AFRICA
A MACHIBOMBO is a means of transport that is occupied in a place in Africa called Mozambique. The interesting thing about this vehicle is that it is generally a white minivan that goes with the door semi-open while it is traveling. If you are lucky you will find a place to sit well attached to someone or you can find a box of chickens next to you or someone who sits on you due to lack of space. The machibombo is tight, uncomfortable and there is no precisely environmental perfume to please, you pray to reach home safely and sound and you travel without knowing how and at what time you will arrive at your destination. As it is very full, the door fails to close and most likely some of the passengers will practically hang.
It is a tragicomic story I know, and of course, each one evaluates what he understands as a travel experience, but when a journey of any kind is undertaken, our senses open up to the world of the different and adrenaline will always be present, it is a new experience.
THE PLANE that brought me back to Chile was full of passengers as the shocking earthquake of 2010 that claimed several lives had just taken place. I was with my two children and suitcases. It was difficult to find a space on the flight. I told the person in charge that I had to get on the plane anyway and that it was very urgent to arrive in my country because of the current situation I was experiencing, the earthquake.
That was how and with much effort I undertook flight. The first stop was at Antofagasta, a campaign airport, there we descended and checked our luggage, then continued the journey to the destination.
SANTIAGO: THE ARRIVAL
We arrived at the capital, the airport was closed, destroyed by this mega-earthquake.When they got off the plane, the on-board personnel threw all the luggage of the passengers on the ground and with flashlights, they lit the luggage so that we could take them quickly and go walking with them to get a bus, all this under the crashed sky.
We arrived home where we found my mother sleeping in her car, she was afraid to enter her room and the roof could collapse against her head. She stayed overnight in the vehicle for several days until she had a tremendous cold and had no choice but to go back inside her house, enter her room, get comfortable and try to fall asleep.
REMEMBRANCE
Thinking about those times when I lived in Africa when I was little, I remembered when we went on a trip to Iñambane, an island that was on the other side of Maputo the capital of Mozambique. You had to cross in a boat of those that fit about 50 passengers, the movement was so strong that the entire first row was vomiting. The trip was an unequaled adventure, suddenly we reached the middle of the sea and they told us that we had to go down and get on a BALSA, which we agreed, it was moving from top to bottom and we had to jump to get off it! So we went down one by one, we were several brothers and my parents.
After waiting for a moderate time, we got on some boats, one man paddled and paddled without pause and another with a bucket took out the water that entered it. I was only 10 years old and said out loud: “I don’t want to die so young! “To which the whole boat exploded into laughter against my little humanity, they laughed at me, the little girl and her journey that I could never forget. The worst was yet to come. Wouldn’t it be enough adventure? When would we arrive at the hotel? Suddenly the boat did not advance, oars bottomed out, but there was plenty of water, all of us walking down this mighty ocean towards the shore as true castaways.
We were going with our bags over our heads so they wouldn’t get wet. Concentrated on advancing through those warm waters, as I was wearing my shoes on, I was not so afraid of stepping on the seafloor, it was quite flat, not like in Chile that you know that if you move forward you will find a cliff on the coast.
I was already back in my country and those memories of childhood travel in Africa and even the memory of the days after the earthquake remained etched in my memory forever. Time continues its course, it is the one that does not stop or give truce, it is my internal mirror, it is the one that continues to reveal it to me every day.
It had been more than a year since my return home and behind those unforgettable memories, those dark faces with wide white smiles, all those paths traveled of fertile land, green crops, juicy fruits and sea delicacies that remained like moving images in my retina. The hair swayed with the wind from the open window of the car, a radiant sun and a fresh air enveloped me, I knew that this moment later would only be an unforgettable memory in the log of my life.
Then, when we get in the car and if we are attentive, we will see how the roads were seen dazzle and beat towards the immensity. We use different means of transport that take us to hidden places in our walk, such as stories of incandescent films and images that interfere in the successes and mistakes of life.
The African vehicle called machibombo represents the humility and patience of that man who walks the road with difficulty.
The imposing plane that brought us back to our home represents the modernity of today’s man in all its splendor.
The boat patiently constructed by the artisan suggests that water, the source of life represented by this barge, allows us to navigate through our own emotions.
The feet that are our most perfect vehicle represents that great journey that begins with a single step towards who knows where.
All these life vehicles will one day arrive at their destination no matter how long they have been delayed.
Always respect the one who comes after you and learn from the one who has already traveled the road.
