Monte Carlo Hotel Maputo

... guy from Israel was dragged out by a local girl taken to the toilet but he got scared of her and ran away to come back and dance with us .. It was pretty funny.

We left the club to go by the beach where we met some young local guys. We had a spliff with them and they were really cool but there was a few tramps hanging around who were a little bit annoying. After we actually ended up going back to the club for about an hour and then headed back to the hostel. I went to bed around 5 I think.

... yes I know a Sheppard is for sheep what do you call a cattle herder!!) After some time of repeating the name of the capital Mapito with various different inflections (trying to make it sound Portuguese) the chaps pointed straight ahead.. so off we went.. after 500mts on a crest of a sand hill the dam road split again.. so I elected to break with tradition and torn onto the right hand track and finally we popped out onto supposedly the correct ...

... piece of corrugated iron.
While water is now piped onto the island, it is not sufficient to
provide sanitation facilities to the island’s residents. Cholera
outbreaks are common, while the beautiful beaches are used as
bathrooms.

Although the sanitation problem in the reed town
prevents the island from being an ideal beach resort, there are many
other reasons for exploring Ilha. At night the streets are pitch black,
making ...

It was with a heavy heart and a (manly) tear in my eye that I boarded the bus to take me from Swaziland to the Mozambiquen capital Maputo . However I was excited to visit a new country and on top of that the day I was arriving was Maputo day so I was expecting some good festivities. Alas the backpackers that I turned up at ...

The trip to Maputo took around 10 hours in a Greyhound luxury bus. It was nice and easy and it had A/C and even showed a couple of hollywood movies (though pretty bad ones i.e. Fantastic Four) We had called Maputo Backpackers before we got in, and they had sent a taxi to pick us up from the bus station. We stopped at an ATM on the way and got some Metacais. We had been told that ...

... ver a praia lotada de pessoas, mas ninguem na agua, mas nao tive oportunidade de investigar o motivo. A volta foi uma verdadeira aventura. Pegamos um "chapa", eh o nome que eles dao ao transporte coletivo. Pode ser uma van ou um onibus pequeno, o importante nao eh o veiculo, mas sim a lotacao. A quantidade de gente em pe e sentada era tao grande que as vans que antes cruzavam o recife lotadas ate passaram a me parecer um pouco mais confortavel. A pior parte, pra mim, nao foi o ...

... would argue I did this just for the photo op, but actually it was a lot of fun, even if once again I had my number requested on the vow that I would be sorely missed and it'd be "very nice" to hear my voice from time to time. sigh.... if only European men were this easy! Anyway, the three of us walked for about an hour and a half, Z and I pickig up shells on the way (in my case, not really out of a love for shells but I felt sasha and sashimi might like them, being fresh ...

... err, we're wondering whether there is anywhere people can smoke". To which he answers "well...that depends how much you want to do". I was pooped after about only 2.5hrs interrupted sleep, so less than sharp....it finally clicked and I laughed and said, literally, "nee, nee" (must stop saying things like prima, and leuk and dank je here...might fly in Cape Town but my friends are looking at me funny. or more than usual), "just...err....you know...N O R M A L smoking ...

... The sun in Mozambique peaked my spirits immediately. Megan, an old friend volunteering with the Peace Corps, met me at the airport and we spent the afternoon exploring Maputo. In spite of their low ranking on the UN development index, the capital of Mozambique appeared far more modern than I had anticipated. The roads were wide and in excellent repair, public employees were pruning the trees that lined the streets, small ...

... to Jo-burg and then Cape Town. It feels a little funny to be starting actual "travelling" again since we've been in the same place for 2 weeks now. But I'm sure we'll get the hang of it once we get going! First things on the agenda - buy a new camera!!!! and a lonely planet (since that was also in the bag.... oy). No new ipods for us though, so I'm going to have to put up with Derek's singing for the next 6+ weeks :) talk in cape town! xoxox