Blogs from Central, Mozambique, Africa

Miserably hot, infinitely interesting and beautiful. Mozambique, a land of contrasts. Loved it, let's go. Wow, I did it, have to give myself credit for that. "Too busy to leave, not feeling in the best physical condition, not sure about where I'm going". There are so many reasons we can come up with to pull back when about to leave on a slightly scary, unknown trip. I have always managed to work through those, even though sometimes it is tough. I want to be able to say at the end of the race of life that I have lived, taken the adventures my heart craved, not been afraid to jump into places that are unknown. For the most part, I have succeeded. Late fall 2017 I had my flight ticket and visa to Cameroon-West Africa. My ... read more

8th – 13th November 2010 Pemba – Ihla de Mozambique – Nampula – Beira We left Pemba just after 4am and had a quick drive down to Ihla de Mozambique (only 5 hours) which was pretty uneventful except for the driver trying to demand more money from us due to the high price of fuel. It was very picturesque driving towards the island and over the causeway with turquoise waters and white sand beaches. We were staying at a backpackers place called Ruby’s that we’d heard great things about so got dropped off there and luckily they had a twin room available. It was so hot on the island, there was no wind and the sun was beating down but after a quick rest we went off to explore the island. It’s not a big island, ... read more

The TCO bus is an anomaly in African transport, like a readable passage in a Harry Potter book. Though not hitting Argentinian heights of comfort, it makes the 16.75 hours to Beira pass in a trauma-free fashion. The promised toilet and AC are present and correct, and the secret to reaching our destination in just one day lies in infrequent stops and certainly none for fruit and veg shopping. I wonder if the ripping sound I hear is the tearing apart of the very fabric of African travel. There is one cause for concern, however, and it unexpectedly revolves around Westlife. The bus has insufficient DVDs to last the duration of the journey and, though we only get one showing of "Operation Delta Force 2:Mayhem", the Westlife Greatest Hits DVD gets repeated. I consider myself as ... read more

Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you, this would in fact be my second blog entry within the last 10 days. It must be due to that holiday magic that finds a way to touch all of us, even those of us in Mozambique. I was telling my mom that Thanksgiving is just absolutely HUGE here!! You wouldn't think it, but the streets were just overflowing with Mozambicans wearing pilgrim style hats, dressing up like turkeys, and of course bars become packed with everyone in town who has gathered around to see the Detroit Lions play football on the television. It really is just a fascinating scene. OK, so all that may be a lie, but I'm starting the Straight Talk Express (RIP) from here on out. I will break this edition up into two entries, ... read more

Mt. Namuli is the second highest mountain in Mozambique, tipping the scales at 2419 meters. It also happens to be located in my province, right outside of a town called Gurue, which lies only about 5 hours from the city I now call home. Naturally, I had to climb it. Two other volunteer friends joined me, one, a health volunteer who lives in my province, and another who is a teacher in the province directly south of Zambezia, and was on break between the 2nd and 3rd trimester terms. We all made the trek to Gurue, where we would begin our adventure. As a fact, Gurue is probably the best city in Mozambique. It is up amongst the mountains so it is actually quite cool. It is somewhat of a tourist destination for this reason, so ... read more