In the United States, on average, workers get 12 vacation
days a year. In the Peace Corps we accumulate 2 a month, totaling 48 vacation
days in two years. While it may
seem arbitrary to give volunteers vacation days, we (usually) work very hard
and deserve every day of the 48. Ryan and I have visited only 2 other African
countries while we have been here, mostly due to lack of funds, but also
because the majority of our time was spent back at home visiting friends and
family for my brothers wedding. Although we have only visited 2 other
countries, I believe we have found the Mecca in Mozambique.
Mozambique is every part beautiful as it is ugly, calm as it
is chaotic, full of color as it contrasts dark; I appreciated the obvious
contradictions as compared to false illusions, or so I thought a few hours
across the border. Maputo is challenging – residents speak Portuguese and very
few speak English. Unlike Swaziland, where the start of a conversation in
SiSwati goes along way, and then eventually most people revert to English, the
people of Mozambique only speak Portuguese. While sometimes this works in your favor (the police have a
hard time fining you if you don’t understand each other) the majority of the
time you just feel lost and confused.
Ryan and I quickly procured a few key phrases, and when we were really
stuck reverted to SiZulu, which some people understood. We were fortunate to
travel with other volunteers with a car, which we thought at the time would
work in our favor. Even though we ended up spending a small fortune in fines
and bribes, it was still nice to be with friends in the confinement of air
conditioning and good music.
On May 22nd we were off and on our way to Tofo, a
beautiful beach up north on the peninsula of Mozambique. (Well, we were off
after the border post held us for 2 hours dealing with car issues.) After
another 2 hour detour of getting lost down the wrong road, seeing a very
unfortunate car accident and stopping at numerous police check points, we
realized we wouldn’t be able to relax until we were out of the car. After 12
hours in the car, we finally made it safe and sound to Paradise Dunes Lodge in
Tofo. It was paradise. We each had
our own private rooms, a huge kitchen, a deck overlooking the beach, and because
it wasn’t tourist season, we were one of only a couple of groups on the beach.
Everyday started with a run on the beach, and every night ended with a late
night beach swim watching the red moon rise. Although we tried to snorkel with
whale sharks, they were nowhere to be found, however we did see jellyfish,
octopus and dolphins.
There was only one casualty, when Ryan got bit by a crab.
We went on a lot of adventures, my favorite being the
all-day island tour where we went out on a rustic boat with a local guide and
toured the island off of Tofo called Survivor Island, named after being
untouched after the Mozambiquan civil war. We met the chief, played with the kids and ate great seafood
with the village elders. The island has no electricity, they boat fresh water
in from the nearest town of Inhambane, and they prize pigs. It felt very
isolated and very African.
While being in Tofo was paradise, again we had to venture
out onto the road through Maputo to get back to Swaziland, and that proved to
be hell. We got stopped by too many police to count, got fined an enormous
amount once, and ended with a cop car side swiping our rental and then,
naturally, making us pay for the (slight) damage on their truck. In the
meantime, the rest of our group was also being hassled by police. I think it is
safe to conclude that I did not enjoy the police force in Mozambique. By the
time we crossed the border all 5 of us traveling in the car heaved a huge sigh
of relief, and spent the night praising Swaziland for her honesty and kindness,
which is truly a trait special to Swaziland. Ryan and I concluded that, for the
first time in our African experience, we decided that public transport trumped
private.
While Mozambique is a little more raw than Swaziland, it is my
favorite African country that I have visited, and the most likely for me to
come back and work in again. It is challenging and beautiful and I am so glad
that we were neighbors.
Unfortunately, our camera finally bit the dust, but luckily
our fellow travelers took some good photos.
Kelly, Ryan, Addy, Ashton and Peter |