Dhow

7/19/10: We arrived in Vilankulo, Mozambique - which is a small town
on the coast facing the Indian Ocean. It is tropical and home to
beautiful sand beaches and a few islands just off-shore that have
coral reefs. We took a day trip via dhow (traditional sailing vessel)
to Magaruque Island just off the coast of Vilankulo. The waters around
the mainland and island are surprsingly shallow, and the dhow is well
suited to traverse the shallow waters. Spent the day exploring the
island and snorkeling the reefs where there was an adundance of
tropical marine life. Our guides on the dhow prepared us lunch of
fresh caught crab and barracuda (both delicious) using coals on the
boat. A fantastic day!

7/20/10: We are in the beach town of Tofo, Mozambique today. It is
raining :-( but we are on the beach and the temp is nice. For those
looking on a map we went north to south; from Tete, to Chimoio; to
Vilankulo; to Inhambane; and now Tofo. One more stop before going back
into South Africa (Kruger Park!).

Malaria

7/16/10: Our 2nd day in Mozambique was another transit day while on
our way to the coast. We camped outside the town of Chimoio. Compared
to other towns we've passed through in Moz' and the rural areas,
Chimoio is actually quite nice (nicer than Tete). The town had a nice,
vibrant feel. Lots of activity with a faint musical backdrop of a
calypso, reggae, tropical type of music (I like the music in Moz').
There are modern ammenities like grocery stores, ATM's, pharmacies -
and much of the population seems afluent when compared to the rural
areas. There is a large Coca Cola bottling plant just outside the
town, which I'm sure helps the local economy. Still, you see evidence
of the poor, rural community. For example, outside the parking lot to
the grocery store was a lady walking with a stack of sugar cane on her
head. We bought some from her (sugar cane is delicious and addicting
to chew on I found). That seems to be a common theme in larger towns
throughout Africa; there is a mixture of modern and traditional
lifestyles & a sharp disparity between rich and poor. I stretch to
call it "rich and poor" even. It's more, as mentioned before, simply
people who "have" and people who "have not".

Our real purpose in Chimoio this afternoon though was to visit a
medical clinic. Our friend John has fallen ill with flu like symptoms
and it was getting worse. We thought maybe he had a bad cold or ate
something bad, but a blood test at the clinic confirmed he has
contracted Malaria! It's odd because he was taking Malaria medication,
so we are all very surprised & a little un-nerved as we are all taking
Malaria precautions (in addition to strict hygene & water consumption
precautions). Julia has been off her Malaria meds because it was
giving her migrane headaches, so she is being extra cautious about not
being bit. I am still on the meds though. There are side effects, but
my body acclimated to it in a few days time whereas Julia's did not.
Treatment for John will take 5 days and he will need to be flown to
Johannesburg, SA. It is possible that he & Edwina will rejoin the tour
when we arrive in South Africa at Kruger Park, if he is well enough.
Other than his home in Australia, South Africa is the best place for
John to be sent for treatment.

This experience has made me realize how fortunate we are. We travel to
these 3rd world countries with the full support and infrastructure of
the western countries we come from. John is seen by a private doctor,
in a private clinic, flown to Jo'burg, & given treatment in a first
world hospital. I'm not sure any of the locals nearby would be given
or can afford such care themselves.

UPDATE 7/18/10: John has not only contracted Malaria, but MEASLES as
well!!! Again; un-nerving as John was taking Malaria meds and has an
MMR vaccination! Apparently there is a new outbreak of Measles in
Africa at the moment which is all over the news? Can someone reading
this confirm and comment? We have been disconnected from the media.

7/20/10: John is being released from the hospital soon (hurray!) but
cannot return to the tour. He will stay in Jo'burg. He is better and
that is most important.

Sugar Cane

Sugar cane is an enjoyable thing to chew on, especially on long
drives. You peel back the skin with your teeth, bite off and then chew
on the inside. It has a fiber texture with sweet liquid absorbed into
it. You chew and then spit out the fibers when the sweetness is gone.
It's a little messy and probably not good for your teeth, but it's
very addicting. I love it! We just bought enough for everyone for
$20Mets (less than $1US). They grow lots of cane in Mozambique, &
people are selling produce roadside everywhere so it is easy and cheap
to get here.

We also purchased delicious roasted cashews, pineapple, & oranges from
the roadside, which are all grown here. It's not a roadside stand I'm
talking about, but rather a dozen people waiting at a petrol station
or similar place where people stop. They are all selling the same
things and swarming you for business if you show the slightest
interest. Mozambique in particular is proving to be a difficult place
to buy things because of how aggressive people are in selling - it's
exhausting and makes me not want to deal with buying things unless I
have to.

The Sugar Cane Lady:

Welcome to Mozambique

7/15/10: We left the beauty of Lake Malawi for the Indian Ocean
beaches of Mozambique. It will take us 2 days of travel through the
country to arrive at the shore. We are currently at a stop over in
the town of Tete.

The border crossing from Malawi into Mozambique was time consuming.
First off there is a huge "no mans land" between Malawi and Mozambique
- at least 4km. Not sure why, perhap because of the civil war in
Mozambique which only ended in 1992 (walking in the bush is ill
advised because of land mines). The no mans land distance means you
have to get exited from Malawi, then drive to the Mozambique border
post, and get out again to get entered. The Mozambique authorities are
stricter than we had experienced before. It took a few hours for all
of us to get our visas in order and get permission to enter
Mozambique. They look for excuses to extort money out of you, and when
you do pay a legitimate fee like a visa fee - it seems to fall into
illegitimate hands. Julia and I already had visas, which we had
obtained from home, and this made our personal experience with the
authorities much easier.

While others on our trip were getting clearance, we waited in the
border area. In my other African border crossings, I had not been
harassed as much as I was here. People swarmed our truck upon arrival
trying to sell us things like cigarettes, apples, cell phones, or
phone cards. I said "No thank you" about a thousand times and tried
to remain patient. Many were trying to get us to change money; walking
around with wads of cash. I did not change money because of fears of
getting fleeced (we were warned by the guide). Our guide had to change
money though, understandably to keep the tour going, and was more
experienced in doing so. The guy he traded with looked like a pimp-
wearing a suit whereas everyone else was in tattered clothing - and
the exhancge rate is better on the black market than it is at the
bank. It was shady at best. The shadiest thing about tge border post
was people just hanging around: doing nothing, begging, looking at
you, flat out asking for things (ie: "hey boss, gimme your watch").
Needless to say, we kept close guard over the truck until we were
allowed to leave.

Once driving, the country appeared much poorer than Malawi. I had
expected the worst conditions to be in Malawi. The area we are in is
crowded and dirty. Our campground (named "Jesus e' Bom") is not the
best, but it is on the Zambezi river and there is make-shift plumbing
with hot water heated by a wood fire. Our guides say this is the best
place to stay while on our way to "paradise".

Mozambique seems to be a bit more challenging than others to travel
in. For example, we have to cross a bridge but only 1 lane is open
while the bridge is being retrofitted. It is the only bridge over the
river for miles. They alternate traffic in either direction every HOUR
- and don't keep to the schedule very well. So depending on when you
arrive, you may wait a long time to cross. While you wait, authorities
continually harass you for paperwork in an effort to extort money from
you. When it us finally your turn to cross, they harass you again. Our
guide is definitely earning his wages in just getting us through
Mozambique. There is definitely more corruption here than we had
experienced before. A means to an end though as we are on our way to a
beautiful place.

Note: The children in Mozambique (and Malawi) are more polite than
those in Zambia. When giving out trinkets or pens/notebooks to kids in
school, the kids here are much more calm and patient (no free-for-
all). They also don't speak English (Portugese), but are pretty good
at communicating with gesture.

Malawi

We are camping on a nice beach on the shores of Lake Malawi. The lake
is huge. It feels like being on the ocean. We were scheduled to go
snorkeling today but it is too windy for the boat, so we opted for
visiting a craft market. We purchased several things, and it is
expected that you bargain to bring the price down. You could even
trade goods like baseball caps, clothing, etc. The streets in Malawi
are more crowded than in Zambia. There is a problem with over
population since it is such a small country, half of which is the
water of Lake Malawi. The people are poorer than in Zambia, as there
are few natural resources in Malawi. What they lack in resources, they
make up for in craftsmanship. The craft markets are filled with great
handmade items, some of which are stunning in the skill it took to
make. I might even assume that most of the crafts sold in Africa come
from Malawi.