Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Mozambique: The Final Frontier
May 20, 2006, Naboomspruit, South Africa
Upon arriving in Witrivier we went to my friend Eugene's farm, where we planned on staying for the week. Eugene set up a series of meetings for us with local HIV/AIDS organizations, the local newspaper, and a news organization that distributes articles throughout southern Africa, Europe and the United States. We were hoping that by being in the local paper we could raise interest in our trip, possibly leading to funding. We were also hoping that the news syndicate would be interested in purchasing some of our articles, allowing us to fund the trip ourselves.
Obviously, since the trip is now over, neither option really worked out. We met with a reporter from the local Mpumalanga newspaper called the Lowvelder a couple of weeks ago. She seemed very interested in the trip and told us that her story about us would appear in the Friday edition of the paper. Eugene called me Friday morning and told me to come to his office and check the paper. When I arrived at his office, I picked up the Lowvelder hoping to see our picture on the front page. After all, we had to be the most interesting people to go through this small farming community (so we thought). I was shocked to see the headline "Flung From Car", a story about a kitten that was thrown from a moving truck and rescued by a good Samaritan. Needless to say we were a bit disappointed. (I did however find out today that the article appeared in yesterday's Lowvelder).
After this blow to our egos, I was a bit pessimistic about the idea that we would be able to earn enough money through our writing to continue with the trip. Our meeting with the news agency was on Monday, so we had at least one weekend left before the trip was finished. We decided that we would spend the weekend using our own money to do a couple of things in the area before the trip officially ended.
On Friday, we headed into Kruger National Park. This massive park is about the same size as Israel and is loaded with animals. We spent Friday evening and Saturday morning driving around the park, checking out lion cubs, elephants, rhinos, and loads of other wildlife.
On Saturday afternoon, we headed to Mozambique, the 19th country of the trip. I was a bit nervous about bringing our car into Mozambique because during my four previous trips to Mozambique, the police always did their best to find problems with the cars in which I was traveling. With the Stingray, they would not have much of a problem finding things that they could turn into fines. As we sat at the border waiting for our visas and car insurance, several policemen and immigration officials came by to check out the car. Instead of telling us it was not road worthy and that we would have to pay heavy fines, they instead informed us that they had seen our car on television. This comment was not new to us. We have often been mistaken for being involved with a television show in South Africa that involves three men traveling throughout the country in an old red car. The police and immigration officials were so excited that they were in the presence of "celebrities" that they did not bother trying to fine us.
Maputo, the capital of Mozambique proved to be a much better ending to our "African" experience than a small town in South Africa. Maputo has great energy. Set on the Indian Ocean, Maputo has welcoming people, beautiful architecture, a pumping night life and delicious seafood. I had been there several times before and was glad that Nate and Sean could experience a night there. Twenty-two hours later, we were leaving Maputo to go back to Witrivier and to sort out the remainder of the trip.
On Monday afternoon, Nate and I went to the office of the news agency to determine what our options for the future might be. The meeting was informative, but not very positive. The man that we spoke with seemed to like a lot of our articles; however the amount of money we would have been paid was not enough to propel the trip further. After this meeting we were certain that we would no longer be able to continue with the campaign.
With the AIDS Awareness Campaign officially over, it was now time to move on with our lives. Nate and I parted ways with Sean on Tuesday. Sean remained near the Mozambican border where he is hoping to sell the car. Nate and I are currently in Naboomspruit, our first stop when we arrived in South Africa. We plan to be here for another couple of weeks while we wrap up the remainder of the writing and editing for the trip, decompress and prepare for whatever lies ahead.
May 20, 2006, Naboomspruit, South Africa
Upon arriving in Witrivier we went to my friend Eugene's farm, where we planned on staying for the week. Eugene set up a series of meetings for us with local HIV/AIDS organizations, the local newspaper, and a news organization that distributes articles throughout southern Africa, Europe and the United States. We were hoping that by being in the local paper we could raise interest in our trip, possibly leading to funding. We were also hoping that the news syndicate would be interested in purchasing some of our articles, allowing us to fund the trip ourselves.
Obviously, since the trip is now over, neither option really worked out. We met with a reporter from the local Mpumalanga newspaper called the Lowvelder a couple of weeks ago. She seemed very interested in the trip and told us that her story about us would appear in the Friday edition of the paper. Eugene called me Friday morning and told me to come to his office and check the paper. When I arrived at his office, I picked up the Lowvelder hoping to see our picture on the front page. After all, we had to be the most interesting people to go through this small farming community (so we thought). I was shocked to see the headline "Flung From Car", a story about a kitten that was thrown from a moving truck and rescued by a good Samaritan. Needless to say we were a bit disappointed. (I did however find out today that the article appeared in yesterday's Lowvelder).
After this blow to our egos, I was a bit pessimistic about the idea that we would be able to earn enough money through our writing to continue with the trip. Our meeting with the news agency was on Monday, so we had at least one weekend left before the trip was finished. We decided that we would spend the weekend using our own money to do a couple of things in the area before the trip officially ended.
On Friday, we headed into Kruger National Park. This massive park is about the same size as Israel and is loaded with animals. We spent Friday evening and Saturday morning driving around the park, checking out lion cubs, elephants, rhinos, and loads of other wildlife.
On Saturday afternoon, we headed to Mozambique, the 19th country of the trip. I was a bit nervous about bringing our car into Mozambique because during my four previous trips to Mozambique, the police always did their best to find problems with the cars in which I was traveling. With the Stingray, they would not have much of a problem finding things that they could turn into fines. As we sat at the border waiting for our visas and car insurance, several policemen and immigration officials came by to check out the car. Instead of telling us it was not road worthy and that we would have to pay heavy fines, they instead informed us that they had seen our car on television. This comment was not new to us. We have often been mistaken for being involved with a television show in South Africa that involves three men traveling throughout the country in an old red car. The police and immigration officials were so excited that they were in the presence of "celebrities" that they did not bother trying to fine us.
Maputo, the capital of Mozambique proved to be a much better ending to our "African" experience than a small town in South Africa. Maputo has great energy. Set on the Indian Ocean, Maputo has welcoming people, beautiful architecture, a pumping night life and delicious seafood. I had been there several times before and was glad that Nate and Sean could experience a night there. Twenty-two hours later, we were leaving Maputo to go back to Witrivier and to sort out the remainder of the trip.
On Monday afternoon, Nate and I went to the office of the news agency to determine what our options for the future might be. The meeting was informative, but not very positive. The man that we spoke with seemed to like a lot of our articles; however the amount of money we would have been paid was not enough to propel the trip further. After this meeting we were certain that we would no longer be able to continue with the campaign.
With the AIDS Awareness Campaign officially over, it was now time to move on with our lives. Nate and I parted ways with Sean on Tuesday. Sean remained near the Mozambican border where he is hoping to sell the car. Nate and I are currently in Naboomspruit, our first stop when we arrived in South Africa. We plan to be here for another couple of weeks while we wrap up the remainder of the writing and editing for the trip, decompress and prepare for whatever lies ahead.
1 Comments:
I thought you may be open to some suggested research with regard to Aids. When my father was dying of cancer in 2004, I started to research everything I could about alternative treatments - the Chemo was obviously making him worse. Sadly, too late, I encountered information about COLLOIDAL SILVER and H2O2 that looked very promising in the treatment of many ailments, including cancer and Aids.
There are a vast array of sites offering the information and I will leave it to you to discover your own trusted sources for research. I would note that both treatments are not viewed well by the medical authorities of the US and UK....but then again, they are natural products that cannot be
patented and therefore pose a risk to pharmaceutical profits.
I personally use both treatments as a preventative measure and have had only good effects. My dog too is thriving! Anyway, I am not here to sell or promote anything, just offering a suggested route for further examination.
I wish you well.
Namaste,
Tina Louise
www.armsagainstwar.info
www.tinalouise.co.uk
Post a Comment
There are a vast array of sites offering the information and I will leave it to you to discover your own trusted sources for research. I would note that both treatments are not viewed well by the medical authorities of the US and UK....but then again, they are natural products that cannot be
patented and therefore pose a risk to pharmaceutical profits.
I personally use both treatments as a preventative measure and have had only good effects. My dog too is thriving! Anyway, I am not here to sell or promote anything, just offering a suggested route for further examination.
I wish you well.
Namaste,
Tina Louise
www.armsagainstwar.info
www.tinalouise.co.uk
<< Home