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Published: July 23rd 2006
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Vilankulo Sunrise
Another one that I missed. On only a few occasions so far had we felt the need to increase our security measures. Port Elizabeth, Durban, Maseru and Maputo were all places that we were on higher alert, but in fairness to both Maseru and Maputo we were able to relax a little after settling in quickly to the feel of the place. Yet again through the backpacker grapevine, we'd been warned that our next stop, Vilankulo, was a hotspot for street crime, in particular bag snatching and muggings, so it was with a heightened awareness that we embarked on the next leg of our journey. We survived yet another crazy Tofo Inhambane mini bus ride and then took a small ferry from the Inhambane Peninsula back to the mainland. The captain of our "tinnie" could certainly have given his mini bus counterparts a lesson on how to maximise the passenger potential of his vehicle - not that they needed any help! We had people on the roof, hanging off the bow and even some daredevils standing on the rubber tyres dangling from the sides, presumably for buoyancy. Thankfully we were amongst the last passengers to board which meant that we were amongst the first off! We
Fruit stop
One of the many! formulated a quick evacuation plan for the very likely event of an emergency which included taking a very sickly looking baby with us. Fortunately we didn't need to execute our plan. From Maxixe we were able to get a mini bus the whole way to Vilankulo, but in doing so had to endure countless stops at Police checkpoints and at roadside stalls so the driver could buy his fruits and vege, prawns, curios, firewood and who knows what else? It was a frustratingly long journey in which it seemed we didn't travel more than a few km at a time without stopping. For almost the entireity of the journey we travelled on a makeshift track along side the real road that was one long, continuous road work. Australian road workers can feel proud that when one worker digs a hole, his five colleagues stand watching and atleast pretending to supervise. In Mozambique the one guy digs whilst his five amigos are all fast asleep under the shade of a Boabab tree. Caked in rich red dust we eventually arrived in Vilankulo looking more like Navajo Indians than Estrangeiros. It was fairly late and dark, but after our mini bus driver
Boabab Backpackers
Fortunately we didn't have to share it, or our tent with any road workers. received the good old golden handshake that we had learnt to use to such great effect in Africa, he was happy to drive the extra few minutes to our Backpackers. We hadn't a skerrick of energy left and after barely managing to put up the tent we too slept under an enormous Boabab, of the aptly named Boabab BP. The American owner of the BP summed up Mozambique by saying that temptation was a bitch in this country and anything that we didn't want stolen we should give to her to lock in the office. She also told us where possible to hang onto our small change as no one would break big notes for us. Even for her as a business owner she found it nearly impossible to get small change from the bank. Needless to say there were several times that stall holders tried to give us I O U's and when we suggested we owed them instead, out came the change! We came to Vilankulo in the hope of organising a dhow safari to the nearby Bazaruto Archipelago. Sail Away Safaris had been recommended to us and were also mentioned in the guide book, however we knew
Safari shopping
After looking at countless dhows ala buying a used car, we decided not to safari in this one! competition was firece as we'd already been approached by several touts in the short time we'd been there. We spent the whole day talking to "Capitanos", inspecting their dhows and obtaining quotes. We heard all manner of sales pitches and quotes and could only laugh at a few of them including the capitano who told us the bigger the group the more we'd each have to pay as he had more responsibility and at another capitino who recommended we take his non motorised dhow in order to save on fuel. This sounded great in theory, but he had already shown us a clipping of the weather forecast that predicted blue skies and no wind for the next few days. Trying to organise our safari gave us the chance to explore Vilankulo at the same time. We wandered through the lively market where we continually had to tell young boys to rack off when they tried to guide us and take us to their "uncles" stall. We were surprised at the docileness of alot of the stall holders, not in terms of intelligence or lack of, but here we were, two Estrangeiros literally holding out our dineiros and nobody seemed to
Traditional dhows
These were more small crew fishing dhows and not safari worthy, but the capitanos had a go at getting our dineiros anyway. want them. "Nos quero mayo kg do arroz por favor. Quanto?" and they would just stare at us like we were aliens! Eventually a stall holder would realise there was some money to be made and come to our aid. "Obrigado amigo. Mayo kg do arroz, cinco mil. Mas?" Dinner that night was a delicious Red Snapper Chakalaka curry with veges and cashew nuts. The whole thing cost us 125000Mts - $5Aus. In the end we did infact decide to safari with Sail Away. Right from the outset they were up front about the price and what that did and didn't include, and even though they were more expensive than the other companies were confident that we would get what we paid for. When we told the other touts and capitanos of our decision all they would say was that Sail Away had too much rules. This made us feel even more confident about our decision. Our S.A. friend Stanton arrived from Tofo in much the same state as we had done, so we filled him full of Red Snapper Curry and cold beer and before long had convinced him to come on safari with us the next day. As
Beach Buddies
As per usual Dani found her self a four legged friend. This guy walked along the beach with us everyday. we slept that night we could hear the thumping base of the nearby Afro House Bar and although we felt safe and comfortable in Vilankulo we weren't prepared to risk walking at night and definately not prepared to set sail in the morning with a hangover.
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Dave
non-member comment
I like your blogs people, funny stuff and you don't leave out the ugly bits of travel in Africa which is good info for those of us planning our own trips.