Traveling the Mozambique Coast - Africa Weeks 11-12

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Day 68, Wednesday, May 4th, we left Tofino by taxi to Inhambane. We took a 20-minute ferry ride across the bay to Maxixe. We had to extend our visas since we planned to head north and explore more of Mozambique. After two hours in the busy immigration office they told us it would take a week minimum (John had been to the office a week earlier and they had said they could do it same day for a fee). Discouraged we walk to the bus station to figure out transport to Vilanculos (250 miles North). It was a hot dusty afternoon and the ground was muddy from rain the night before. We walked from bus to bus asking questions in broken Portuguese finally finding a Chapa going our way. We had to pay extra for our oversized baggage (they wanted more than the cost of our tickets but we were able to negotiate). We jumped into the crowded bus. We sat up front with the driver which would have been great except I had to move each time he shifted since I sat in the middle. We arrived in Vilanculos and were greeted by Margi. Vilanculos is a playground for the rich and can be quite expensive (especially the exclusive lodges on the islands - $1000/pp/night unfortunately wasn’t in our budget). Margi, originally from South Africa, had spent the last 15 years in Vilanculos running the Tourist Services. I called her about a place to stay and lucky for us she had a reasonably priced guest cottage on her property. She was very welcoming (like staying with a quirky aunt). She whisked us off to her place where we arrived at dark. The cottage was breezy and charming. It had a small kitchen and lounge and spacious bedroom (with a necessary mosquito net). We settled in and cooked a nice dinner. We had considered booking an overnight sailing adventure on a rustic wooden dhow but decided we would be too rushed needing to leave early the next morning. We wanted to explore Vilanculos plus it was quite expensive for a long ride in a very simple boat and night of camping.

Day 69, Thursday, May 5th, we spent the day exploring Vilanculos. Margi’s place is surrounded by a nice garden with a perfect view of the crystal blue waters and white sand beach. We sipped our coffee gazing at the archipelagos in the distance. The tides are very dramatic in Vilanculos. At high tide there is little beach but low tide reveals the most stunning white sand bars. You can walk out nearly a mile surrounding yourself by shallow pools of turquoise water and beach as far as you can see. After some time at the beach we walked down to Baobab Beach. They have a nice Backpackers right on the beach surrounded by Baobab trees. It is also home to Odyssea dive where we booked a trip for the next day. That afternoon on our way back we stopped at the fish market. The market is a daily gathering of fisherman and villagers who buy and trade the fresh catch. There are no structure just buckets full of a plethora of fresh fish, calamari, and prawns. This all transpires for a couple hours each afternoon on the beach in front of Margi’s place (just before sunset it is over and the beach is totally quiet). We selected a beautiful King fish and some small calamari. John had the labor-intensive job of cleaning the seafood (the tiny calamari take forever to clean – but they are my favorite – what a nice husband I have). That night we had a delicious dinner. Also the neighbors were playing some local music we were enjoying. Unfortunately the loud music continued to get louder as the night went on. When we went to bed around 10pm it sounded like we had a speaker in our room. We tried our best to sleep but kept waking until around 4am (uggh! – we don’t mind a party but this was extreme).

Day 70, Friday, May 6th, we set out on an early morning adventure. Since we nixed the dhow idea we opted for a day trip to the islands on a speedboat with Odyssea Dive. First we arrived at Benguerra Island. We pulled up to the picture perfect island scene. We explored the beach while we waited for a group of divers to join us. Ironically they were from the dhow boat we would have been on had we done the sailing trip. When they arrived they told us about their misadventures from the previous day. One of the passengers was a friendly travel writer, Minty, working on an article for the Financial Times. She told us the seas were a bit rough the day before from a storm and at one point the small engine of the boat stalled and the boat was being pummeled by waves. Finally they got it fixed and headed toward their campground. Unfortunately the driver took them to the wrong campground 10 KM out of their way. Once they were back on course and nearly to the campground the engine stalled again. One of the women decided she did not want to continue so she was no longer on the boat. Sounded like quite an adventure. Once all the divers were set we headed to 2-mile reef. We saw beautiful turtles, a blue spotted stingray and lots of colorful fish including a black spotted porcupine fish (John saw it sleeping under a rock – very cool). After an hour they sped us over to Bazaruto Island where we spent the afternoon exploring and climbing the massive sand dunes. Walking up the tallest sand dune the heat of the sun was intense. The only view was sand and a few scattered trees seeming like the middle of the desert until we reached the top revealing an ocean oasis. We enjoyed our picnic lunch overlooking the gorgeous panoramic of the turquoise sea surrounding the other sand spit islands. After lunch we snorkeled around the island before returning to the mainland. The charming Minty, bid us Bon Voyage mentioning she had wished she were on the fast boat back. We met our German friends for drinks and enjoyed our last sunset in Southern, Mozambique.

Day 71, Friday, May 7th, we had to wake at 2:30am to catch a 4am bus to the second largest city, Beira. We had an early flight to Pemba the next morning so it was just a stop over. We arrived at the bus to find our taxi driver had not purchased the bus tickets the previous day as he had promised. The bus was quite full and since we were late additions we had to take middle seats. Well they aren’t even technically seats compared to the others (not that those are that great either since this was no luxury bus). Once every one and everything was loaded, we boarded and folded down our seats that cantilevered on one side and make for a lopsided position. The backrests were short with an exaggerated backward tilt causing you to hit the knees of the person behind. To make it even more comfortable we were squeezed in-between big guys with crowding our no existent legroom to make room for the massive bags at their feet. This would be a long, long bus ride (12 hours to be exact). We finally arrived in Beira and treated ourselves to a nice room at Hotel Mozambique. We had a nice dinner at the local restaurant Del Mar before retreating to the sanctuary of our king size bed.

Day 72, Saturday, May 8th, we flew to our final destination in Mozambique, Pemba. It was an easy two-our flight to a tiny airport and our hotel picked us up. Super easy compared to the previous day. We stayed at Pemba Dive & Bush camp located on a beach surrounded by mangroves. When we arrived that afternoon we met a rowdy group from the South African NAVY. They were on a weekend break from their station in Mozambique. They had been busy patrolling the African coast for pirates. They were entertaining with their antics and stories enjoying their last hours before they shipped out at 8pm. We spent the afternoon sipping coconut drinks and swimming in the calm waters.

Day 73, Sunday, May 9th-Day 76, Thursday May 12th, at the camp. Pemba is pretty mellow since it is far off the tourist path. The next day we sorted out our visa extension with no worries at the friendly immigration office. Turns out you can expedite the Visa for a same day turn around (It just cost an extra $100 MT ($3.50US). We walked through the mangroves, climbed giant Baobab trees and kayaked. We met some really great people (besides the pirate hunters),Fran and Ailsalee, who have a successful goat farm in South Africa where they make and sell beautiful cheese. They showed us some photos (quite cruel since we had no access to cheese). Swissland Cheese, in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, makes artesian cheese (8 different types) from milk of white Swiss goats that they sell in their country store. Also they hold summer concerts featuring local bands and wood fire goat cheese pizzas (made by Ailsalee ,who is Italian - yum!). Would have loved to know them when we were passing through South Africa. We also met Geng, a sociology grad student from London. She was doing her dissertation on the developmental impact and social behaviors of villagers in the sparsely inhabited Quirimbus National Park. She was staying at the camp working on the logistics of her project. All of us went on a snorkeling day trip to a nearby island. The highlight was swimming with a huge pod of dolphins on our way out. Another day we indulged with a mud bath at the “bush spa”. Well actually it was a mangrove surrounded mud pit where we exfoliated our skin with grainy nutrient rich mud before slathering on a thick layer of smooth “detoxifying” mud and laying to dry in the sun. We even packed mud in our hair (said to stimulate growth and leave it silky). A half and hour and ocean dip later we had glowing skin and shiny hair. The last day I went on a long gentle kayak through the bay. I saw local fisherman in dugout canoes, villagers carrying piles of firewood on their heads and beautiful lush hills covered in mangrove and Baobab trees. I took my kayak ashore at a private beach and enjoyed the quiet while I swam in the calm water. We enjoyed our last starry night by the campfire getting to know some other travelers, who had just arrived, touring Africa via Land Cruiser.

Day 74, Friday, May 13th, we arrived at the airport to fly to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. As we were weighing our bags the LAM desk attendant checked her hand and noticed that our flight was canceled and we would be on the “Domingo” (Sunday) flight instead. We had heard rumors the airline was known as “Late And Maybe” (now we got it). Bummer because we were so excited to go. Silver lining was they set us up in a beachfront bungalow at the Nautilus Resort with all food and expenses paid. We got to experience a different part of Pemba, Wimbe Beach and plan more for Tanzania.

Day 75, Saturday, May 14th, we spent the day overlooking the beautiful beach while we worked setting up tours for the Serengeti and Kilimanjaro (which was quite complicated). That night we went to the renowned Black Foot Bar (really nothing too special about it but it was a fun). We ran into Jamie, Sophie and Alex a group we had met the night before. They are a group from different backgrounds that met up to travel Africa in a Land Rover. We started talking about our Tanzania plans, which were similar to theirs so they invited us to join them in Dar es Salaam and travel to the Serengeti, Nogorongoro Crater and Kilimanjaro. Cool how things work out.

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Loved the dolphin shot.
Beautiful beaches.