Mozambique

Wednesday 17th February 2016 – A catch up day…it was hot, hot, hot when we awoke…cold showers was a must to begin the day with! After being refreshed we sat down to muslei, strawberry yogurt, fresh mango and a good old English cup of tea (some things never change!) We had no cash left so needed to walk the 5km to the nearest ATM in very hot temperatures. Aaron was relishing this idea while I was not! Off we set down the dusty road, me moaning as Aaron picked his hiking pace up! To my delight local transport zoomed by, I stuck out my hand and luckily it stopped, picked us up and my grumpiness turned to happiness as the breeze from the open windows cooled me down. Once we had money in our pockets again, a car stopped to give us a lift back to Tofo, an American evangelical and his Mozambican counterparts. They dropped us at the local market where we purchased our first ever coconut bread which turned out to be quite peculiar tasting, like sweet bread that doesn’t quite work. Relaxing back at our motel, Aaron blogged, I found someone to do our laundry and when a lady walked by selling delicious looking pineapples, we snapped one up for just $1. I decided to have a good look around our motel and to my surprise found that the dorms were much nicer than the casitas (straw huts) we had been staying in and almost half the price too, just $14 for us both a night! With this new insight we decided to move to the dorm the next day. We feasted on pizza that night and walked along Tofo Beach inches from the lapping of the Indian Ocean.

Thursday 18th February 2016 – Having completed all our chores in the last few days, today we relished the thought of our first proper swim in the Indian Ocean in Mozambique. Kitted out with our beach bag amenities, we drenched our bodies in sun and warm sea water, swapping one for the other as our bodies ordered. Floating in the ocean was magical as the clouds drifted and regrouped above me…dancing in the beautiful, blue sky. Out of the corner of my eye I glanced fishermen bringing in their morning haul. Around twenty or so men crowded around the fishing net, laden with small blue and yellow striped fish…later we learnt that they were sardines! Curious and wanting to get a closer look, I headed back to our motel to grab my camera so as to record this spectacle. The distance between where we were on the beach and our motel is less than a minutes walk but what I hadn’t spotted in my hurry was a group of police perched on a rock right in my path. Before I knew it they had spotted a ‘tourist’ and asked where I was from closely followed by, ‘We are thirsty…where are you going?’ Knowing from experience that what this really meant was that they wanted money I quickly said I was returning to my motel and scurried as fast as I could past them to the safety of my dwelling place! Camera in hand, I returned to the fishermen on the beach…the long way round so as to totally avoid the ‘thirsty’ police! That evening we planned on cooking fish, unfortunately an African stomach ache took charge of me and I really couldn’t see the funny side when, in the ladies bathroom, the mop of the cleaning lady kept appearing under my toilet door impatiently…not what you need when you’re doubled up in pain!

Friday 19th February 2016 – Up at 8am we breakfasted with the vision of the Indian Ocean before us. Trying to cheer up the ridiculously grumpy housekeeper, I suggested to Aaron that he make her a cup of tea to try and lift her mood. I soon wished I hadn’t when he returned and told me that when he handed the tea to her she said she didn’t want it and proceeded to unceremoniously empty the contents of the cup on the garden floor right in front of him! Some people are just not for cheering up! Later we sunbathed and swam in the sea…but paradise has a downside as we were about to find out. I was first to encounter the Bluebottle Jellyfish…better known as the Portuguese Man of War! Blissfully unaware, after a wonderful dip in the ocean, I felt something wrap itself around my ankle…and then the pain came…all I can say is that thank goodness it was a baby jellyfish and not its mum or dad! It was excruciating! Looking down, its blue, purple sting clung to my ankle until I ripped it off as quickly as I could. Hopping back to Aaron on the beach all he could say was that I was over reacting…I really wasn’t. Aaron then proceeded to go snorkelling and on his return said he had been stung on his arm…a minute later he started to go a little pale, his armpit was starting to go numb and he was getting quite worried. We quickly returned to the motel and I told him to shower and sit in the shade…this seemed to do the job and he started to feel better…not that he deserved any sympathy after belittling my sting…and I told him so! That evening we cooked ourselves fresh lemon fish from the market and listened to live music on the verandah of the hotel Tofo Mar.