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Welcome to my travel log! You will find here a lot more than in the travel reports, stripped from political correctness. Enjoy! 
Jun 01, 2005 02:00 PM Ibo to Pemba (MZ) - adrenaline!
In Mozambique, one should be extremely careful when preparing to count on any arrangements made with the locals. Such engagements can lead to seriously stressful situations.
I agreed with the boy who brought me to Ibo to pick me up on Wednesday, June 1, at 9.30 am, and although we confirmed that and shook on it twice, he did not come. Originally, I thought that he might be getting late, because it was quite early, and the ocean was only coming back at about 9 o’clock, so his boat might have been too far from the water to set off on time. Then, the wind was not particularly strong either. I was preparing myself to accept a delay of one hour, but when it passed, I started becoming less comfortable.
Being stranded on a dilapidated historical island as the only tourist might be fun but for me, who had a flight to catch the next day, it only meant more adrenaline in my bloodstream. Had I missed that flight, my entire holiday route would have collapsed, as I had other flights to catch down the line in my itinerary.
I arranged with the driver from Pemba to pick me up in Tandanhangue at 1 pm, as I thought I could hop on another island to have a quick look en route. Now, I cannot believe how naïve I was!
Well, after having waiting two hours I was getting nervous actually but with an incredible luck one of the locals spotted a boat leaving at the other end of the beach and told me that. I grabbed my bags and halted the boat, which kindly came back for me.
I quickly untied my boots, jumped into the water, and as I climbed onto the boat, I heard ‘senior, senior!’ I turned and saw the boy, who was supposed to have come for me two hours before! He was simply playing on the beach with other boys, totally ignoring our arrangement. I had to ask where his boat was and why he did not come. He replied that he must have misunderstood. But I seriously doubt that this was a true answer.
Luckily, I was on a boat on my way back, the wind was strong and even if it were not, there was a motor at the back of the boat.
The way back to the mainland took just over one hour, and I simply could not believe that I was in Tandanhangue on time. The car was already waiting for me. I asked my driver to find out from the boy why he did not come for me as we had agreed and the boy did not have a good answer because my driver got seriously annoyed with him.
One of the passengers from the boat having seen my car, asked me if I could take him to Pemba. I said that this should be possible, but would need to be discussed with the driver. All over sudden, I was the most important person on the boat, right after the skipper, of course. Everyone was actually expecting me to approve.
When I arrived on the shore, I took my time and dried my feet and put my boot on, and then again the request for the lift to Pemba came back. Having prompted my driver already, I told the man that this issue must be discussed with the chauffer.
It was really funny, because my driver was actually quite difficult with the man. I did not understand entirely what was being said, but I did catch an element that was concerning payment and money.
We took the man eventually, but I asked my chauffer, who was born and had lived in Mozambique his entire life, what that discussion was all about. He told me that it was about education. He said that he pointed to the man that we are doing him a favour taking him all the way to Pemba for free. This was to illustrate the contrast that when we want to go to Ibo, we must pay for the ride.
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Jun 01, 2005 02:00 PM Wimbi (MZ) - the best beach in Mozambique?
Just outside Pemba, I think it is about 5 km, there is another world – the world full of white people on the streets, streets parallel to a wonderful beach. The Wimbi Beach.
I was told that this beach is probably the best one in the entire country. I was brought there on the way back from Ibo Island, just to have a look what it is like. It was perfect. The sun was fifteen minutes before setting in the ocean, and the palm trees were giving long shadows. The sand was almost white. The smell of grilled shellfish from the restaurants was hypnotising me.
Staying there for the night immediately crossed my mind but I promptly stopped such contemplating when I found that basic accommodation would cost me at least twice as much as in the town of Pemba – Caraçol Accommodations is for example USD60 and it is not directly on the beach at all. So, I decided to stay the night in the Cabo Delgado grotty hotel in Pemba, and go to Wimbi in the morning. My flight to Nampula was not leaving until late afternoon, so it was enough time to explore the beach.
Tourists go to Wimbi for diving. I went there for the beach and quality food at the Dolphin restaurant, which came highly recommended. There are other restaurants on the beach but not as good. For example, the one at the Wimbi's only disco is particularly bad with mediocre food and very bad service.
Dolphin Restaurant directly on the beach is reasonably priced and does papaya juice – my favourite. I ordered prawn omelette for breakfast I have to admit that I had better omelettes in my life However, when I came back for lunch I had an unusual multiple orgasm while eating grilled king prawns, causing a sensation in the entire northern Mozambique. It was ten of them and I was in heaven. I simply could not believe how delicious the prawns were.
Dolphin also has storage cabinets for MZM 50,000, which suited me perfectly as I did not have to worry about my luggage at all. It was a good decision to come there. I left my bags in the storage with the turtle emblem, and went on the photography session.
The beach itself is spectacular. The sand is almost completely Ariel white and colours of the ocean range from navy blue to indigo to sky blue to turquoise. Coconut palm trees and the coral at the shore contribute to this marvellous picture. Later, I visited also other beaches in Mozambique, but this one was absolutely the nicest of them all.
The central part of the beach has some infrastructure with places to stay, eat, drink, organise water sports, and three cottages belonging to the president of the republic.
It was very nice and hot that day (or maybe I was still acclimatising), so I went on stroll along the water’s edge from one bar to another, having a bottle of coke in each of them.
The Nautilus, for example, has a great bar with superb stools and a restaurant called Ancora. I decided to have a pre-lunch snack there but I quickly realised that they serve everything frozen – the entire menu. Yak! The sea is literally five meters away (at high tide) and they serve prawns from frozen?! They have good ideas for the dishes, I have to say, like the garlic prawns, but please!
A few boys hanging around on the beach tried to sell me various things, including a parrot, but when I said ‘no, thank you’, they did not insist at all and went away looking for luck with another tourist.
Wimbi Beach is a perfectly safe place like being taken from upmarket holiday brochure. It is also very quiet and there are very quiet stretches of the beach, almost totally isolated that I was completely on my own.
Furthermore, the beauty of the place is augmented by the five minutes distance to Pemba airport, which means that I could enjoy my entire day until very last minute.
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May 31, 2005 02:00 PM Ibo (MZ) - a colonial gem
The island is very tranquil and pretty. Many palm tree clusters and a few lonely baobabs make a perfect picture. It is idyllic and rather dreamlike place. There is absolutely nothing to do there, and I have absolutely no clue what all those people who live there do for living. It would be a perfect place for retirement, but living there and make a living for a family is a struggle.
Both of the forts are in perfect conditions and the larger one away from the town is a magnificent piece of architecture. Its walls gently bend inwards and therefore making the entire fort look like a star. The gate is spectacularly placed at one of the wall bends.
A few silver smiths who made the fort their home try to make a living from their silver art. Everyone makes the same design though and the items do not seem to be very special. The very special element there however is the way how they make these necklaces, bracelets, rings and earrings. They are using the ancient Arabic methods, which could be more interesting to see than the fort or the art themselves.
The other form of making money, although significantly less genuine, that these men employed, is cheating the tourists by charging (or trying to) MZM 50,000 (USD 2) entry fee. The fact is that the entry to the fort is free. I was not amused by this fact and but simply asked about the office with tickets and receipts and they quickly backed off.
The Ibo town is very pleasant with ocean front promenade built in 1967 by the local governor Coronel Basilio Pina de Oliveira Seguro and many fascinating mansions and grand houses erected in colonial style. They are all decaying now but the town keeps its charm. It is good to see a few initiatives to bring some of the palaces to their previous splendour – mainly by private people (foreigners) for commercial purposes. One of them is going to be a hotel with a swimming pool and all the amenities. It looked very promising.
The point is that tourist must start arriving there. I was the only traveller on the island that day, so for the businesses to thrive many more have to come. The problem is however that it is not so easy to get there.
The road from Pemba is in catastrophic condition and only passable in a robust four wheel drive, and getting muddy all over whilst boarding a boat is not the kind of thing an average traveller wanting to stay in a plush hotel would easily accept. I wish the new businesses all the luck for the future, because it looks to me that they are going to need it.
The island is extremely nice and the examples of colonial architecture there are superb. My favourite ones were the church on the square built back to the beach, but right on it, or the customs house with its slim columns and a porch.
There is actually an entire ‘high street’ lined up with interesting mansions, some of which are occupied by governmental institutions. Many of them however are falling further into ruins standing empty, or occasionally being used as temporary homes by fishermen and locals, who might have caused trouble at home.
A few kids followed me around that morning and showed me a few villages inside the island that I would have not visited otherwise. They also showed me a very cool local bar behind a bamboo-cane fence, which I would have never spotted or had a courage to step into.
The bar offers a great view to the ocean and plenty of shade as well as cool breeze, which is a blessing! The drinks are not terribly cool but the place is. I actually managed to explain to the kids, who did not speak English, that I wanted a place with cold drinks simply by saying 'coca-cola'. I knew that this would be an equivalent of a nice drink – they immediately showed me to the bar. When I bought bottles of coke also for them, they could not believe their eyes and actually jumped in the air.
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May 30, 2005 02:00 PM Ibo (MZ) - Quirimba Archipelago - getting there
Before I arrived to Mozambique, I made a few enquiries how to get to the Quirimba Archipelago and specifically to Ibo Island. I managed to contact a person in one of the many diving centres in the northern country via email, who told me that I should have absolutely no problem to get a boat from Pemba to Ibo since there are many boats. Well, I could not actually find one. I understand that it was an off-season period, but absolutely no boats was a bit funny.
I kept looking and asking the locals and they told me that there is sometimes a chapa (a truck which takes people places) in the direction I wanted to go, but it was not guaranteed and I could not get there directly. The name of the place I was supposed to get to was called Quissanga and then another one called Tandanhangue, to which I would need to walk.
I asked my hotel and one of the staff told me that one vehicle was leaving from the front of the hotel, but another one told me there was no service and that I had to hire a car myself.
I also heard a rumour that one can charter a flight to the island, but that was a lie.
Eventually, I went to Viatur Travel Agent who provided me with a private transport for a price, of course. Well, given the distance and urgency as well as pick and collect service, I thought it was fair that I should go for it. I went to the bank, changed some South African rand to Mozambican meticaix, and checked out from my hotel. By 11 am, I was on the road.
The way from Pemba, first on an excellent and then really rough road, takes to Tandanhangue exactly 3.5 hours.
On the way, right before the crossing to Quissanga, there are many monkeys stealing cobs of corn in the field. There are very many of them and I am sure the farmers must be extremely crossed with them unless they think that these apes are actually sacred. I am absolutely sure they manage to steal a lot of corn.
I was there at the boat landing just after 2 o’clock in the afternoon. I call it the boat landing, since Tandanhangue is just two houses exactly. Via my driver, I arranged with local boys for the boat to take me to the island for about 6 US dollars. I started waiting for the high tide, which was supposed to come within half an hour, and, since all appeared to be arranged, I let my driver go.
I ended up waiting 2.5 hours for the high tide and for getting the guys to move their asses. In the meantime, they were playing with one another, chasing and teasing one other, buying fish of some fishermen, who arrived from the sea, but nothing was being done in the direction to prepare the boat and get moving to the island. I was getting increasingly impatient, because the ocean was not arriving and I could not see where the boat was. When I arrived at this boat landing the boat was allegedly almost ready to go!
Only when exactly at 4.30pm I said that the sun was going to set in 30 minutes and that I would not go at night, they moved quickly and took me to the boat.
Oh my, I had to take my boots off and plough in mud up to my knees amongst the mangroves until I eventually got to the boat. By then, the sun had set completely and the tide was not high enough to move the boat yet. I was getting angry but kept it inside because from experience I know that adrenaline is actually good for you.
According to the very young skipper, the passage was supposed to take 1.5 ~ 2 hours but there was absolutely no wind and it was taking forever. I actually could not notice that the boat was moving. It was so slow.
The night was moonless but the stars and the Milky Way were giving surprisingly a lot of light. At times, it was dead calm and the only thing that was heard was the sound of diesel genies miles away on the remote islands. A man swimming in the ocean passed by. Then fish were jumping in the water. Wind sometimes blew in the perforated old sail and pushed the boat forward.
I was helpless. I could not do anything to make this boat go faster, and the guys were so relaxed that I simply sat there in this boat full of mud. They guys started telling stories about something, which was very atmospheric and sounded very mysterious. I could not understand a word they were saying but that added this special spice to this moment. I kept looking up in the sky and soaked the ambience. It was kind of cool, being there on this ancient Arabic vessel on the Indian Ocean travelling on those terribly calm waters. That did feel like holiday.
At times, I was thinking where I should be staying on the island. Three places had been recommended to me: Janine, TDM, and Bella Vista, and in fact there are no other options. Janine is the cheapest and Bella Vista is the most expensive.
Before we actually set off, I mentioned to the boys that I was thinking of staying at Janine, and I was not sure I should be changing my mind. By the time we could spot the island, only Janine had her lights up. The other two had already switched off their generators. That left me little room to manoeuvre.
I arrived at Janine at 8.30pm, a bit pissed off but one extraordinary experience richer. The guys asked me to disembark way off the shore, in complete darkness. I tried and as I could not reach the ground, I refused. I had absolutely no idea where, or on what kind of sea creature, my bare feet were going to land.
The boys pushed the boat a bit closer and one of them jumped out. Water reached his waist! He took my bags and I followed him. I cannot possibly describe how happy I was that the ocean was so warm. Otherwise, my family jewels would have fallen off.
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May 29, 2005 02:00 PM Pemba (MZ) - Paquitequete
As I was walking down the main road, the long evening shadows made the teak and reed houses so attractive that I finally realised I was on holiday in Africa. Later, I realised that it was district of Paquitequete and not Pemba town itself.
Well, I was walking blind in the dark. I had no map and it was dark within half an hour, and I did struggle a little, because I had no idea where to go. I was lucky to find a map at the window of one of the travel agents, so I had a vague idea, but obviously, I could not take this map with me.
Apparently, it was not very wise of me to venture there alone during the hours of darkness, but my camera swinging from my shoulder attracted much attention from the local kids, who followed me around, and effectively becoming my bodyguards.
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May 28, 2005 02:00 PM Pemba (MZ) - just landed in the north
Pemba stroke me that the town and its surroundings had more African feel than most of the African places I had seen before. I landed in Pemba almost at sunset and took a walk in the town right after checking in at the Hotel Cabo Delgado, which is also the name of the autonomous province of Mozambique, of which Pemba is the capital.
The old town of Pemba, facing the vast bay of Pemba, features several colonial villas and a small church. I did not realise the town was actually there because the main street at which I was staying did not exactly lead there. Again without a map, but this time in the low morning sunrays, I went on wandering about the area to shoot whatever I found interesting. I wandered off out of the town a bit and as I was walking in the direction of my hotel, using a different way, I found the colonial district of Pemba.
It is a very relaxing town but it does look like a capital of the province. The street are all sealed and kept in a decent condition and the number of colonial villas and their excellent state make very good impression.
Interestingly, I found also a British style red post box, which really is just a big red tin. It looked exactly like those in London (and on Malta) but this one in Pemba had white letters on it stating Moçambique. It would have made a great postcard!
Actually, I noticed that there were no decent postcards in Mozambique. Wherever I went, it was extremely difficult to find any and if there were some, they were unbelievably ugly and very poor quality. It is such a shame, because there is no way to show your friends and family how beautiful Mozambique is unless you visit them and show them the pictures, or eventually post them on the Internet. This is not however the same as receiving a nice postcard by post.
I also found a little fort in the suburbs of Pemba, which was not mentioned in any guidebooks. Mozambique has many forts, most of which were built by the Portuguese, but this one looked very small, and unimportant.
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May 27, 2005 02:00 PM Maputo (MZ) - rather pretty capital
The capital of Mozambique is very pleasant and feels safe. It has wide and straight dual carriage avenues with reasonable traffic and with walkways in the middle, planted with acacia trees giving a relieving shade. There are a large number of colonial-time villas and mansions, some of which are unfortunately decaying. There are also a few secular buildings of Arabic style of architecture, which I found very interesting to see in this part of the world.
People in the capital city actually smile on the streets and seem happy. This is good and extremely important, particularly in Africa, which is rather infamous for its violent wars and horrific genocide leaving people angry, bitter and unhappy. I have to admit that, based on my past experience with people from a country’s capital city, I was surprised to see smiles on the locals’ faces addressed to strangers in the street. It felt good.
The avenues of Maputo are filled with many artists offering exceptionally good woodcarvings. I browsed through some of them to have a look what I would get for my collection. I did not want to buy anything right on my first day, but I wanted to find out what the potentials might be. A typical Mozambican carving was a figure of two people carved out of cedar wood in a way that they share a body but their heads are separate. I liked it and I was keeping the thought in my head that I would like to buy a sample. In fact, I did on my very last day in Maputo.
The famous Maputo fort is very surprising. Its main feature is shockingly short walls (not very high at all – just above 2 meters) but they are nicely complete in their entirety and there are fine flowers, palm trees and a lawn surrounding the fort. The stronghold is situated right outside the fishing port of Maputo and a street market aimed at tourists, primarily.
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May 26, 2005 02:00 PM Johannesburg (ZA) - and the restaurants are...
There are other good restaurants in Johannesburg. At the Sandton City and the Nelson Mandela Square, there are one good and very popular Thai and Italian serving delicious desserts.
Near Pavilion, there is, among a few others, The Grandfather, specialising in seafood. That was actually, one of the best seafood restaurants, not directly at the seaside, that I have been to in my life. You go and choose your food as it is still raw and then they cook it to your liking. That is quality!
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May 25, 2005 02:00 PM Pretoria (ZA) - one of the three capitals
People laughed when I told them I had gone to Pretoria. I am not sure why they did that.
I started my journey with navigating from the city map, how to get through the centre of the town to the Union Building and Gardens. The town is not excessively complicated, but it has a few one-way streets, which come in unexpected places.
The Union Building is the official residence of the president of the republic and also the government is situated there. It is a fine looking structure with many classical elements (see picture on page 4), but its location on the top of a hill makes it stand out ever more.
One cannot enter the building unless on official business with the government or the president, but strolling in the gardens is free. They are kept in a good condition, even in winter, which surprised a few South Africans, who expected the gardens to be left to their own in for the season.
It was a nice morning in Pretoria with bright sunshine, which just fought off the mist. And it is a very good idea to start the tour, even as short as mine, at the Union Building since is leads straight down to Church Street, a central artery in the town.
Church Street offers a variety of sights. First, right down from the gardens, the street is shaded by large trees. Grand villas, or even mini palaces stand on either side of the street.
Then, the scenery changes, and less respectful-looking structures start to appear, the trees disappear and the sunrays reveal many imperfections of the area.
Not far from there, high rise buildings of particular African architecture shoot up in the air, and the town begin to look modern and civilised again. Some of the semi-skyscrapers are really ugly, like the main office of one of the banks.
I stopped at Church Square, and at the excellent Cafe Riche, to be exact. The square is surrounded by historical buildings (picture above and below), one of which is the town hall.
The centre of the square is decorated by a monument, and I forgot what it represents, some war heroes, I guess.
One can immediately realise that Pretoria, being much smaller than Johannesburg (about 2 million inhabitants), is a very relaxed place. It also felt safe to walk all the way from the Union Building to Church Square, even with my expensive (and brand new) camera swaying from my shoulder.
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May 24, 2005 02:00 PM Johannesburg (ZA) - Parktown
Most of my time in Johannesburg I spent in Parktown, near the city centre. On one morning, in the middle of three lane Empire Road, there was a young boy with his pants down flashing his cock and ass to the passing vehicles. This was supposed to be funny, and I think it was. As much as it was unexpected to be happening in the middle of the road, in the middle of a city.
Another interesting thing about South Africa is a specific use of English expressions, for example:
traffic circle = roundabout
robots = traffic lights
(just) now = later
undercover parking = underground parking
I had a laugh at the last one. I just could not imagine that a parking place could be pretending it is a parking lot but in fact, it was something else, working undercover.
That undercover parking was for the Melrose Arch, another one of the posher places around Johannesburg. One of the best places to eat at Melrose Arch is Moyo's, restaurant serving traditional African dishes. It is a large place with excellent service and unusual décor, which also included life forms. There was an African man sitting on a giant rock placed inside one of the restaurant’s underground (oops, sorry – I mean undercover) dining rooms. Specific markings on the rock indicated that the poor man had been there for a long time without having had liquid adjustment breaks.
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