As my first school year here in
Mozambique is winding down I am wrapping up lessons, grades, and making notes
for next year’s lesson plans and possible projects I hope to accomplish. My life here is about to slow way down as the
school and much of my town will clear out for the two month summer break. I hadn’t put too much thought into it or made
any specific plans for my time off aside from probably winging a little trip to
northern Moz. However, about a month ago
a good buddy from my sailing circle approached me with this crazy sailing race
he had found in Tanzania. And, as it
happens, it lines up perfectly for me and the free time my school break would
permit me. The idea went dormant for a
while because of some possible scheduling conflicts and some slow response from
the race coordinators, but just within the last week things have begun to line
up. It’s made this a real possibility and it has me up at night with the idea
racing through my mind.
It’s called the Ngalawa Cup. It’s basically a 500km sailing race through
the Bay of Zanzibar, going from island to island in a boat MADE out of a mango
tree and uses a bed sheet for a sail!
Crazy, yeah I know. It’s is
exactly the kind of adventure idea that has my blood pumping and dreams running
wild. Not only would we be doing 9 days
navigating a small part of the Indian Ocean in a rickety trimaran held together
with natural parts, but we would also camping out every step of the race on
isolated beaches…. roughing it true dirtbag style just with a little coastal
bum twist. After being land locked for little
over a year and unable to do anything even close to sailing, my heart races at
the idea of getting back to my passion on the water and moving with the wind.
The other amazing thing that
just so happens to line up in my favor is that I am living in arguably the best
possible location in Mozambique to do an overland trip to Dar es Salaam and the
starting point of the race. So at the
end of December I would take a series of buses from my capital of Tete City
into Malawi and then across the border of Tanzania where I am looking to jump
on a classic train that would take me the rest of the way across Tanzania to
the coast. Not only does this
opportunity allows me the option to bypass an expensive flight, but I get to see
some more beautiful landscapes of this continent I’ve become quite fond of. It also means that I’d spend my Christmas and
New Years with my friends in Tanzania before embarking on our ludicrous voyage
the morning of the first day of 2017. Then
hopefully after some successful 9 days or less of racing we’ll win ourselves some
hardware to show for it and extra pride to take back home with me overland the
way I came.
As awesome as this may sound,
and as incredibly excited I am at the possibility of taking this adventure on,
the thing is I won’t be able to do this trip without some help from you; my
friends, family, and best supporters who have already given me so much love and
encouragement during my time here in Mozambique. So let me be just honest in that this is not
the way I would have liked to approach this, and my intention is in no way to
make you feel uncomfortable, obligated, or even put on the spot. But, this is
my last resort and I am just looking
for a bit of help from as many people as possible. People who find the idea of this adventure to
be as captivating as I do. People who would
like to see and hear me accomplish it.
If I am able to raise the funds to make this happen you can be more than
certain there will be on the road updates, photos, and blog posts for you to
experience this with me as best as the internet here allows me to. I would appreciate any amount not matter what
size because believe me, the value of a hard earned dollar has a whole new
meaning to me from being here; which is actually close to 80 metical for every
$1, actually.
So if you are interested in
supporting this, click the link below to donate.
Thank you so much from
the bottom of my wild heart whether you donate or even just for taking the time
to hear me out.
Here’s the link to the
website for the race. If you want to
watch a video or read a little about it from them, please check it out.
شركة مكافحة حشرات بالاحساء
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