Read this month's journey through words...

Day 6 in Mozambique

16 June 2011, Tofo

The calm, lethargic ocean atmosphere has finally crept into my bones as today was a very relaxed day for me.

While Neil was diving, I went for a walk along the beach towards Praia di Rocha, Tofinho. This bay must be bountiful in fish as many local men were scattered along the shore fishing or scrapping, I presume mussels, off the rocks.

I watched particularly two men far out on the rocks. These rocks are usually covered by water but as it was low tide, there was a field of rock and deep rock pools to search in for delicious ocean fare we tourists would like to buy.

These two men, standing together on one side of a large rock pool, had a large net gathered in their hands. The one man walked across to the other end of the pool, stretching the net across. They then jump into the rock pool and slowly walk ahead to the front of the pool, coming closer and closer together once again. Occasionally you will see the one man disappear under the water and emerge again. I am not sure what they were catching but it was a fascinating method to watch.

The whole time I was thinking that if I had a rod now I would try to catch my own fish and then braai it on the beach; my ultimate Mozambique fantasy. But for now i think i should just settle for buying the catch of the day in the market later afternoon.

I didn’t realise how long I was watching the fishing activity for and by then Tofinho looked rather far away so instead of heading towards the little bay, I clambered up the sand dune, spread out my towel, sat down and read a little. I say little as it is so easy, while sitting in the warm sun, to be distracted by the view of Tofo and the ocean.

In the afternoon we took a walk to the only ATM which is outside town. We were told it is a 30 minute walk but it felt like we were walking for hours. The further away from the sea we walked, the hotter it seemed to get and the cool breeze disappeared. Nevertheless, we saw many interesting and lovely things along the way.

I just love the way the people have woven the palms together to make their huts. It has such a nice knitted pattern and the way the grass huts are grouped together under the coconut trees, really makes you feel like you are in Africa (which we are).

There were little children running home from school and we actually passed the local primary school. Well walking past we could hear children singing which was quite puzzling as we saw some running home from school. Hmm?

We passed what seemed to be a hardware store as it was selling water pipes, cement bricks and even cement wash basins.

And the local mechanic shop.

Men were hard at work in a carpentry workshop, making chairs and tables from beautiful rich red mahogany wood.

After we had successfully drew money we had to head back to Tofo. Knowing the heavy walk ahead of us, my feet already sore and my shoulders burnt from the sun, I decided to, for the first time in my life, thumb a lift. As soon as I heard the first car coming up the road, I stuck out my thumb and to our surprise it stopped.  We got a ride back to town with a lovely elderly couple who live in Tofinho. I guess they used to crazy tourists looking for a lift.

Once back in town, our grumbling stomachs led us to the restaurant next to the dive centre where I had the most delicious stuffed crabs. It even had chillies in it and I enjoyed it which is strange as I am a chilli pansy.

Later in the evening we went for a nice sunset walk along the beach towards Bamboozi. It was a little windy but the beautiful sunset makes it all worthwhile.

Our evening was rather quiet and relaxed. We enjoyed a calm evening at Fahtima’s restaurant playing Rummikub and enjoying another local dish of calamari. So that is prawns, crabs and calamari all ticked off my list of local foods to eat. I mean, where can you eat a meal of calamari or prawns, for less than R40? Only in Mozambique!

Day 5 in Mozambique

15 June 2011, Tofo

Today we are going on an Ocean Safari! I bounced all the way to the dive centre, so excited was I that I just might see a whale shark today.

At the dive centre our guide briefed us on safety, how we should behave in the water with the animals and that if we are lucky we might see the big 5 – whale shark, mantra rays, leather back turtles, dolphins and hump back whales. Wow! My excitement just exploded ten-fold.  

On this high note we all walked down to the beach and helped launch the boat into the water. As Neil says, the people here are like cowboys and the way our skipper was enjoying the thrill of racing the rubber duck through the waves really did make me think he was a sea cowboy.

Pretty soon into our safari we spotted some dolphins. The boat rode on ahead so we could plonk into the water and be there waiting when the dolphins swam past. However, my fear wouldn’t let me get into the water and I remained on board.

On the second go Neil encouraged me to get in and I slowly swam after the dolphins with him. Then it came to actually put my mask and snorkel on and stick my head under water. O my gosh! I embarrassingly have to admit, I freaked out. I kept thinking that the dolphin is going to come bash me in my stomach or maybe a shark is going to come take a taste of my dangling legs because they probably look like two strands of delicious spaghetti.

I looked up and saw the boat, my place of safety, drifting further and further away and I started to hyperventilate.  Needless to say I quickly swam back to the boat and that’s where I remained for the rest of the trip. My dream of learning how to scuba dive might have been shattered but I still enjoyed seeing the dolphins swim by so close to us.

I must also mention that I saw a hammerhead shark. While the others were all swimming with the dolphins, I stayed on board with the guide. All of a sudden the guide started shouting, “hammerhead, hammerhead” in his Portuguese accent. I thought I heard whale shark and nearly lunched over the side of the boat to have a good look. I saw a big black shadow coming up to the surface to take a gulp. I saw a wide head but could not get a clear vision, then it swished it’s tail, which looked like a sharks and away it dived down into the depths.

Later I asked our guide if I heard him correctly and if he said whale shark. It turned out that it was indeed a hammerhead and not my long anticipated whale shark. Either way, any encounter with nature always leaves you amazed.

After our Ocean Safari we headed into town to buy the remaining ingredients we needed to make our Mozambique traditional dish.

The vegetable lady was quite efficient and she kept on saying, “you want this, take this too, it’s good” and in the end we walked away with a pineapple, coconut, onion, green pepper, a garlic bulb and soya oil (they didn’t seem to have sunflower, canola or olive oil).

Then we had to buy the main ingredient, Mozambique prawns. This was an experience all on its own. For a few days now, Pedro and Paul have been hounding us to buy prawns from them. We keep on saying we’ll come back the next day and so we thought it was only fair that we would find them.

However, it is a problem when you show the slightest of interest as about 20 Mozambique men swarmed down upon us, opening their cooler boxes or plastic packets to show us their catch of the day. There were blue lobsters, crayfish, tiger prawns, calamari, strange looking fishes;  my eyes popped out of my head and my mouth started watering just thinking of all the delicious meals one could cook.

Making our local dish proved somewhat challenging though. Unfortunately the backpacker’s communal kitchen did not have the best utensils; they scarcely had the bare minimum. If we didn’t get food poisoning from the prawns, then we would surely get it from the rusty knife.

We eventually managed, with great agony, to clean the prawns and chop up our ingredients. I must mention here that neither of us has ever cleaned prawns before and were totally clueless. We then proceeded to slowly add our ingredients to the friend onions and green peppers and adding the coconut water as a last touch.

It turned out rather sweet (I’m guessing that would have been the pineapple) but still enjoyable. I had dragged a bottle of white wine with me all the way from Cape Town and saved it for a special night. What better night than to enjoy my Monterosso Chenin Blanc (this is not product placement) with our traditional Mozambique meal.

After supper we walked over to Dino’s Bar, about 100m along the beach from the backpackers, to check out the party. We sat on the deck watching the fire throwers, the waves rolling onto the shore and the lunar eclipse. The moon was an amazing red colour and as the evening progressed, the earth’s shadow crept over the moon. It seemed like smoke coming from a fire, spreading across the moon.

They say that this lunar eclipse was the darkest lunar eclipse that will occur in this century. A lunar eclipse can only happen on a full moon night, when the sun is on one side of the earth and the moon on the opposite side. These three celestial bodies have to be aligned in a straight line on a single plane for the lunar eclipse to occur. This is amazing and experiencing it in Mozambique made it even so much more mystical.

Day 4 in Mozambique

14 June 2011, Tofo

I woke up in paradise today. Even though the weather was a bit overcast, I was as happy as can be.

We had our own special Mozambique breakfast which consisted of Ouma rusks, fruit, cashew nuts and coffee on the deck overlooking the ocean.

It actually started to rain lightly and we wondered whether we would still go out for the ocean safari but luckily they said we rather postpone till the next day. I was relieved because watching the choppy waters was already making my stomach churn and I wasn’t even on the boat yet.

So as not to waste a day in Mozambique, Neil went out on a dive and I spent those hours lying on the beach, reading and absorbing the sun when it pecked out from behind the clouds.

It was so cute, as I lay there; the crabs started poking out their holes, their beady eyes surveying the beach like a periscope and once they assessed it was all safe, they started scurrying around me.

Later in the afternoon we thought it would be an exciting new experience to go horse riding.

We had a very friendly guide called Alfonso who taught us how to trot and canter. At first I thought I was never going to get this right and would surely end up on the ground but eventually it started to feel more natural and I took that as a sign that I must be doing it right.

We started the ride on the beach and soon we were galloping through the waves with the water spraying up. It was incredible, I felt so alive and free. 

Then without stopping, my horse, Riverdance, raced up the sand dune and we were surprised by the most beautiful view. A wide plain of green bushes and coconut trees stretched out before us into the distance. No one can argue, I am in paradise, on a horse.

We wandered through the sand dunes for a little while before descending down onto the plain. It is surprising how instantly quiet it becomes once you dip down behind the sand dunes. All of a sudden you don’t hear the rumbling of the ocean anymore and the stillness envelopes you, soothing your racing tempo.

Randomly scattered among the coconut trees you will find little clusters of grass huts with goats and pigs sauntering around. Little children playing together while their mothers were milling, I presume, cassava, in a big mortar with a long wooden pole.

There was even a little boy that only looked like he was 4 years old, tugging his family’s goat home. Our guide stopped to talk to him and although I couldn’t understand what was been said, to me, this little boy was conversing with this older man like an adult. It seemed like his responsibility of caring for the family goat and their source of milk has stolen away a small part of his childhood innocence.

On route back to the ranch we wandered along a swamp and enjoyed another breathtaking view. It was the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen and made even more special by the fact that we got to enjoy it on horseback. We felt like true cowboys, riding home in the sunset.

We had to walk back to the backpackers but luckily we got a lift from a passerby. My jelly legs were very grateful and so we jumped onto the back of the bakkie and enjoyed a bumpy ride, whizzing through the coconut trees, hanging on tightly to the top bar.

It was rather dark by the time we got back to Fahtima’s and we had a plan to make dinner using all local, tropical ingredients – a coconut, pineapple, prawns and cashew nuts. However, we were quite tired and got so frustrated with our lack of Portuguese and the fact that no one had change that eventually we returned with only a cup of rice and two beers (the two beers was our change from buying the rice).

We decided that tomorrow night we will try again, when we would feel more energetic.

Fahtima’s was buzzing tonight. The usual volley ball game was being played on the beach, the music was pumping, tourists were been taught how to play South African drinking games, there was laughter all around and a vibe of fun energy. We played some pool with two friendly Australian guys who were ruling the table for the night.

Later in the evening, before we went to bed, we decided to take a little moonlight walk down to the water edge to feel the warm Indian Ocean. It was magical.

Have I said I am in paradise?

I have realised that I haven't showed you our hut perched on the sand dune. See the second last hut on the far right? It is that one :-) Jealous yet...?

Day 3 in Mozambique

12 June 2011, Inhambane ~ Tofo

Day three of our Mozambique holiday and we have arrived in paradise but before I tell you more about this paradise, let me jot down how we spent our morning.

We found the kitchen closed so we couldn’t make our morning cup of coffee and ended up going for an early morning walk along the promenade to the pier.

It was bustling with activity. Many people were arriving from Maxixe and unloading their wares they received from the mainland. Other ladies also arrived with various vegetables and goods to sell in this small peninsula town.

On our return we finally could have our coffee and Ouma rusks on the terrace with our beautiful view.

We finally did get to take the ferry across to Maxixe and honestly, it is not much to boast about. It is beautiful when you step off the ferry but as soon as you reach the dusty main road, the charm slips away. 

Maxixe developed basically as a trading stop, allowing people from the mainland to unload goods to take across the peninsula and then to continue up the coast.

We took a walk around town and found an open-air carpentry shop with beautiful furniture crafted out of rich brown wood. I even got offered a marriage proposal. While walking past a group of men sitting outside a shop I heard one of them chirp, “I need a wife to marry”. Ha ha, sorry pal, this girl is walking on by.

Before hoping back over to Inhambane we enjoyed a beer-shandy on the deck of the One Stop restaurant, admiring the view across the bay to our little sleepy town.

One thing I must point out, when you in a foreign country, menu's are always entertaining to read. If someone can tell me what kind of a drink a bathtub is, I'll buy you a bag of cashew nuts.

We ended up taking the local taxi service back to Inhambane, the dhow. While waiting on the pier for the return ferry, a local dressed in a sailor suit approached us and asked, “Inhambane?”

We explained to him that we already had tickets for the ferry but he insisted we had to get on the dhow. Realising we weren’t understanding he gently reached for our tickets that were poking out of my book. He then pointed to the dhow and pointed to the tickets and said, “no ferry”. O well, when in Rome... So in we hopped and away we went. 

It was a lovely ride across the bay and we even saw a large group of flamingos gathered on a sand bank.

Back on shore we went in search of a supermarket to buy some goodies for the week ahead and the central market to buy some fresh fruit.

Outside the market I saw a lady selling strange looking roots and suggested to Neil we go buy some. I had seen people earlier that day, down at the pier, buying pieces and munching on it. They were very long roots, light brown in colour, which looked like sweet potatoes. My curiosity was killing me and I had to find out what it was and tasted like.

We asked the lady for a small piece and asked her how much it was. Even with our hand signs, pinching our fingers together to indicate a small piece, she clearly did not understand. Luckily, another lady did and she organised a small piece for us. We thanked her and started to walk away but she stopped us, as I suppose she wanted to see our faces when we tasted this root.

Neil was the brave one and took a bite first. He didn’t pull a face and so I took a bite too. What a strange experience, it was quite crunchy and chalky, you had to chew for a very long time but as you chewed, a sweet watery taste swirled around in your mouth.

Not having made up my mind if I liked it or not and not wanting to be rude, I said “bon”. Our friendly helper took it as an affirmative and organised an even bigger piece for us. We kindly paid the lady for our unidentified root and departed with a puzzled look.

Luckily when we crossed the street, leaning against the wall was a man who must have been watching us with great amusement as he told us, with a smirk, that what we were eating was called cassava. It is a root from the cassava plant that the locals usually dry, mill into a powder and make porridge from it.  Aha! So that is what it is. He also told us that the leaves of the cassava plant look like those of a dagga plant.

He wasn’t the only one that thought it amusing we were eating the cassava. When we bought coconut bread from the bakery across the road, the lady looked at us with a smile and asked, “bon?”  We gave her a thumb up although I can say that I won’t easily eat cassava again thank you.

After lunch we caught a taxi to Tofo. On the way we passed plantations of coconut trees for as far as the eye could see, interrupted with fields of cassava (well a plant that looked like a dagga tree so we presumed it was cassava).

Our taxi driver dropped us off in town, although he said he was going to drop us off at Bamboozi Backpackers. So you can imagine our irritation when we realised Bamboozi was a 2km walk away. It may not sound far but when you carrying your luggage it all of a sudden seems miles away.

We then decided to stay at Fahtima’s Backpackers. It was much closer and looked great. I felt like we had arrived in paradise. Our little grass hut was perched right on top of a sand dune with the beach at our front door. We had a perfect, unobstructed view of the ocean and peninsula’s hugging the bay closely.

After we settled in we went to explore and started with a walk on the beach. We walked towards Tofino, clambered up the sand dune and sat admiring our little piece of paradise while we discussed our plans for the rest of the week. Taking in the beauty of our new surrounds, our planned two night stay soon turned into three and eventually we stayed here for the rest of our time in Mozambique.


We took a walk into town and found a dive centre where we booked an ocean safari for tomorrow. One of my biggest wishes before I came to Mozambique was to see a whale shark. I teased people and said I was not coming home unless I saw one and I ended that day full of excitement and holding my thumbs tight for luck.

Later in the evening we sat outside our hut, a Mozambique sunset as our backdrop, enjoying a chilled 2M beer and snacking on cashew nuts, our feet deeply burrowed in the beach sand. If this was not rewarding enough, Tofo treated us to an almost full moon shining on the ocean. What a perfect vision to have before falling asleep in a grass hut, listening to the rumbling ocean on your doorstep.

Day 2 in Mozambique

12 June 2011, Maputo ~ Inhambane

Day two in Mozambique started with another glass of delicious freshly squeezed passion fruit juice (I have to mention it again as it was truly simply divine) and then we went for a walk around Maputo to bide our time before our flight to Inhambane.

We didn’t venture out in a specific direction but ambled along; keeping the cathedral peak insight so we could make our way back.

The after effects of the civil war are quite evident in the city as one stumbles upon many abandoned buildings in need of restoration. If I could pick up one of these empty shells and transport it back to Cape Town, I really would, as they are so full of old world character.

We stumbled upon a small garden with a lovely coffee shop on top of a hill overlooking the Maputo Bay, formerly called Delagoa Bay or Baia da Lagoa in Portuguese. I sampled a Maputo cappuccino but am yet to find a coffee that knocks my socks off in Mozambique. Therefore a small warning to coffee lovers; be prepared to semi-detox if you go to Mozambique.

Before we arrived in Inhambane we had a pleasant taxi ride to the airport but not such a pleasant flight. We did not know that the flight first flies all the way up to Vilanculos and then back down to Inhambane. Needless to say, I suffered dearly in the little 30 seat plane with the two take-offs and two landings but we arrived safe and sound in Inhambane.

If we thought Maputo International Airport was small, then Vilanculos is even smaller and Inhambane must be the tiniest of all the airports we have ever seen. There is no arrival or departure lounge, just a concrete open air courtyard where our luggage was wheeled to and placed on the floor for collection, Inhambane’s baggage claim style.

As you can see in the picture, Neil and the baggage claim man are in deep conversation. This was because the baggage claim man, without been asked, was already negotiating a taxi for us. So that was easy, from not knowing how we were going to get to the backpackers to having an instant taxi ride to Pahica Backpackers.

Pahica is located in a most beautiful setting, right on the water edge overlooking Maxixe.



Once we had settled in we took a walk along the promenade and sat and watched the dhows sailing in the bay.

The guidebook describes Inhambane as possessing an old world sleepiness and it is truly so. You step into a small, quiet village and the calm instantly surrounds you.

Continuing our exploration of Inhambane we stumbled upon a memorial erected for those who had died in the liberation struggle. Not such an impressionable monument but somehow Neil had made quite an impression with the two dogs you see in the picture. They continued to follow us all around town. Our own personal Inhambane body guards or tour guides.

Inhambane is a historical town and we were told that once upon a time, government officials used to live in this sleepy town. When walking around town you will notice the rusting, colonial architecture. We even came across an old cinema, although I doubt they will be showing any of the latest blockbusters. 

We had planned to take a ferry across to Maxixe so we could watch the sunset fall on Inhambane, however, the language proved to be somewhat of a barrier. The man selling the tickets spoke no English and we only knew one word in Portuguese, “h’ora”.

So in our conversation we couldn’t seem to make ourselves understood or understand the explanations given by the ticket man about what time the next ferry was going across or when the last one was coming back.

The man was kind enough to call the security guard who knew some English and did his best to interpret for us but in the end we could understand that the next ferry across was going to be in 40 minutes but we had no idea how the last ferry coming back could be at 1’o clock when the sun was going down already.

Having failed miserably at trying to communicate and thinking that if we ever had to compete in an Amazing Race, we would have missed our ferry and been knocked out the race so we might as well sit on the bench and watch the sun set over Maxixe, eating some nuts and let the world go by in the company of our two new found friends.

Many people were still coming and going from and to the jetty on their way home, the old lady was selling peanuts by the cup from a big bucket, little boys were kicking the soccer ball in the street and even the little girls were playing a singing game on the church steps.


Inhambane is also known as Terra de Boa Gente which means land of the good people in Portuguese and this is the same impression that you get when you walk around the town. The people here are very gentle and kind, even if you can't communicate and so shy. Neil made a girl blush today and he only smiled at her. While exiting the jetty earlier, a lady carrying a baby almost walked into us and she quickly side-stepped away and giggled while Neil flushed her a friendly smile.  It was very sweet.


We had a very relaxed night sitting at the backpackers, snacking on cashew nuts and drinking 2M (a locally brewed beer), playing Rummikub and sampling the famous Pahica pizza, all while enjoying the tranquillity of Inhambane and the view of Maxixe all lit up across the bay.

Keep posted for day three of my Mozambique Journal and the next beautiful sunset...