Blogs from Vilanculos, Southern, Mozambique, Africa

Sometimes life is too good to be true, huh! Mozambique is one of the most amazing countries in the world and we don’t want to wake up from this awesome dream. Here you’ll find crystal blue water, friendly and smiling people, incredible weather, white and long beaches, fresh seafood and paradise for every tourist. But reality for locals is much darker than we expected, life isn’t easy for the locals and the tourists don’t make it easier either since they are spending a local monthly salary for a dinner in front of their eyes. We have tried to come as close to the local life in Vilankulo. It has been great an experience to visit the cozy markets, to buy fresh fish from the beach, to laugh and share the new experiences. So we are learning, ... read more

Day 68, Wednesday, May 4th, we left Tofino by taxi to Inhambane. We took a 20-minute ferry ride across the bay to Maxixe. We had to extend our visas since we planned to head north and explore more of Mozambique. After two hours in the busy immigration office they told us it would take a week minimum (John had been to the office a week earlier and they had said they could do it same day for a fee). Discouraged we walk to the bus station to figure out transport to Vilanculos (250 miles North). It was a hot dusty afternoon and the ground was muddy from rain the night before. We walked from bus to bus asking questions in broken Portuguese finally finding a Chapa going our way. We had to pay extra for our ... read more

Vilanculos might be worth visiting a couple of days. Be ware of thieves though. Robbery has increased and still is. Don't stay at "Dolphin Dows" I was assaulted by 4 guys who stole my handbag upon arrival. Junior, the owner of Dolphin Dhows, seemed at first very helpful and competent. He somehow got my bag back. Empty. He accompanied me to the Police. He knows both the Police and the thieves very well, he said. The Police wrote a list of missing items by hand on a piece of paper but I got no copy. After two days Junior and the Police returned my passport, air ticket and Visa credit card to me. I signed a document for this and got a copy. Junior told me to be happy since theese things were the most important, ... read more

Hello Everyone! It's been a while since our last entry. Sorry no pictures right now, the computer here won't let Aaron download any photos. We've been kicking back on the beach in Mozambique. Our friend Martina owns a Nissan repair shop in Vilankulos and we stayed with her for almost a month. She is so much fun, we had a great time. It was really nice to just be in one spot for a while, also. Since she let us stay for free, we tried to cook some really nice meals for her. Which was fun and challenging. Aaron loves to cook and it was challenging because she currently only has an electric skillet, a George Foreman grill, and a microwave until her house remodeling is complete. But we managed to turn out some decent meals. ... read more

The Nampula TCO rep had guessed we'd get to Vilankulos by about 5PM but her estimate is conservative by 100%, a pleasant surprise. Sadly, we aren't actually dropped at Vilankulos but at the junction from which it's a 25 minute chapa ride distant, but the chapa - more like a Sudanese boksi - leaves immediately and we soon find ourselves on a street corner in the centre of Vilankulos. We've barely disembarked when a Portuguese woman offers us a lift to wherever we want to go. Our first choice, the delightfully-named Zombie Cucumber hostel, is full, as is the woman's subsequent suggestion Dolphin Dhow. She then suggests Baobab Beach, which turns out to have a couple of spare huts. It's amusing to see the woman's interaction with her young daughter, who appears to be her assistant. ... read more

I spent an incredible month in one of the poorest countries in the world, where the people are so cheerful and welcoming that you would not believe how difficult the reality of life is for them. The whole experience was absolutely amazing. It was uplifting, rewarding, challenging, grounding and heart-breaking in equal measure. To see the absolute joy on the faces of the children when we arrived to spend time with them, or their excitement at being given some new clothes, or the opportunity to do something creative, was remarkable . Our mornings were spent at a local rural preschool and most afternoons were spent teaching English to local adults in the town. At the preschool we assisted the local teachers in planning and teaching the lessons. Usually there were between 70 and 80 children in ... read more

As you have probably noticed with the scarcity of my updates... internet is not very available in the heart of Africa. I've been on an overland trip through Botswana, Zambia, Malawi and am now in Mozambique. The trip has been amazing so far and apparently great things to come in the last 5 days. I've seen elephants charging, I've dodged crocs and hippos, fallen down the falls... We are only 6 in our group including our fearless leader Chris so we have formed quite a nice little family. We had Jim and Lauren a father and daughter duo from Oz. Lauren is only 16 so we have been introducing her to some "sin" in a nice safe evironment!! :) Next we have Katie the athlete... you can expect to see her rowing for the Dutch team ... read more