1st impressions of Mozambique - from Maputo to Tofo

Our first contact with Mozambique is physical - literally. After a few kms of smooth sandy tracks we hit a hard bumpy road. I am thankful I have packed sports bras.

Bumpy road to Boane

There is so much to learn when one enters a new country.
It’s a new language: “Bons Dias”, “Boa Tarde”, “ Obrigado/a”, “Fas favor”, “Es tu a pedir”…
It’s also a new currency. The toll gate exchanged our rands at 1 rand (ZAR) = 2.23 meticales (Mt) but the backpacker’s in Maputo gave us ZAR 1 = Mt 2.4

And it’s a new cell phone network. But this one isn’t hard to find about! MCell’s blue and yellow adorns most buildings in the rural areas and is advertised on most billboards (when it’s not Vodacom’s blue and white). They also sent us a roaming message just a few kms after we crossed the border (so did MTN: welcoming us to Swaziland!). We easily find a simcard. Unfortunately our 3G modem doesn’t seem to work on it. We will have to rely on internet cafes to get connected.

Yellow MCel-sponsored buildings everywhere

The local beers are the Laurentina, the Manica, and the 2M (Mac-Mahon). They are good!

A beer costs between Mt 25 and Mt 40 depending on the place. We find the cost of life very high in general; higher than in Cape Town. We pick our friends brains’ for tips on the cost of things as we are a bit worried that people noticing us as newcomers will overcharge us. But so it is: Mt 50 for 5 l of water, Mt 25 for a kilo of tomatoes, Mt 5 to Mt 10 for the car guards…

We also need to get used to washing fruits and veggies in clean water before we eat them, as well as to wearing long pants and long sleeves shirts together with anti-mosquitoes spray in the evening… we don’t want to get malaria.

It is really great is to be getting slowly acquainted with a new culture:

Sandrine and Ronny have welcomed us into their home. Thank you! It’s great to see them again after three years. Julian and Siphiso have changed a lot. I am sorry I didn’t think of taking pictures. Their sister, Violette, is now six months old. She arrived home when she was just six weeks old and is totally adorable.

Violette

We have a diner of fresh crabs and they tell us about their life here. It’s so different from South Africa. We can feel it already. It is difficult to describe, but basically there seems to be much more social mixity, and the Mozambicans are self-confident and seem happy with themselves.

The culture is a rich mix of African, Portuguese and Arabic. For example, Sandrine and Ronny’s house is right next to much poorer looking buildings. They have a guard but don’t seem too concerned about security. They say there is no violent crime.

After dinner they take us to a club where we listen to cool local jazzy music. We seem to be the only foreigners (and whites) but no one pays special attention to us. There is a great atmosphere, almost Latin. I imagine Brazil to be quite similar.
It’s chilled out yet elegant, urban and modern yet it feels like a well-established culture.

We know too little of the country’s history to make much comment. The communist influence is visible in the avenue’s names: Vladimir Lenin, Karl Marx, Mao Tse Tung… So is the liberation struggle: 24 de Julhio, Eduardo Mondlane…

These are early days and we are still feeling a huge distance with the people. I am reluctant to take photos: I don’t feel quite safe enough to take the camera out in the streets yet, and in any case it doesn’t seem right to point it into people’s faces. I prefer just to enjoy their huge smiles and friendliness.

Below are just a few first images:

Mon 15/12 – Tofo. Unfortunately and, despite our great expectations, there is again no surf to be had her. Instead, we do some maintenance and relaxation at the Turtle Cove, a stylish and very nice campsite with swimming pool and yoga lounge.

Steve doing some daily maintenance on Scarlet.

The Turtle Cove’s campsite’s yoga lounge.

Our first baobab, near Inhambane

Sun 14/12 - On the road between Maputo and Xai Xai

Sat 13/12 – Maputo Costa do Sol