After PDM, I traveled north to meet up with some friends at Ihla de Mocambique—and it was absolutely wonderful.
The trip to Ihla took 2 full days. Two weeks ago, Kristen (another PCV) and I left Chimoio at 5AM in a chapa that took us to Inchope, the crossroads between north, south, east and west (north to Nampula, south to Maputo, east to Beira and west to Chimoio). This cruzamento is where central volunteers go to start our hitch-hiking. Well, by 7AM Kristen and I were camped out on the side of the road, optimistic that our early start would bring us some luck from the bolea [hitch-hiking] gods. We could not have been more wrong. In the first few hours just 4 other cars drove by, one of which stopped and tried to charge us $20 to go a couple hundred k north. We declined, we didn’t have the money, if did we would have taken a bus, so we waited, and waited and waited. After 5 hours, feeling pretty desperate and not wanting to return to Chimoio, we waved down a semi (a large truck) who stopped and agreed to take us all the way to Zambezia for approximately $6. We agreed and go in the van. So begins my 10 hour journey in a truck with little water, no food and no bathroom breaks (we did pack snacks but we ate them all on the side of the road.) After 10 hours we rolled into Mocuba, Zambezia around 10PM, our driver dropped us at bridge, which we crossed on bikes to meet our friends on the other side who had been waiting for us all day. Thankfully, PCVs are kind of awesome, our friends had waited up for us and had dinner saved for us to eat when we arrived disheveled and exhausted at their house.
We slept maybe 6 hours that night then woke up to continue traveling north. We got a little luckier that day and got a bolea to the cruzamento for Gurue (a beautiful area in the north I will return to visit!) From there we got picked up by a wonderful French man who drove us all the way to Nampula City. In Nampula we ended up taking chapas/open-back trucks all the way to Ihla and we finally arrived at our destination around 8PM that night. After 2 full days of travel we were beat, but also really excited we made it to the island and were reunited with our friends, some of whom we hadn’t seen since last December.
The next 3 days were just wonderful. Ihla de Mocambique is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it served as the original capital of the Portuguese empire in the region and was a major trading port between Portugal and India. Aside from having pristine beaches with beautiful, turquoise water, the town itself is pretty magical. Unlike most of the country, the Island has a clear Portuguese influence. The roads are narrow and cobblestone, the buildings perfectly white (or faded colors from long ago) and although most of the architecture appears to be crumbling it really is beautiful.
We spent those three days exploring the old Portuguese fort, wandering town and spending lazy afternoons on the pier that extends into the Indian Ocean. At night we ate delicious food (the cuisine is easily the best I have had yet in this country; incredibly fresh seafood, coconut rice and curries seasoned with Indian, Mocambican and Portuguese flavorings, it was truly to die for). And basically just enjoyed our time on the sleepy island of ihla.
The trip back took another 2 full days of travel but I can happily report is was definitely worth it and I can not wait to travel back north and visit this island and the rest of that region again.
So now I am back at school, starting the third (and final!) semester of the year but I can’t focus much on teaching because I am leaving for vacation THIS SATURDAY and will get to see my family (and some friends) after 11 months away from home! I could not be more excited. So apologize ahead of time if I don’t update my blog until I’m back, but I’ll be traveling without a computer…but I promise to return with pictures and stories!
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