Up to Ilha...12/16

July 8, 2003

Here I sit in a beautiful internet café in Blantyre, Malawi. It may be chilly out but I’m warm inside with the thought I’m that much closer to Nkhata Bay and my rest stop for x amount of time. I have to admit, I’d rather suck ass than get on another bus but there seems to be some small chances I could get a lift with someone. I’m shamelessly begging all those with a vehicle at the hostel for a lift. I’ve reached the end of my ropes with public transit in Africa. I need a vacation.

My travels to Northern Mozambique were fairly eventful, disregarding that whole malaria thing. Tom and I left Beira with Lester and his 2 VSO friends very early for the bus to Caia. We saw the first wild animals on this bus journey; a family of monkeys playing by the side of the road. Everyone on the bus got very excited by the sight of them; almost all the animals had been killed during the war so sightings were rare. You’d see blown up bridges all along the route as well…the other sign of war.

We reached the Zambezi River which we had to cross in a powered canoe of sorts. The ‘ferry’ had sunk the previous week so no vehicles could cross. This meant if you were driving you had to go all the way to Malawi to get to Northern Moz. And this being Africa it meant the ferry would probably not be fixed for some time.

Finally we reached Quilemane; stage one in our trek to Ilha de Mocambique. The bonus to traveling with VSOs is you get to stay at their fellow VSO flats. And in Quilemane we stayed at a prince of Uganda’s house. Sound luxurious? No. Still no running water but a clean bed, which is all I ask. And for some reason this random city has amazing restaurants…we couldn’t figure out why. It’s not like the average Mozambican can afford to eat out.

Started stage two at, you guessed it, 3:30 am again. This time we were on a big bus, which was a bit more comfortable. The views were fantastic: pineapple fields (they look like fern trees), flowering mango trees, and a billion papaya trees. Oh, my mouth water at the sight of the big plump fruits. Love them….Tom and I became obsessive with them. One of my favorite memories of that bus ride is of Tom. He was sitting near the back of the bus, me near the front and he called my name. I turned and he said excitedly Look what I got! And he lifted this enormous, bigger than his head, papaya up over the seats. The look on his face was sheer ecstasy…we took to carrying spoons with us wherever we went.

Reminds me of another story I think I forget to tell. This happened when Jess and I first got into Mozambique and were on the killer bus ride from Tete to Vilanculos. I may or may not have mentioned that they buy goats along the way. They buy them then hoist them up on the roof of the bus, tying them up for the long journey. You know how Canadians sew flags onto their packs. I of course do as well. Just a small one-.not banner size or anything. Seems a goat was parked beside my pack on the roof and he got hungry. The goat ate my flag. I first thought someone had stolen it. No, it was a goat. Now I am flagless. Just some threads hanging off my pack, which I will leave to commemorate the maple leaf.

At last we made it to Nampula. Just one more bus ride and we were in Ilha!!!! Again, we stayed with a VSO. Again with no running water. I really couldn’t imagine living somewhere for so long (they usually have a contract for 2 years) without running water.

Stage three: the uneventful ride to Ilha…ok, the bus conductor did spend most of his time hanging onto the exterior of the bus as we drove at breakneck speed and he did encourage a death defying race with a rival bus but we got there….ok, had to ride precariously on the back of a pickup truck with 30 other people with luggage to get over the bridge to the island but we got there, finally, after 3 days. Whew. I hate buses.

The coolest? The first ever music festival was being held on Ilha. Now this island is tiny, like 5km by 3 km. You can see the other side of the island from…the other side. The bridge to the island is longer. It’s cool. The festival was being held in the old Portuguese fortress, San Sebastian. We managed to find room at Casa Lois, Lois and his wife’s house. They have a couple rooms to rent for too much and camping area. And a baby that didn’t stop crying once. I swear my womb shriveled up during my time there. Every woman who stayed there vowed to tie their tubes as soon as they reached a first world country. The brat didn’t even shed tears. It just wanted attention, which it got. Ohhhhh, I hate that baby.

Anywho, the festival was fun. The sound system was ok, good by African standards. I ran into a ton of people I had met in Moz. Specifically happy about running into Jane and Sven, an English couple who have been living and teaching in Uganda for years. We had all sorts of fun….

And, it turns out I was the only person at the entire festival (even the bus conductor saw this, we found out when we were leaving) who didn’t see Tom get on stage and play the sax. Nope. I was looking at carvings. Shit. I suck.

It was especially nice to Ilha after the festival. When all the people went home and the island went back to normal. I liked seeing the odd guy walking down a busy street holding a live crab, trying to sell it to anyone whose eye he caught.

But then we got malaria…you know that story.

Back in Nampula, after Tom and I were healthy I managed to befriend the owner of the Brasilia, the hotel we were staying at. He was so nice. After Tom left for Beira, he adopted me, introducing me to his wife and kids, who also adopted me. Taking me on an educational tour of Nampula, giving me food. He’s a good man; he even has goats for pets!

Mom, the best woman in the world, had given me a flight as a gift back to Blantyre and this man made sure it was secured for me. He even got a phone call set up to my home.

So, yes, I flew here to Blantyre. A tiny little Cessna. I got to sit in the front with the pilot. I befriended an English businessman who drove me into the city and here I am the next day. Had two hot showers so far and a good night’s sleep. Very happy to be home in Malawi.

So, I won’t be at email very often again. There is no connection in Mayoka and I don’t make the trek to Mzuzu often. So until then, everyone stay happy and healthy!
Love tons
thi