The fish eagle's cry. A peregrine falcon meticulously plucking and eating his breakfast of what appears to be a wader of some description, given the length of avian legs hanging off the branch. The self-important chattering of a giant kingfisher as it takes up its perch on the dead tree near the Lake shore... but only once the falcon has vacated the premises. A bearded scrub-robin hammering the local ant population, with our vocal encouragement. A slender mongoose with his reptilian breakfast hanging out either side of his mouth. The dassies among the rocks, playing peek-a-boo with the visiting humans. [View Full Entry]

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Where's the toilets then? Waited three hours at the border for our visas, so we ventured down to the local village and braved a bar that was blaring out mega loud music. It was fun trying to order because we don't speak Portugeuse and it was deafening in there. We sat on the steps outside, next to some young lads that were playing draughts made with cardboard and bottle tops. Journeyed into Mozambique until dusk and set up camp just off the road. The ground was very sandy and dotted with vicious little acacias. Had a huge camp fire and made [View Full Entry]

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So, leaving Mozambique… Leaving the "Beek", I've remembered a few things I've forgotten to share. When S. and I went to Inhaca last week, I had gotten a letter in my room advising me to secure all valuables on my bed. I couldn't figure out what valuables as I had everything with me - phone, laptop, wallet, etc. Anyway, since the letter was signed by three people, and heavily underlined, I figured I'd better comply. So I promptly locked my passport, etc. in the safe in my room, even though I felt like that made me more of a target. But [View Full Entry]

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OK, thanks for your patience. We left off at the beginning of our bus ride north to Inhambane which left 2 hours late and choked its way up the country for the next 10 hours. On the bus, we actually had the conductor come and ask us for an additional 50 Metzicales ($2) for our piece of luggage, but seeing that he didn't ask any of the locals for the money, we refused to pay, and he grumbled and left us alone. It was a pretty beaten up bus and any time there was a hill to climb, it would [View Full Entry]

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Another exciting day... For some reason people like to plan meetings and then cancel them at the last minute. It leaves me (and S.) sort of roaming around the Ministry for Health with not a whole lot to do, but wait until the next meeting. However, today, we had to go and pick up my tickets for Malawi. Because the whole e-ticket fad hasn't caught on here in Mozambique. So, we've been to the travel agency 5 times now, and finally today I am supposed to get my tickets (to leave tomorrow at 6am). However, it seems that I am missing [View Full Entry]

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Gaborone to Tofo Angela & Bryan Rappaport Scene: wide tree-lined avenue of Mozambique's capital, Maputo, sunny Anj and Bry are enjoying their day in the city, exploring it by foot. Feet little used in the past 2 days as a sixteen hour bus ride after a 5 hour car ride would attest to. Anj calls the feeling, "square butt" and Bryan agrees. The city is run down, but they feel safe, and are heading down one of Karl Marx, Vladimir I Lenin, or Mao Tse Tung Avenue, some communist avenue, anyway, and heading towards the sea. Police Man approaches, brownish green [View Full Entry]

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So let's talk about the last few days... I may go in reverse. For David though, I wanted to let him know that the Cierra "one thing" song, the DC go-go song, is very popular here... I didn't realize that Mozambique rocked the go-go beat. I think Chuck Brown should come on tour here. Some things you didn't know about Mozambique, part II Crosswalks are new here. And as I learned, after almost getting mowed down several times, the few crosswalks that do exist, they don't actually mean anything. Just because the little man is green, that doesn't mean cross the [View Full Entry]

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My last day in Mozambique turned into one of those rare, unique days that you could never plan. I awoke early, with the sun, as you do camping in Africa. That was ok; it is a beautiful view from my tent. Today I had a very “busy” day. Actually I had no idea how I was going to fill the 24 hours until the ferry arrived. After all, I was the only mazungo in Metangula and as far as I knew in the whole of Niassa province. I thought I might wander the 8ks into town and shop at the market [View Full Entry]

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Tonight: Nampula Tomorrow: Train to Cuampa, then Lichinga Wednesday: Metangula and Lake Malawi But in the last week or so I've been around Ihla de Mocambique and Nacala. The short story is the Ihla was the original Portoguese capital of the region. As it stands now it is a very run down town with lots of historical ruins. Walking around the streets you can easily see the Portoguese influence and architecture. The old fort is still standing, barely. The original chapel, which is believed to be the oldest European structure in the southern hemisphere is in good shape. One thing that [View Full Entry]

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Sorry for the delay in providing a proper update... Let me see what I can think of about Mozambique, or, just "the Beak" as I like to call it. This is a long email, best read in parts, if you're in a hurry. The 16 hour flight After a long, direct flight from Dulles, where a passenger was prevented from boarding our flight because they attempted to carry on a chain saw, my colleague S. and I took off for Johannesburg. I passed the time watching Bollywood films and shuffling papers around. It was great to not have to worry about [View Full Entry]

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