Crossing the Border

Almost every person we’ve asked about what to do while in Manguzi has mentioned spending a weekend in Mozambique.  So, this past weekend, we decided we would do just that.  It is only about a 20 minute drive to the border from the hospital.  Some of the group wanted to just walk across the unpatrolled border on the beach, but after our disastrous Thursday evening, I wasn’t feeling too optimistic about a long evening hike in another unknown and sparsely populated area.  Plus, I figure it’s generally better to err on the legal side when in a foreign country. So, we decided to just fork up the money and pay to cross.

Luckily, I happen to be traveling with a few pretty smooth talkers.  They convinced the immigration officers to charge us half price since we work at the hospital.  I guess this is fair enough, since a large number of our sickest patients actually come from Mozambique. Surprisingly, the ride our motel had promised us from the border was actually waiting for us when we arrived.  Also surprising was that our ride did not fall apart over the course of the next 45 minutes.  Back home, I don’t think you would find a jeep like this one anywhere but a junk yard.  I could see far more of the inner foundation and workings of the car than I think was probably safe.  I have never experienced “roads” quite like the ones that took us from the border to Ponto D’oro where we were staying.  A picture is probably better than any description I can give.  Oh, and our driver only had one eye to navigate all this with!



The "road"



I have to say that Mozambique is much more a picture of the Africa I envisioned than South Africa is.  The scenery on our drive in was amazing.  Rolling hills, vast plains, and trees everywhere.  It is also significantly poorer than South Africa.  Although the houses around Manguzi are roughly the size of a bedroom in Kansas, they are at least houses.  Most of the people in Mozambique live in shacks or lean-tos. It’s amazing that there can be such a discrepancy within just 30 miles.

 

The houses in Mozambique

We arrived at our motel to find we were staying in a cabana not much different from our rondavel.  The view from the balcony more than made up for the not-so-quality accommodations.  I think it took all of five minutes before we were on the beach.  The water was pristinely blue and we were excited to set foot into the Indian Ocean for the first time.  Sadly, within about 30 seconds, we were all running out of the water, arms and legs flailing.  We had all been stung by jellyfish.  We had been so entranced by the beauty of the water that we hadn’t even noticed the thousands of small jellyfish washed up along the beach.  I guess I had just kind of assumed they were seaweed.  They were quite small so the stings weren’t bad, but they were enough to discourage anymore swimming for the weekend!!



Those are ALL jellyfish

We managed to get a walk down to the cliffs and back in before it started to rain, and then ducked into a beachside bar for a few local beers.  After it cleared up, we wandered out in search of dinner.  There wasn’t a lot to choose from, and for some unbeknownst reason, everywhere was out of fish.  Not being a seafood lover myself, I didn’t mind too much, but the others were quite disappointed.  Understandably so since we could see the ocean from the restaurant window.  They finally settled for a place with prawns.  Personally, I can do without eating things that still have eyes. 

The next morning, we headed straight for the beach after breakfast.  Being the naïve Americans we are, we thought we would avoid the strongest sun by going to the beach early.  After an hour and a half, and with it not yet being even 11 a.m., we were all lobsters.  Somehow, each of us managed to burn a different part of our bodies, so we made quite the odd-looking quartet walking around the rest of the weekend.  The tops of my feet and my knees took the worst of it.  I also am now sporting the coolest watch tanline you’ve ever seen.

We spent the rest of the day exploring the town.  There are stands everywhere selling just about anything you can imagine.  We were pleased to find our first coconut that the seller was actually willing to crack open for us.  Fresh coconut meat is pretty tasty! Towards the end of the afternoon, we had a storm that would have rivaled some of Kansas’ best.  It was absolutely pouring and I thought the wind was going to take out our cabana.  It didn’t last long though, and when it was over, the view over the ocean was breathtaking.

 

For dinner, we let Brett lead us to a little hole in the wall restaurant he had discovered earlier in the day.  I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical, but it turned out to be a great find.  There were only 3 tables in the restaurant and the owner was cooking all the meals himself, but it actually had more customers than most of the other places we walked by.  We soon found out why…the fish was amazing!! And not just because he was the only place to actually have fish.  Bryan said it was the best fish he’s ever had.  It was definitely a fun way to spend the evening.

Sunday morning we did our best to stay out of the sun.  Luckily, it was pretty cloudy. The rain had washed away all the jellyfish, so I bravely set foot in the ocean one more time for the sake of capturing it on camera.  I escaped unharmed. J Our one-eyed driver returned as scheduled to take us back to the border, and the remainder of the day was relatively uneventful.  Despite the rain, Mozambique was definitely worth the trip.  Next time, I’m going back in December when the sea turtles are laying their eggs! 

 

Me enjoying the Indian Ocean while avoiding the jellyfish :)





During the storm

 

After the storm