Roadtrippin' to Maputo


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Africa » Mozambique » Southern » Maputo
July 30th 2010
Published: September 13th 2010
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July 30th

Time had flown by while in Tofo and before I knew it I had to get back to South Africa in time for my flight to Egypt. In hindsight I wish I wouldn’t have booked my exit out of southern Africa, I really enjoy that area of the world. Especially Mozambique, a place that feels like Latin America, that speaks a Latin language, and that has a vibe I really love. The people are great and the country is beautiful, I cant wait to go back, whenever that may be.

Just a couple days before the expected date of departure I had met a Portugese couple (Miguel and Georgina) from Porto, if I remember correctly. They had their own car they had been borrowed and were heading back to southern Mozambique around the time that Brian (Roscoe) and I were heading south. They were nice enough to invite us on the drive with them down to Maputo and so we had a nice road trip back to the Mozambican capitol. It was a great drive, we were able to stop at our leisure and get a bite to eat on the way down, as well as stop and enjoy the views along the way.

Brian and I had made friends with Daniel and Joyce in Tofo and they were back in their homes in Maputo. They had invited us over when ever we expected to pass through Maputo, and so we rendezvoused with them once Miguel and Georgina dropped the two of us off near Joyce’s apartment. On the short walk over to her flat we saw some street capoeira group doing their moves on the sidewalk, it was awesome! You can see the video of it here.

After getting settled in and showered up at Joyce’s place we made plans on going out. The five of us, (Joyce, Daniel, Jason, Brian and I) decided to go to Coconuts Club, for what would be Brian and I’s last night in Mozambique. When we got to the club they were charging a ridiculous amount to get in, like 300 Meticais if I remember correctly. About $15, it doesn’t sound like much but believe me when you are used to paying 60 meticais to eat a good fish dinner, then 300 to go dancing is crazy. Brian and I were on our last meticais and couldn’t afford to get in but thankfully Jason was an awesome friend and compatriot and he paid for all five of us to get in, after we had some beers on the street before going to shake our booties. The five of us had a blast inside, dancing until 5am, and more than happy to get a ride home from a friendly couple of strangers as the club was closing down. I didn’t get much sleep that night, but I will say that it was all worth it, however making the bus on time at 7:15am was a bit of a challenge but I did it!

July 31st

Brian had left before me by about 15 minutes and so we weren’t able to enjoy the bus ride to Johannesburg together. But luckily we were randomly able to meet at the bus station that afternoon on arrival to JB, pure luck that I spotted the 7 foot bearded American amongst the crowds at the bus station….or was it? Destiny some may say as Brian had also ran into a friend he knew from Cape Town, a Malawian named Gerlad. The three of us got a free taxi pickup from the Brown Sugar Lodge and we headed for the hostel.

We settled in, setup our tents and then headed for the Bruma Flea Market, where Brian’s friend knew a few people we could hang out with for a couple hours. Turns out that a lot of the merchants at the Bruma Flea Market are Malawians and Gerald used to work there almost 10 years back, so he had quite the reunion with his friends there. We had a couple beers at the pub before heading back towards the hostel. We took the long way back to try and find a grocery store in China Town before finally walking a mile in another direction and getting groceries. We finally made it back to the hostel around 8pm, having trekked all around the Observatory and Newport area of Johannesburg for what seemed like forever.

After making a vegetable curry dinner the three of us hung around the hostel planning on what we would do the next day. A strange coincidence but Brian and I ran into Jonathan and Aisha, an English couple we had first met in Mozambique! They were flying back to England the same day I was flying to Egypt, what a small world!! They even had the same flight as me to Cairo but had changed it just a couple weeks prior to get a cheaper flight through Dubai or Abu Dhabi. It would have been so cool to be on the same flight as them! Oh well, in the end it was good to have some beers with them that night and talk about our Mozambican getaway. We all headed for our beds after a bit with dreams of fish and chips and Pyramids on our minds.

Hope you like the photos and post! Until next time, Pura Vida!
-Avila



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14th September 2010

Hello out there
Keep sending the blogs great to know you are still enjoying your trip. Oh any poss you could get my African photoes to me some how. Keep safe luv Wxxxx Ps How is your sister?.
15th September 2010
10-Roscoe loving life

eeeesch
fuckin love this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lets go back!

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