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Published: August 7th 2007
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Escape from Tofo
Yes, I finally left Tofo, though it was tough and not 100%!o(MISSING)f my own accord. I was aided by the kindness of very nice stranger. But even that took some effort. It required much debate between Helen and myself over breakfast; should we change hostels in Tofo, go to Vilankulo, or do nothing. In the end we decided to mission to Vilankulo. I think this decision was aided by the intense ridicule I took at Tofo Scuba for not being gone yet.
After packing up I thanked Helen profusely for providing me with the initiative and inspiration to move on. Apparently I wasn’t the only one that thought I was weak. Katie had told Helen that she was glad “Helen was going with me. Maybe it would inspire me to leave.” Feel the love. Of course as I said by to Katie, I told her, “You never know, I might get to Inhambane, have a milkshake, sit down and decide not to leave.”
So we loaded ourselves into the chapa (mini-bus taxi) and promptly got in the back seat. The back seat is the place to sit in a crowded chapa. At worst there will be 4-5 people in the seat but you won’t have people laying all over you, like the people in front do. Now this chapa did get pulled over for having too many people. The police made about 7-10 people get out, and the chapa was still full. Inhambane was a ghost town and my milkshake place was closed... maybe for the best. Today the ferry to Maxixe wasn’t running either; weather was too bad, well too windy anyway. Maybe we should just go back to Tofo…. Hmmm. But we found a chapa to Maxixe and pressed on.
In Maxixe we asked at the bus terminal for a bus to Vilankulo and were told it wasn’t here yet. It would be here later, but not sure when. It was coming from Maputo. At the chapa stand there was a chapa loading for Vilankulo but it wasn’t leaving for at least an hour he said. So we decided to hitch on the main road and what would you know but as we get there along comes a mostly empty chapa. Helen and I again pile into the back seat. For most of the 4 hours to Vilankulo it was only Helen and I in the back seat… unheard of. It was a brilliant trip; we jammed out on the ipod, repeatedly listening to Mozambique by Bob Dylan. Great trip!
The Other Journey
After 5 nights in Vilankulo it was time to leave. Helen was headed back to Tofo and Ben and I were headed to Chimio. We all had 4AM busses to catch. Helen’s bus was no problem and she was off. Ben and I waited around for someone to show up at our bus. After like an hour we found out that the bus wasn’t going to Beira today. No one knew why. So we hopped in the chapa and headed out to the main road. It didn’t take long, maybe 30 minutes before a truck (not pickup, but not semi either) stopped and we hopped in the open back. Climbed around the spare tires and oil cans and found a seat on the greasy, dirty, tarp… as you will.
We knew this wouldn’t be the fastest truck but what the heck we were moving. After about an hour or so we stopped again to pick up more people and load 17 potato sacks full of dried fish. This took like an hour or so, but then we were off again. For at least a half hour before we stopped again and the driver disappeared. He reappeared maybe 15-20 minutes later with his girlfriend and we were off again. Only to stop for 15-30 minutes again after an hour or so of travel. It seemed that we needed to stop at every village and pee or get a coke or something. I have no idea. I don’t know how many times Ben and I toyed with getting out and trying for another ride.
Oh but that isn’t all. Somewhere along the way, we got a flat tire. Then, and I’m not sure how this happened, but we got pulled over for speeding. Next problem, the truck overheated. Then we ran out of fuel, sort of. They had to move fuel from one tank to another by draining the tank into a bucket and pouring it in the first tank. After this the truck didn’t want to start.
But we finally made it to Chimio around 8PM. We had gotten up at 3:30AM, and traveled a grand total of about 520kms. It was the travel day from hell… but then,
TIA - this is Africa.
Of Vilankulo We had a wonderful time in Vilankulo. The town itself has recently been ravaged by a Cat 4 Cyclone (back in early Feb.) There is a still lot of destruction, but it is slowly rebuilding. The beach here is very beautiful, though not in a lay on the beach and swim in the surf. At low tide the sand flats go on for k’s and k’s. It almost looks like you could walk to the closest islands in the Bazaruto Archipelago. One of the days we were here we took a dhow (boat) trip to the nearest island. We spent the day snorkeling, and wandering around the island before sailing back. It was glorious.
I’m sorry I don’t have any pictures. I took lots but the internet here is so slow that I don’t have time. I’m supposed to catch a bus this afternoon. I’m headed into the Highlands. I might be gone for 2-3 weeks, and I'm not sure about internet status either. I’ll try and update but don’t worry, I’ll have pics and stories when I return.
Till then.
Jo saw a whale shark.
Pictures after the fact
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