There's no place like home. . .

We finally made it home after along twelve hour trip--the final leg of our journey. Border crossings are always a bit adventurous as you never know exactly what you might encounter. Just before reaching the border, we stopped to get fuel, make a handful of peanut butter sandwiches, and change out our cell phone chips. The group of ladies sitting in the first photo under the tree are there to exchange money. They walk around with large purses, ready to make a deal with any interested customer.













Once we made it to the border, we started the navigation of lines, people, passport stamps, and police inspections as we left South Africa then entered Mozambique. This time, to our surprise, they didn't inspect our cars until Scott left the last post in his car (we had two cars this time) and the officer decided to pull me over and search my car. With the passports in Scott's possession and a car full of luggage, we were a bit worried, but thankfully the man wasn't interested in anything more than a quick glance into the back of the car.

Maneuvering through Maputu is even more challenging than the boarder crossing. The road is flanked by scores of people, taxis, and sellers until the obstacle course gets even worse a few hours north with the paved road literally filled with pot holes.















A few more hours north and we stopped to fuel up the cars again, this time hoping we can beat the sun as it begins it's decent. Driving at night something we avoid as the narrow roads, many with no lines or reflectors, are extremely dangerous. Something we encountered first hand. As we drove in the dark, we came across a bus that had overturned on the side of the road, marked only by a row of branches. With no reflectors anywhere on the vehicle, it was a miracle we didn't slam into it.

With pounding hearts--and thankfully no further incidents--we made it the rest of the way home.

But of course being back home has brought with it it's own set of adventures. The water cuts out at night, there are no lights in the bedrooms and kitchen, and an intense heat never seems to let up. Add to that, the stores shelves were half empty in town, we believe because of the excess number of tourists here for the beach. We decided to drive to the nearest town about forty-five minutes away only to find out that there was a city-wide holiday and everything was closed.

So while feelings are naturally a bit mixed, I'm still very glad to be back. We've seen team mates and met with friends, greeted the ladies from the open market who were excited to see us back again, played with our puppies, and even made home made root beer as a treat tonight.

No, there really is no place like home.