Mozambique

Tuesday 1st March 2016 – Pinch, punch, first day of the month! Aaron for once was first to get me and it was 5.00 am! Our journey had started at 2.30 that morning and we were leaving Vilanculos and heading to Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, in order to catch our flight on the Thursday. It turned out to be a 12 hour journey in the end and the cramps I had in my legs were excruciating due to possible dehydration because of the dreaded African tummy. Arriving at the bus station, a very determined taxi driver kept calling at Aaron and myself through the window while annoyingly rattling his keys for attention…we ignored him, always choosing to select our own driver rather than be preyed upon by extortionate, pushy ones. What I wasn’t expecting was a whack on the shoulder as he jumped up, arm outstretched through my window to finally win my attention! The scathing look I gave him (all teachers have one) and furious glare was enough for him to recoil, make a hasty retreat and disappear into the busy crowd…I was livid and he knew it! We disembarked and found a tuk tuk with a friendly, cheeky chappy driver at a good price and he whizzed us through the capital to Fatimas Place Backpackers where we settled into our dorm all to ourselves for the night.

Wednesday 2nd March 2016 – After a restful nights sleep we went to explore the city. We stocked up on toiletries and no less than 6 mosquito repellents. We decided to visit the Polana Serena Hotel, a lavish 5 star hotel positioned overlooking the Indian Ocean…just to see how the other half live! One night here was the equivalent of 40 nights in our lowly dorm. All the rooms had a sea view and the swimming pool was spectacular. We ordered a refreshing lunch…a salmon plata and enjoyed some much needed luxury for a few hours. That night we dined at a tapas bar with home made chocolate mousse for desert…yum! I was due for a chocolate fix!

Thursday 3rd March 2016 – The day of our flight…or flights…we would first fly to Beira and then a connecting flight to Tete…we were so looking forward to getting closer to Malawi. Our tickets were with LAM…Mozambican Airlines…we really didn’t know what to expect? Amazingly our first flight took off exactly on time…the food was tasty and fresh and the seats really comfy with loads of leg room…to top it all we got our best score ever on Spelltower (a great game we play on our iPad) 43,567 no less…we felt like high flyers…literally! The views of the coastline were exquisite and we felt the right decision had been made flying over the political trouble in central Mozambique. Our second flight was a 30 seater ‘Expresso’ aircraft (propeller driven). Again, to our surprise it took off bang on time! Arriving at Tete Airport, Aaron asked some fellow travellers for tips on where to stay (before, when we had looked on the internet all accommodation had been so expensive). They were being picked up by a friend and thought he could help us. Mozambique was about to save its best till last…Joao…a friendly, helpful local took us to his friend’s up and coming accommodation…we journeyed in the back of his pick up…the evening sun warm in our faces and arrived at Quartos Lakalaka to the wonderfully hospitable duo, Frank from Belgium and Neil from Zimbabwe. Frank runs the accommodation side of things and Neil runs the restaurant called ‘Ninho Do Urso’. It was a home from home…four playful dogs including the cutest of puppies called Bandito and a sleek, black cat…all rescued by our dynamic duo. We feasted on local food and drank merrily into the night…it was a case if great room, great food and great company. Of all the places we have stayed this offered excellent value for money and we would highly recommend it to anyone. You can contact Neil on: [email protected]