the hitch post before we had a workable connection.  At noon we were able to bid farewell to the Cape and “head home” (it’s so nice to be able to say that).  We thought we would be able to reach our first stop, Bloemfontein, by 11pm or so.  However, we didn’t take into account traveling with a new engine, a heavily loaded trailer, a toddler, and a pregnant wife (hey, when you gotta go, you gotta go. Now.)  At midnight we were still 300kms from our stop and dead tired.  We pulled to the side of the road and slept in the car for a few hours before continuing onwards.  We reached Johannesburg Saturday evening and were greeted by our friends the van der Merwes.  We stayed on their farm for two nights.  Monica loved feeding the lambs!

October  17^th – 18^th We were able to fellowship with our Brothers and Sisters in Johannesburg and Pretoria before continuing our journey.  These dear friends have “put us up” on our way through many times.  They are Timothy’s best “braai friends” and a huge encouragement to us as a family.  Thanks, Benoni!

October 19^th – 21^st Driving as far as Petersburg, we stopped to pick up a few more items and meet the doctor who will, God willing, deliver our baby in a few months.  We were very pleased with Dr. Henn.  She suggested that we return to Petersburg about 3 weeks prior to the baby’s birth (due date is January 7^th) to minimize the risk of going into labor on the road- a suggestion Timothy is most keen to follow.  ; ) Personally, I think he’d be a great midwife… but I think the idea of a delivering his own baby in the back of a truck, with a toddler in the carseat, along the roadside in Botswana, watching for lions over his shoulder freaks him out just a little.  During our stay in Petersburg we stayed with Andre and Wiida van Jaarsveldt at their guesthouse.  It was a wonderful break from the road, and a great place to finish off our stay in civilization!

October 22^nd – 25^th – We continued our journey through South Africa, Botswana, and on into Zambia.  We are very pleased at how well the Toyota managed the road conditions and heavily loaded trailer.  The roads were VERY bad in some areas.  One 60km stretch in Zambia took over four hours to traverse!!  The potholes and road conditions in this section were so bad that the spotlights got shaken off the bull bar!  Argh!!  Fortunately, we sustained no further damage (unless you count two very well shaken and bumped people in the truck… Monica slept through the whole thing.  Carseats are wonderful).  God’s grace truly was with us on the road.  There are so many things that can go wrong on any road, but African roads are notorious for their dangerous conditions.  This is exacerbated by the fact that if you break down you are TRULY in the middle of nowhere, in the heat, and with the wildlife.

Crossing into Zambia was a lot more difficult than we originally expected.  It took about five hours to process our vehicle, trailer, and boxes through customs.  It was also a lot more expensive than we expected.  If there is one art the Africans have mastered, it is that of taxation.

We reached Kabwe on Sunday and were welcomed by Hannes, Christel, and Dian van Jaarsveldt (our landlords).  It was wonderful to step out of the vehicle for the last time!

Monica was very, very well behaved throughout the whole journey.  Some of our days were very long; just the first stretch from Cape Town to Johannesburg (including a few hours sleep in the car) took 30 hours!  She enjoyed seeing the wildlife along the way, especially the ostriches (which she refuses to call anything but, “Ducks!”) and the elephants in Botswana.

October 26^th – the present

We are now moved in to our home.  We are “camping it up” as most of our household items arrive on the Container.  Cooking has been a bit of a challenge with one camp stove burner, one crock pot, and 3 utensils, but we are managing.  It is also the end of the dry season here, which means vegetables are scarce and expensive.  Tomatoes and cucumbers are very cheap and abundant still, so we are eating a lot of those!  We haven’t been able to get our water filtration system to work.  We think it may have been damaged in the process of moving here.  We are getting a new one from Lusaka within a few days.  In the mean time, we have been availing ourselves of the van Jaarsveldts’ water.

All things considered, it’s nice to be HOME at long last.  I might be sitting in a camp chair… but it’s my chair in my house.  I’m also drinking tea out of my mug.  I just finished washing my dishes and put them away in my cupboard.  It was truly wonderful staying with so many good friends in the States.  But, oh MY, MY is it good to have our own home!