Cashew nuts and mangos

Pemba – 01 Jan 2009

It has been a week since we left Rio Azul. Time feels different when we are on the road. Each day is so full of new experiences that it feels like months have gone by already…

We have just found out that I cannot do anything with the pictures we took in RAW format with our Canon G9. There seems to be a problem with the software (EOS utility) and we can’t download them from the camera. We had to cut and paste them across from the camera, and the computer can’t seem to recognise them as image files. The result is that they can’t be reformatted or downsized to be put on the blog… If anyone has got any idea of what can be done, please let us know. In the meantime we will shoot in large file format (jpg).

Today we are in Pemba, a tourist centre on the Mozambican coast. We arrived last night, after a long day’s drive from Memba (200km in 12 hours). We had planned to drive up the coast from Memba to Pemba, but had to turn around at Lurio. Both our GPS and our maps and showed a river crossing and alternative route inland to meet the main road should the rivercrossing not be possible. Both of these no longer exist. The road to Lurio was a motorbike track with several interesting river crossings.

We were welcomed for New Year to join in on a huge braai the Pemba Dive Bush Camp! The campsite’s owner had organized to celebrate the New Year with other expats, friends and clients…cold beer, bond fire and fireworks… perfect!

Since leaving Ilha de Mocambique and the main roads we have been in extremely rural, remote and poor areas of Mozambique. We would drive for hours on coastal dirt roads, through villages of clay and straw huts, where the most elaborate possession would be a bicycle or a radio, but where most people only had a wooden bed frame, a few clay pots, a hoe to work the cassava fields, a long stick to collect the mangos, and the clothes on their back.

Everywhere people were friendly, and waved with smiles as we passed by. On one night we even stayed in one of the villages and spent our time with the children there. No privacy, but quite an experience. Many of the children showed signs of malnutrition and we felt obliged to shared our supper: potatoes and onions roasted in the potjie.

It has always been easy to find water to drink. There are many wells and water pumps everywhere. We filled our 60 litre tank and added a few drops of chlorine for good measure. The water is brackish as we have been on the coast. We are getting used to the taste, and Caro even suggested putting salt in her coffee from now on.

The main crops are mangos and cashew nuts. We have also been eating fresh Portuguese bread and sometimes eggs and avocados. And we still have our own supplies of coffee, sugar, powdered milk, etc, which are all luxury products here and very expensive.

From Rio Azul to Ilha de Mocambique was an unexpectedly good drive - albeit quite slow - on the National road. We stopped in formal campsites that were rather empty. We experienced our first heavy rains in the Gorongosa National Park. We had to fix a hole in the tent’s cover but were pleased that the tent when erectis completely waterproof. The sun soon came back…

Ilha de Mocambique was a picturesque and relaxing stop.

Now, our plan is to relax, shop for the next leg of the trip to Ibo Island and then to Tanzania….