Road Trip

We are definitely entrenched in the rainy season. Every morning since Tuesday we have woken up to grey skies and mud. It rains off and on during the day and night, sometimes a sprinkle, sometimes a torrential downpour. The roads are muddy and slick.

Yesterday afternoon, a Friday after a busy week, we decided to take a drive out in the Rhino to a nearby mission to check on friends who are visiting there. We needed to get out and it was the perfect excuse.

Duverger is about a 30 minute drive into the mountains. It is beautiful and very green right now. Because of the clouds and rain the distant mountains aren't visible and the tops of the nearby ones are shrouded in mist. There weren't many vehicles or motos on the road because of the mud but there were plenty of people on donkeys and horses, or on foot - yesterday was market day in our central village and everyone was returning home.

The Rhino is quite a remarkable little machine. It does much better in the mud than the Landcruisers or motorcycles. There were no hills we weren't able to get up, no mud patches we got stuck in, and it didn't slide around very much. We did have to get out at the river in Duverger and wade across in waist-high rushing water. The Rhino couldn't make it through water that high. The children's home and guest house for Movin' With the Spirit, was thankfully just up on the other side so we didn't have far to walk.

We visited the missionaries there for a while, saw their recent house improvements, and were surprised with a generous and tasty meal before we headed back before dark. Unfortunately, the visitors we had gone to see, the Loyola medical student team, had gone out on clinic and had not returned before we had to leave.

We had a blast driving on the roads and appreciated the adventure of crossing the river. We arrived home muddy and wet, and smiling. Sometimes things here get really busy and we don't leave the residence or our offices very often. It's times like yesterday that remind us where we are.