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Published: March 26th 2007
First of all, sorry for the lack of pictures. I didn’t bring the camera out too much because I didn’t want it to get stolen. Okay so I spent a week in Jo-Berg with Lise which was great aside from the fact that I got sick. I think it was from swallowing a bit too much of the Zambezi while I was rafting. I went to the doctor and she said I was fine and pretty much just had to wait it out. There was also an almost overdose at the hostel we were staying at which was a bit freaky since it was me and another girls who found him. Nothing like walking out of your dorm to someone convulsing on the floor. He was okay in the end which is good but they did end up asking him to leave the hostel. There were a few things that had gone missing while he was there as well so it was probably for the better.
Lise flew out to Australia on the 29th and I left the same day for Swaziland to get my entry visa for Mozambique. I met some great people in Zambia and was
invited to join up with them so I figured why not. I took the Baz bus to Swaziland and on it met Fran and Thommo who also happened to be staying at the same hostel as I was. They turned out to be great people so it was good fun! The following day I got my visa and then the next morning I was off.
I took a minibus Taxi (a Toyota van rigged to hold 16 people) to Mbabane and then hopped onto a Kombi (small bus that seats 25 or so people) and headed to Manzini. Once I got there a very sweet man walked me to the next taxi rank and refused to let me carry my bag. I waited there for the bus to fill (they leave when the bus is full not at any specific time) for about and hour and half. The wait wasn’t completely uneventful though. I had to fight to keep my belt from a man who figured I owed him something….for what I don’t know! And then I was lucky enough (dripping with sarcasm) to see a dodge mans bellow the belt region because his pants were barely there.
Our entry tags
The entry tags either say "Whites" or "Non Whites". for each tag there is a different door....a door for whites and a door for blacks and coloured people.Okay, so once we had enough people I piled into the bus with 15 other people and away we went pulling a trailer the size of a small kitchen table piled with enough stuff to cloth and furnish a whole household. The ride was squishy but not too bad once the guy in front of me realized that the only thing holding up the back of his seat were my knees. He was very polite and leaned forward the rest of the way. We went through the border without any trouble. I was offered a ride with some guy that one of the girls from the bus picked up. I politely declined as she was a bit crude while we were waiting for the bus to go, and I wasn’t quite sure where I would have ended up!
About an hour later we arrived in Maputo and made the first stop. I am so glad I didn’t have to get off here because it was insane! I ended up having to go and rescue my pack from the depleting mound of goods on the trailer and then wrestle my way back to the front of the
bus through a gazillion people. I was eventually dropped off at the last stop which was a bit mellower. An amazing girl from Swaziland I met on the bus helped me phone the hostel as the phones there are a bit different than I was used to (see picture) and I was picked up shortly after.
The hostel felt a bit dodgy but it didn’t take long for me to meet people so that was good. I started talking to a Dutch woman and a Canadian guy right away and then we were joined by a man who decided to tell us how he felt that the world was going to end in twelve year. Very interesting stuff I have to say (again dripping with sarcasm). He was headed for the market and I was hungry so I tagged along. He was weird but seemed harmless so I figured why not. This is where the day got even more interesting. He looks at me at one point and says “Can I give you some advice?” I of course looked at him thinking Oh god what now but said “okay sure” “A lot of girls come here for the
BBC” he said “and I just wanted to tell you to be careful” At this point I was a little confused so I looked at him and said “BBC?” “Yes” He says “Big black cock” Now as I imagine you can guess I was a little surprised because I was sure that I was going to get some kind of random advice that had to do with BBC the British broadcasting company. So I politely informed him that I wasn’t in Mozambique for the BBC (even though earlier that day I was unwittingly exposed to it) and then decided that once I got back to the hostel I would do my best to avoid him!
I also met a very nice older German man named Rolf who also happened to be heading to Tofo. I invited him to join me if he wanted so that neither of us would have to travel alone, so the next morning we shared a cab to the bus depot, bought our tickets and climbed on a rickety old “chicken bus.” The ride was about 9 hours and not too bad. The bathrooms were an adventure in themselves but hey, all part of
Fran and Thomo
I met these two on the baz bus on the way to Swaziland. Who would have known that I would end up traveling with them quite a bit. They are awsome so it was great! the fun right. I have no idea how they fit so many people on that bus but every time we figured there would be people standing everywhere they just seemed to disappear into the mass.
Stephan picked me and consequently Rolf up in Inhabane and we all drove to Tofo. The first night we camped at Bamboozi and feasted on an enormous bowl of fresh Prawns…mmmmm. And then we all sat on the beach in the moonlight and listened to the waves for a while before heading to bed. The next morning we moved to Casa Barry after feasting on pancakes and once we got settled in our little stick huts we just chilled until after dinner and then we went to a full moon party at the local bar Dino’s. The next couple of days were really mellow. The bus got stuck in the sand one day and then later on we had a killer game of trivial pursuit! We were doing terribly at it and wondering why all of a sudden we were all so stupid and then Tarryn read the box…It was trivial pursuit for geniuses so we didn’t feel so bad after that.
This is Tarryn and Dave
In case you were wondering Dave is the coconut. This is the beginning of Dave his eyes are being carved out in this picture. We also had a lot of fun with Sushi and Dave as I am sure you can see by the pictures. Dave is a coconut that Tarryn carved a face in and Sushi is the little bird, he came with me. I am sure you are wondering why a somewhat sane person like myself was carrying a small plastic bird around with me so I will tell you. Someone put the bird on my moms’ wheelchair a few years ago and when I asked her his name she said it was Sushi. This bird rode around with her until its leg fell off and he could no longer hold on (this is why he is a bit manky, but I did managed to fix his leg). I spotted him sitting in a plant before I left and asked her if I could take Sushi with me so I could send her pictures of the adventures he was having. So there you go that is how I ended up carting around a small plastic bird…he was one of the family, just like Dave though.
We left Tofo on the fourth I think and stopped in Bilene on
our way back to Maputo. Oh yes we also brought Rolf with us…surprised…not so much. It was pretty cool here except the ocean was a bit strange. It wasn’t low tide or anything but it was super shallow for an unnatural distance. But it was warm so all is good. Bilene was also where a poor dung beetle met an untimely death when he was burned alive after walking through some peri peri sauce. What can I say the stuff is hot!The next day we drove to Maputo where we camped on the roof. We got a bit lost our first morning while we were trying to find the ocean and ended up in a very busy township. All was good though….we kept turning left and eventually got there. This is also when I discovered completely by accident that Tipo Tinto rum and pineapple Fanta is maybe the best drink ever!
We said goodbye to Steve and Tarryn on the 7th 😞 and headed back to Jo-Berg. Yup you guessed it; it was Stephan, myself and Rolf. I stayed in Jo-Berg for a few more days and made a small detour to Parys met some great people and
then was on my way back to Swaziland.
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Lyndsey
non-member comment
Sure looks like you had a lot of fun. I'm glad you're getting to see so much of the world. I am ridiculously jealous. Take care and keep sending the pictures.