Beyond the Tropic of Capricorn

Today is our last day at Vilanculos. We have been there for four days with Steve’s dad, Andy, and his brother, Mark . They flew in from Johannesburg to spend a week with us sampling the local beers between fishing outings.

Andy & Mark enjoying a 2M (Mac-Mahon… One of the local beers)

In Tofo we camped under some palm trees. Hearing the coconuts fall loudly at night made us realise that it would be better for Scarlet (and us) to avoid camping in the firing zone in the future. We opted for a big Flamboyant tree (Vlamboom) at our next camp, which provided a good shade on the rare occasion that it wasn’t raining. We were very pleased to have the awning shelter our dining room from the frequent showers.

Camping under the Vlamboom at Josef and Tina’s

Our days here have been relaxing. It has been good to stay in the same place for a while, and we enjoyed our first real interactions with local people. We are pleasantly surprised to feel so accepted by the Mozambicans. We are foreigners, tourists, Mlungu (white-men)… so wealthy in comparison to many of the locals. Prices are sometimes raised for us but we do not feel ripped-off or harassed. The people are polite, self-confident, gentle and full of good humour.

“Welcome to the land of smiles”, says the Mozambican Tourism Board at the border. We agree.

Smiles

We played cards, dice, petanque, and frisbee (or rather, Mark’s incredible flying ring – the aerobie) on the beach with local kids. We walked the streets and beaches, some badly damaged by a hurricane two years ago. We bought fish at the market, cooked potjies, played soccer and took a dhow trip to the island. Steve even had a haircut.

Steve gets a haircut
Cleaning the fish at the market

Playing soccer Hands game

Sales on the beach Boy and dhow Dhows on the beach

Vilanculos beach street

Vilanculos main street

On route from Tofo we stopped to buy mangos in a village. It’s mango season and mangoes seem to mature faster than people can eat them. We ended up with a sack of mangos for next to nothing. The whole experience was very colourful. I wish I could have taken a picture, but the women didn’t want me to. Maybe next time... I would like to share their smiles, and the beautiful variety of their sarongs.

I am amazed at what the women carry on their heads. I have started a list. C’est un inventaire a la Prevert. I’ll have to write a post on it sometime soon…

In Vilanculos, we had our first brief encounter with other travellers: two French couples on motorbikes and sidecars. They left France (Bouche-du-Rhone) in April 2008 and had driven across Russia then down the Americas. They were now starting their trip back up though Africa. Their website is http://www.passagers-du-monde.fr/