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Published: August 7th 2007
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Go Hoosiers
Bus conductor, Mozambique Tonight: Nampula
Tomorrow: Train to Cuampa, then Lichinga
Wednesday: Metangula and Lake Malawi
But in the last week or so I've been around Ihla de Mocambique and Nacala.
The short story is the Ihla was the original Portoguese capital of the region. As it stands now it is a very run down town with lots of historical ruins. Walking around the streets you can easily see the Portoguese influence and architecture. The old fort is still standing, barely. The original chapel, which is believed to be the oldest European structure in the southern hemisphere is in good shape. One thing that was really strange is that many (most) of the houses were below street level. It was like you would walk down steps into these little shanty towns. Very strange.
It was good to spend a couple of days walking around the small island. We had a great time.
Then we headed up to Nacala Bay for more diving. For my birthday there were several bottles of wine and the next day I did a night dive. That was completely different. It was wild to see crabs and other critters that you don't normally see running around on the
Ilha de Mocambique
ocean bottom.
Overall, the last week or so has been thoroughly enjoyable but not fanatical. But it has been fun.
Oh yeah, so I made if from Maputo to Ilha overland. I was told by lots of people that was crazy to do. It was too hard, too much work and not worth it, and nobody did it. Well we did. Yes it did take 2 long bus rides from Chimio, but we did it. No, I didn't make it to Pemba but that is just a time choice.
Ok, here next are some short stories about what has happened in the last week or so.
Dipper While in the Chimanimani Mountains I saw the big dipper for the first time, probably since the Philippines. Paul and I had seen the handle once while we were sailing but this was the first time I had seen the whole thing. I was very excited and it looked amazing. It was laid out horizontally along the horizon. What was really magical was that a mountain peak was just sticking into the upside portion of the cup.
Zimbabwe Border Fun So I
was headed from Mutare, Zimbabwe
to Chimio, Mozambique with Elin and Carlo (Swedish couple). They had miscalculated their need for Zim dollars and had about 1million zim dollars left over. They were hoping to change them at the border. Well, the first guy that asks about the need to change isn't offering such a good rate so they decide to wait until we cross. Apparently though it is illegal to take more the 100,000 zim dollars out of the country -- kind of silly because that is almost worthless. Anyway, the money trader must have tipped off the security guard at the gate because they decided they wanted to search our bags. Elin and Carlo were trapped, they went to the "bathroom" and changed their money. I found this out later. In the meantime, I sat there and started emptying my bag, one item at a time. The lady finally got bored and said, "Is it all clothes." "Yes" (I didn't want to explain a tent and stove). Anyway that was the end of my search. We really only went through the top layer. Backpacks are good for this, they are hard to search. Searching of Elin's bag was the
same... all clothes.. ok. oh
Ilha de Mocambique
yeah, she searched my toilet kit quite well so don't hide things there
Mozambique Police Same night, Chimio... headed out for pizza. We forgot our passports. In Mozambique you are required to take your passports everywhere. Of course the cops really wanted a bribe but they weren't good at asking for it. They kept saying that we had to go to the station. We called Helen who runs the backpackers we were staying at and asked her to come and help, we weren't far from her place. But the cops, kept saying that we had to hurry, they had stuff they had to do. Somebody actually came up and got one of the cops handcuffs and handcuffed two guys in the crowd together. It was scary and comical all at the same time. But we stalled and Helen showed up and we all just left. Later we did have some of the best pizza I've had in Africa.
Go Hoosiers Really a picture is worth a thousand words. Here I am in the middle of nowhere Mozambique and my bus conductor has a Hoosiers hat on. It was
the highlight of my two day bus ride.
Bucket showers In Ihla I had to take a bucket shower. I think the last time that happened was Philippines. Just was fun and a good memory.
Truck Ride to Mocuba At the end of our first day on the bus ride we had to hitch a ride in the back of a pickup truck. Somedays when you hitch these rides the ride is miserable. This one was magical. The sun was setting, the stars were coming out and the people were friendly.
Well that is about it for my travels. I'm headed to Lake Malawi. It will probably be a few weeks before you hear from me again.
So in the mean time enjoy these varied links for pictures
Here are the Ilha and Nacala pics More pics from Tofo and Whale sharks
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Belated Birthday!
Farrell, I'm a little late but hope the B-day was good. And again, we need more stories on your lady escorts. Hook a brother up!