Entering into Mozambique!
Maputo, Mozambique
The fish market!
The deck at our hostel
Maputo, Mozambique
Park Station in Jo'burg where we waited for over 12 hours
Hello once again. I am lucky enough to be writing this particular post in the early morning hours right in front of my Christmas tree at home in Maryland. I have been so busy the last month that I haven’t had a chance to write a new blog post and now that I have just arrived home I am suffering from jetlag so here I am, up at 2:30am (9:30) Botswana time and figured I should try to update the blog. Here goes.
Last I wrote I was preparing for finals and getting ready to
head to Mozambique. Monday morning came around and I headed to school where I
took my Nutrition in Sports Performance final and my Novel in the Modern World
final. Originally these were supposed to be later in the week as this was the
first day of finals for the entire school and lasts two weeks, but both of my
professors were very understanding and let me take them that first day so I
could head out for some travel. Took the finals, had lunch one last time at
Moghul cafeteria with some friends and then Anthony and I headed to Rail Park
Station to buy our tickets for the 3:30pm bus to Johannesburg. We got to the
station pretty early and ended up having time to kill so we went to Milky Lane
and got our whizzers one last time in Gaborone. Got on the bus by 3:15 along
with another international student named Sarb and by 3:45 we were off to
Joburg. The ride was pretty uneventful but I had a great time chilling and
talking with Anthony. However there were some points where we thought we
weren’t even going to make it to Joburg as the bus kept stalling. Every time
the driver would shift the bus would stall or slow down. At one point we were
on a hill and then bus even started rolling backwards down the hill and another point we got stuck in an
intersection!!!! But we made it to Joburg by 9:15pm which was perfect because
we had a 10pm bus to catch to Maputo, Mozambique. Freshened up at the station
then got in the craziest line ever to check in for the bus. I’m not sure why
but people were bringing bags and bags of luggage to Mozambique and this one
lady was bringing about 35 huge comforters that I think she was going to sell.
This meant that Citiliner had to weigh everyone’s luggage and charge people if
they had too many bags which took forever. Finally get checked in and head over
to our bus and we have to check in again, why?, I’m not sure. But the drivers
are sitting outside checking our passports and having us sign a sign-in sheet,
people are everywhere, there is no line, there are comforters everywhere. It
was hectic and crazy but finally we get on the bus and then wait on the bus for
another half hour. As we are waiting there are comforters being thrown around, squished here and there,
people getting hit in the head with them and then people start fighting and
yelling about something. Eventually we leave the station but there are people
standing up in the aisles and within 10 minutes head back to the station.
Apparently the company gives free rides to firemen and there were too many
firemen that had taken other people’s seats so that’s what people were fighting
about. That got settled by having two firemen sit on the steps of the bus for
the entire ride. Meanwhile there are three seats in a row, this skinny kid,
Anthony and then me by the window. But the lady behind us asks if she can
switch with the skinny kid for more leg room because her leg is broken which is
understandable BUT she was a huge, large lady meaning that for the entire 12
hour bus ride half of Anthony’s seat is taken up by this lady meaning half of
Anthony is on me so we ride across the country squished into the window.
I thought that would be the craziest part of the ride, but
nope. We stop at around 1am for a bathroom break and after getting back on the
bus this one passenger comes back on wearing nothing but a sheet. Apparently
another fight had broken out resulting in this one girl wearing a sheet,
what??? Again somehow that got figured out too so the girl ended up going to
change and came back wearing a gorgeous blue dress. All this was happening in
Zulu so I really had no idea what was going on but needless to say it was
crazy.
We got to the Mozambique border by 5:30am but it didn’t open
until 6 but this was crazy too. When the border office opened to leave South
Africa we got into the line that everyone else did but then saw people leaving
our line and going to another area to cross through. We asked the guard and he
said “doesn’t matter, this side or that side” so we stayed in the line we were
which was a terrible mistake. It started to rain so we got wet, we waited for
over an hour to pass through and were literally the only ones from our bus in
that line. Finally get through this border and have to check in with the
Mozambique border. There were no guards telling us where to go so we enter and
ask the lady right at the front desk and she doesn’t really speak English well
and hands us the same exact form that we filled out a couple of weeks ago when
we wanted our visas. We tried explaining to her that we already had visas but
she kept ignoring us because she was helping another customer. The bus driver
then came to find us because we were the last ones on the bus and tried
explaining what was going on to the lady but she looked again at our visas and
kept saying that they were single entry visas and we had already used them so would
have to pay and get a new one. Eventually she understood that we had never
entered, stamped the passport and let us through. Get on the bus and then are
told by the driver that the border patrol wants to see the large lady who was
sitting next to us. The problem with this is the bus was situated pretty far
from the border so the lady had to use her crutches to go all the way back to
border patrol. This took forever!!! Finally, finally we get on our way and
Mozambique is gorgeous. It’s lush and green and looks so tropical, so different
from Gabs.
We made it to Maputo by 10:30am, had our hostel pick us up
and by 11:30 had settled into the hostel. We wanted to explore Maputo, the
capital of Mozambique and supposedly one of the most beautiful capitals in Southern
Africa but first all took a nap and shower. Once freshened up we headed out and
first went to Janet’s market which was a crazy fruit market before heading to a
little diner for some hamburgers. This was my first real interaction with
someone who only speaks Portuguese, the official language of Mozambique. It
wasn’t too hard because Portuguese is very similar to Spanish except that Portuguese
tends to have a lot of the words mush together whereas Spanish is more
staccato, if that makes sense. We had our great burgers then wandered around
trying to find the waterfront but walked for about a half hour before realizing
we were going into a shadier part of town and were actually going in the
completely opposite direction of the water. Turned around and headed back
towards the hostel and waterfront and eventually stumbled upon the craft market
that is this huge market where they sell the same things I have seen in Joburg
and Namibia and Zambia but now just in larger quantities. Walked around for a bit and then saw
this gorgeous huge hotel right on the water so we wandered in to look around
and see the view. It was great because this was one of the first times since
being in Maputo that I actually saw the ocean. From the hotel we could see the
beach so left the hotel and headed there to wander around. Found the beach but
it really wasn’t that nice of a beach; the sand wasn’t that soft, there was
trash around, the water was murky but it was still the beach and the ocean was
still gorgeous. Ended up going to a restaurant on the beach for drinks and then
took a little rickshaw over to the fish market. As soon as the rickshaw pulled
up to the market we were surrounded by guys offering their services to help us
pick out fish. The way it works is you wander around the market and buy your
raw fish and then a guy will take the fish and cook it for you so the men who
surrounded the rickshaw were all trying to cook the fish we hadn’t even bought
yet. This one guy followed us around while we were walking around the market and
showed us a few tricks like poking holes in the bags of fish that are being
weighed which allows water to escape and prevents us from paying for water. We
ended up getting prawns, calamari and two larger fish and having this guy cook
all 4-5 kg for 330 meticais which was pretty reasonable. The fish was great too
when it came out, covered in garlic and butter. This was a really crazy,
overwhelming, hectic and yet unique experience that I loved.
The rest of the night was pretty low-key as we went back to
the hostel, played cards and went to bed early as we had to get up for a 5:30am
shuttle to Tofo, Mozambique. Unfortunately by 4am though, I was up and actually
had food poisoning from the fish. I wasn’t sure how I was going to survive
being on a bus for the next 8 hours but I took some medication, kept a bag with
me and made it through. A shuttle picked us up right at 5:30, took us to the
bus station where we transferred to a school-bus and by 6am were on our way to
Tofo. I thoroughly enjoyed the drive even though the seats were so small that
Anthony and I were once again squished and my hips fell asleep. I was nauseous
for a lot of it but was able to have my head out the window which helped and I
was distracted by Mozambique’s beauty. Again it was so lush and green and
tropical and just a beautiful country. As we neared Tofo, the scenery changed
and there were groves and groves of palm trees and sandy roads. We ended up
getting to our hostel, Fatimas, by around 2:30 and boy was it worth the long
hours of travel. The hostel is literally right on the beach of the Indian Ocean
in this little Cape which looked like pure paradise. Within 20 minutes Anthony
and I were swimming around in the warm, clear Indian Ocean!!!!!
Spent the rest of the day swimming, reading and going for
walks on the beach to explore the northern and southern tips of the cape. Also
had a great first meal at our hostel as we sat on the porch listening to the
sounds of the ocean and stargazing.
The following day was the first of many relaxing,
sun-bathing, reading-filled days. Anthony was out scuba diving for most of the
day so I woke up, had coffee while writing in my journal, ate breakfast and
then headed out to lay on the beach and read and swim. Anthony was back around one so we headed
into town which was a block from our hostel and less of a town and more of a group
of stores in little shacks. We ate
right in town where I had a traditional meal of stewed seaweed with rice which I ended up loving despite the
gritty texture.
The rest of the afternoon was similar with Anthony scuba
diving and me relaxing and reading on the beach. Once Anthony got back, since
it was Thanksgiving we decided to go out to eat and heard this local place
called Black and White was good. They told us it was just down the road but we
kept wandering and wandering and were about to turn around when we found it. It
was probably one of the most awkward Thanksgivings ever because it was just me
and Anthony at the restaurant which was kind of just a porch. Anyways, the food
was pretty good and it was for sure a Thanksgiving that I won’t forget anytime
soon.
The following day followed a similar pattern of lounging,
reading and eating. We tried a couple more restaurants in town including one
called Tofo, Tofo where I got feijoada which is another typical dish containing
rice, beans and meat which was delicious!! Some of our friends from UB were
staying at a hostel down the beach so we ended up going to this bar with them
that night right on the beach. It was a different vibe filled with ragae music
and a bunch of older people so we didn’t stay long but it was nice to see the
nightlife of Tofo.
On Saturday Anthony had to head back to Gaborone to take
some finals that he couldn’t get moved so I was alone the whole day which was
nice because I haven’t had alone time in a while. I did go into town with my
friends from down the road for some falafel and somasa sandwhiches which were
pretty good. Spent the night alone at the hostel reading and gazing out over
the ocean.
Sunday was spent pretty much the same way except that Sunday
afternoon, Ashley, Charlotte and Kylee arrived which was great!!! I was so
excited to see them and hang out with them on the beach. They easily fit into
the routine of reading, journaling and sunbathing.
The next three days were filled with some good old “r and
r”! We were able to see the most gorgeous sunset over the palm tree groves
which for me was interesting because being from the east coast we usually see
sunsets over the ocean when at the beach so that was cool to experience. We
buried Ash in the sand one day, found a huge jellyfish another day, swam in the
ocean as we continuously got stung by baby jellyfish, played Frisbee, read!!
Unfortunately before we knew it, it was time to head back to
Maputo and then Gaborone. So on Wednesday we got up really early for the 4am
shuttle from Tofo to Maputo. We just leave the hostel when the driver keeps
asking me where I paid and who I paid. I had bought my ticket in Maputo and
apparently you can only buy them in Tofo so whoever sold it to me made a
mistake. This meant that after driving away from the hostel, within 15 minutes
we were back where the driver had to talk with the company that sold me the
ticket. Eish!! Eventually it all got figured out and we were back to Maputo.
Again the ride was pretty uneventful but still gorgeous. Got to Maputo and
spent our time at the craft market and then walking pretty far to Game where we
spent our last Mozambique money, meticais, on groceries for the ride back to
Johannesburg.
Unlike the crazy eventful ride from Joburg to Maputo, the
ride back from Maputo to Joburg was very peaceful. There weren’t that many
people on the bus and no fighting or undressing occurred, yay! We did have
trouble at the Mozambique-SA border once again as it took forever to get
through and we finally get to the SA border post and are told we have to wait
because they just washed the floor. Why they didn’t just wait until we passed
through to wash the floors as no one was behind us, I have no idea but things
are different here.
We got to Joburg way ahead of schedule at 3am which was
unfortunate as our bus back to Gaborone didn’t leave until 2:30pm. Spent the
day sleeping and playing cards at Park Station in Joburg until we board our
Intercape bus back to Gaborone. This was crazy. They had overbooked as well and
instead of checking this before 2:30 they realize at 3pm they overbooked. Their
only solution was to wait for a bigger bus to get there from Pretoria which
would take another 2 hours so they could put everyone on that same bus. My
question is why not just take the extra people, give them a refund and put them
in a combi that runs???? They did end up eventually doing something like that
and by 4:15 were on our way back to Gaborone. The ride back to Gabs was
actually pretty fun because they played the worst, funniest, most terrible
acting movie I have ever seen
called “Becoming Jessie.” Ashley, Charlotte, Kylee and I actually got pretty
interested in it and had the best time making fun of it!!
Finally got back to Gabs by 10:15 and my house by 11 after a
great trip. Mozambique was one of the poorest countries I visited while abroad
which was pretty evident by the amount of people who are trying to sell you
everything from nail polish to soda. I mean while laying on the beach it is
rare to go 20 minutes without someone or a kid coming up and trying to get you
to buy bracelets or bags or cashews. Then when on a bus whenever it stops,
people rush up to the windows and try to get you to buy their merchandise. On
the otherhand it was the most gorgeous scenery I had seen yet and really loved
my time there.
A wonderful, beach-filled, relaxing, sunny trip!!!!! Now one
day to unpack and pack up in Gabs before heading to the Okavanga Delta!!
