Blogs from Mozambique, Africa - page 31

Maputo Shithole. Went there because we had to. Got out as quickly as possible. Tofo Our main reason for making this long and painful journey here (and it was painful - 4 hours in a cramped transit van from Swaziland to Maputo, then another 9 hours in an even worse van with dodgy but very loud reggae music playing, while sitting next to people that can't have washed for a month) was to catch up with one of my best mates from London, Willsy, and to see the little stretch of paradise he calls home. From the minute we unfolded out of the van, it was blatently obvious as to why his original planned stay of 2 months evolved into 2 years. The beaches are huge with numerous breaks dotted along the way, the water is ... read more

Never thought I would get the chance to be writing this entry but here I am in Maputo, writing from a library where the internet moves about as slowly as one might imagine. I don´t think I have a lot of time before we are going to have to leave so I will do my best to give a quick rundown of what I have been doing for the last 2 weeks. Training began in in downtown Philadelphia where our entire Peace Corps Mozambique group of 69 people got to know each other through ice breakers and imformational sessions about safety in Mozambique. The short stay in Philly was highlighted by a package of cookies that was left for me at the front desk one morning from a very generous Aunt and Uncle who I will ... read more

It's great when you have three days of motorbike riding madness in front of you to remember that when the destination is reached you can reap the rewards of cheap fresh seafood and even more refreshing cocktails! Leaving the delights of Malawi was comforted by the fact that the women were even more beautiful in Mozambique flaunting outrageously bright-coloured kangas and matching head-dress....slightly distracting! The roads were a disruptive disaster of zigzags across the 'almost completed' new road dipping in and out of river-fords then back onto dry chokingly dusty dirt roads, the journey broken up by our first flat tyre of the trip! Not to worry, 15 helpers suddenly appeared out of nowhere to claim a chance to help the muzungu or at least stand around and stare! And boy can they stare...for hours and ... read more

Waiting in the car park that doubles up as a bus stop in Manzini, Swaziland, I passed an entertaining hour watching a master class in packing, with the luggage destined for Mozambique slowly, and seemingly quite precariously, being piled higher and higher. We'd left the hostel around 6.30am, catching a minibus that took us as far as the next main minibus stop, and from there we'd squeezed into another van heading for Manzini. There the van driver waved us off with instructions to 'head for the old KFC' - of course life would have been far to easy if the bus to Mozambique actually left from the bus station we'd been dropped of at! And that's where, having been astounded when those directions actually got us to the bus, we watched the packing spectacle. In addition ... read more

It's a long road trip, so we stopped for another night at Tete in Mozambique. The roads are pretty bumpy and customs very slow..... Here's a few photo's anyway........ read more