We had a 8 hour flight to London, England (where we had our first stop-over). Once everything was set in place for our next flight, we only had a few hours to do something if we ventured out of the airport, but decided we'd rather see London for a few hours then just sit in the airport. So, we set out on our first adventure into the City of London - took the 'tube' to the downtown area and got to see Big Ben, Churchill Square, St. James Park, and Buckingham Palace. We didn't get to spend much time at each place as we only had about 1 1/2 hours, but I'm very thankful that we did get the opportunity to see them. (Oh, and I must add that it was sunny when we were there - which is quite a rare thing this time of year in England, I think.)
Seventeen hours and 2 more stop-overs (Portugal and Johannesburg) later, we arrived in Maputo, Mozambique. It was blissfully warm and sunny. We did not have many problems going though customs and security (I'm sure we would've had more if it wasn't for the young man who helped us all the way through - I'm not sure, but he could've been an angel, because what he did was uncharacteristic for a staff member at the airport.) He helped us fill out all our forms, butted us in front of the line for customs, and talked the security lady out of looking through all our bags and charging us (we were bringing items to Iris Ministries for the children - soccer balls, toy medals, etc. and she was probably concerned that we were going to sell them). He walked outside to the area where Iris MInistries was picking us up, and then just walked away - he didn't even wait around for a tip! (which we were quite dissapointed about)
On the drive to the base, we were well introduced to Mozambican driving (I presume it's how much of the world experiences driving) They drive on the left side of the road, and what we may consider 'tail-gating' here in Canada is commonplace there. When we would consider it 'unsafe' to pass, they just whip right out there, almost grazing the oncoming vehicle as they return to their lane. It is normal for people, motorbikes and bicyles to line the sides of the roads, even for children to be playing but a few yards away from fast-moving vehicles.
The common minibuses (or chapas) of Mozambique (one of the most prevalent methods of commuting for the people of Africa) are often filled way over the capacity they were meant to carry and sometimes you will see one so full that it's comical. I think that it would take North Americans a while to adjust if we had to commute to and from work in that condition every day, but these people don't seem to mind - they are just happy to have a job or school to be going to.
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