Pescador Vilanculos

... of which over the clear blue waters of Mozambique. Picked up by Paul, Angie’s hubby, who helped me get a visa, $31. Go to Angie and Paul’s house, where I’m met by Ray and Harmony, who wanted to check her email at Angie’s house. Go back to Sawa Sawa 1, the yellow houses, fill everyone in on my trip. Stay with Tamera and Harmony in the house directly over from the main house. Deposit my stuff, and spend the rest of the evening setting up the DART ...

... would be so lovely. Should I start with our en-suite room, or perhaps the view of the azure waters and palm fringed beaches.....maybe Raphael, our personal cook, who prepared three meals a day for us will hit the spot...? Yes, that will do. We were spoilt rotten! We spent our five days in paradise taking long walks around the island to the various lodges and the fresh-water lagoon (home to some rather large crocs), getting great packed lunches from Nelson and Raphael for ...

... are so amazing! Tim went on his first scuba dive here as well and did great! The scuba is just as good as the snorkeling, just a bit deeper where the fish and turtles get bigger and there are sharks and other cool things around. The coral was beautiful, though the cyclone damage from last February was still noticeable. We saw a giant hornsbill turtle with a shell that must have been 3 feet long, a huge stingray flying along midwater ...

After about 5 hours drive we made it to Vilanculos. The road was not too bad and it only had one strech with really bad potholes. Vilanculos is a lot bigger than Tofo, and is famous for the Bazaruto Archipelago just of the coast. Here we a talking big bucks ($500 or more pppn) to stay the night so naturally we found a backpackers instead called Zombie Cucumber. Vilankulos itself is not that nice since the beach has a lot of rocks and is not nearly as inviting as ...

... started so well, a short and snappy minibus to the border, seemless border crossing and even some banter with the blackmarket money changers and a generous exchange rate. Even our first stop - Tete - a town described by the guidebooks as 'hell' was enjoyable. Supping cold beers on our balcony readying ourselves for an early start on the bus. We were heading down to Vilanculos on the coast for sun, sand and diving at the world renowned bazaruto ...

... struggled across the potholes governing this roadway, it gave little comfort knowing we were only doing about 40km per hour. I wondered if i should jump this ride, and get another, but figured this was probably the standard here and thus I was likely the safest in a big semi cab. Hilarious, scary, amazing, and just completely surreal - but 4 hours later, and two pitstops for more beer along the way, I was dumped off in Chimoio where I ...

... slowly). He somewhat resents this, since now he has worked there for 6 years, and when he goes home at night his family wonders why he eats so fast and hurries with everything. He has adopted the western mentality slightly and his family and friends have noticed. A unique thing about this town is the escort in the market. As you start approaching it, some kids start discretely following you. We are quite savvy so we noticed right away, and pretended to stop to look at something ...

Hello Everyone, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone back home, we hope that everyone had a wonderful and joyeous holiday. Sorry it took us a while to get to this next entry. We have spent the past two and a half weeks in Beline Lagoon on the Mozambique coast, enjoying the sun, sand, and wonderful hospitality of Craigs Aunt and Uncle on their property in Paradise. We did spent the holidays with family, so donšt feel too sorry for us. We had a nice ...

In Vilankulos I went on a dhow safari. A dhow is an Arabian trading boat from long ago. The waters are so shallow that they are still the best form of transportation. The dhow took us to an archipelago off the coast. The islands are in a national park and basically just for rich people. All but one of the places to stay charges more than $1,000 a night! The place I stayed was basic ...

... walking back from town and then got malaria. Half my laundry was nicked and some rich english backpacker got caught stealing some of our prawns (that we'd spent hours cleaning - stupid sod if he'd asked we'd have gladly given him some). We were playing footie with some kids on the beach one day until we tired of it and then headed back into the lodge. A while later we heard a ruckus outside and went out to ...