Mozambique Part 4 - Ilha de Mocambique

I apologize for the delay in blogging about the rest of our Mozambique journey- so here are stories and photos from our 6 day stay on Ilha de Mocambique:

As I was saying before, Ilha is a very quirky town- one part of the island is a bustling fishing village, while the other is more like a ghost town and funny enough where all the old Portuguese buildings and most of the tourist places are. I think what initially shocked me the most about this place was that even though it was one of the number 1 tourist destinations in Mozambique, it will still pretty run-down and poor. There were some parts in the north of the town that were really nice and rehabilitated, and some buildings with a fresh coat of paint (which makes all the difference) but the majority was still pretty run-down.

The yellow building was the coffee shop we frequented everyday!

On one hand it was really nice that it wasn't 'resort-y' (which unfortunately might occur in the future), but it was also again hard to see all the poverty and people living on the streets. And we were immediately seen as people who had money and constantly asked to buy carvings or beads, or take a trip out to a nearby island "for good price". But it was very interesting to see all these huge buildings, especially that this type of infrastructure even exists here! What a feat it must have been back in the 16th century to get these building materials brought over.. Josh and I often though that no wonder things are so run-down, none of this was made from local building materials, so the locals probably don't have the knowledge or the money to fix it!

Walking back to our hotel

An average street

The most rehabilitated part of the island

I think this might have been a school

Church of the Misericordia

Inside the church grounds

Very environmentally friendly mode of transport- what a great idea!

One of the boardwalks, all cobblestone!

The north west side of the island

Walking towards the southern part of the island where most people live

The southern part of the island- striking contrast to the north

But I always find that there are such strong contrasts here in Africa.. there are the rich, the poor, and not really anything in between.  And I often saw this as we sat daily in the coffee shop sipping our cappuccino's and eating pizza, while out the window there are decaying buildings and children selling goods to make some money so that either they or their family can eat. It was hard to sit there and shut out what was just outside the door- for what was an oasis for us, was a forbidden place to others, as i'm sure most of the locals who live on this island have never set foot inside.

The coffee shop- we were here everyday

Decorating the coffee shop for Christmas

The view outside from the coffee shop

Kids selling these bagel like pastries

But it was on this island that we ate some of the best seafood of our lives. After being here for a couple of days, we started venturing off the tourist track and asking around for the best restaurant. We heard it was at Casa Sara (who used to be the cook for a very touristy restaurant on the island but got so good she won all of these awards and then started her own thing- wonder what conflict that caused?),  so after asking many people for directions to this place, we finally found the bamboo thatched hut and ate some of the freshest, most well prepared grilled fish I've ever had!

Casa Sara-  the thatched hut made of bamboo was amazing!

Most amazing fish ever!
Might look a little scary, but i have become pro at eating fish prepared like this!

So it was also on this island that we spent Christmas- which in our minds wasn't really Christmas.. as how weird was it to be here in Mozambique away from family and friends for that day!  But we did have a very fun and unexpected Christmas Eve dinner at our coffee shop filled with lobster, grilled prawns and swedish singing! Which made us very nostalgic for Sweden!

Christmas Eve menu including Swedish Toast!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Amazing grilled prawns

Even more amazing Lobster

So all in all we enjoyed our time on this island and even though it was ridiculously hot (some days 40 celcius with around 100% humidity) and we both caught colds (probably from going back and forth between aircon and heat) we enjoyed the fusion of cultures of this island and the general simplicity of life.  One of our favorite things to see was children playing outside with their homemade toys. It's just so refreshing to see children playing outside with such a sense of innocence. Who needs playstation when you can make a car out of old bottle caps and push it down the street??

So after our 6 days on this island we decided to abandon our plans to go north to Pemba (which would have meant another 10 hours in a crowded mini-bus or on the back of a pick-up truck) and head to a nearby island and stay at a beach lodge for a couple of days. We bargained and bartered for a good price for a 'Dhow' (a non-motorized sail boat) to take us to a nearby island.. we thought, a boat has to be better than a bus.. but little did we know what adventure we had waiting for us there! TBC...

Local fishing boats- the dhow's are in the distance

You never really think it will happen to you...

...until it does. And then it's just a strange sense of shock- did that really happen?? what should I have done differently? How could we have avoided that?
For everyone who has ever been mugged, i'm sure these questions have gone through your head...

So Josh's birthday weekend was going along great. On Friday (his actual birthday) we decided to hitch a ride with a co-worker to Blantyre (going by car instead of mini-bus makes all the difference!!) to spend the weekend at a hotel and enjoy the amenities of being in a bigger city, notably the restaurants. So we got into Blantyre around 8pm, checked in to our hotel and enjoyed a wonderful birthday dinner at Casa Mia complete with appy's, a bottle of wine, 2 entrees that we could never get in zomba, and of course dessert.  We were relieved to find out that we could charge this dinner to our room as our cash stock was low. See here in Malawi most everything is paid for by cash, the only credit card that is accepted is VISA (and that is only rarely accepted) and unfortunately we don't have the pin for our card. So this means that constant trips to the bank machine are necessary.  Also, the highest bank note here is 500Mwk which is about $3 USD. So you can imagine the wad of cash you get when you take out an equivalent of 120$ (which is the most the ATM will let you take out at one time).

The hotel we were staying at was about an 8-10min walk away from the town and we figured that we would just walk to and from... it wasn't long and we didn't have a car, so why waste the money for an overpriced cab?  Plus we like to walk, and there are always 2 of us.. so why not? So on Saturday we walked to the town, and explored a little (which wasn't actually all that much, just some big buildings, and of course that bigger city feeling- we got asked for money over a dozen times) and of course made a trip to the ATM so we could pay our hotel bill the next day. We enjoyed some good pizza in town (from a chain they don't have in zomba), and made our way to another hotel that was near ours to have an afternoon coffee and dessert (also a major luxury as it was filtered coffee!). After that we went back to our hotel to relax a little before dinner. As for our dinner choice, we had decided to go to this Indian food restaurant that was recommended by our guidebook and we were very excited as again we don't have anything like this in Zomba.

So when we ventured out earlier it was during the day, so we really didn't think twice about the road or its potential dangers at night. So now, it was around 7pm, fully dark, but we figured it was fine, as we had just walked that earlier.  And funny I remember thinking, wow i actually feel safer than i thought i would here in Blantyre... So we made it the Indian restaurant (the road was not lit the whole way, some parts were, but it was only a short walk), enjoyed some wonderful butter chicken and mixed veg, complete with naan (plain and garlic!) We realized there that we only just had enough cash to cover the bill (we left most of what we had taken out earlier) so we thought that we should just go take out some more money that way we could pay everything tomorrow. So we walked to the ATM, and took out some money.

Lesson #1-  Do not take out money at night (even if there are 2 of you), especially in a city you do not know, you have no idea who is watching you and who will follow you.

When we were taking out money I didn't feel too unsafe, there was a security guard there and everything was lit, so that was fine. We proceeded then to walk back to our hotel (which we thought was a wonderful idea since we were both so full from the food!).

Lesson #2-  Do not walk down a dark road at night, even if it is less than a 10 minute walk, even if there are 2 of you.

So walking back down the poorly lit road, Josh and I were just talking about life, we were literally about 200 meters from the gate to the hotel, in a pitch black area, when we heard someone running behind us. Thinking back now Josh remembers hearing someone walking behind us about 5 minutes earlier (this was when we were in the lit area), feeling a bit uncomfortable but not really thinking anything of it.  So we immediately look back and see this guy running towards us, my first thought was, oh is this guy running for fun? is he training for something? (duhh danielle.. pretty funny now when i look back at it) and he runs past us, then quickly turns around and says something like 'gimme your money' while lunging at us with this huge knife (I only remember seeing the glint of it, but josh got a clearer look as he was in front of me, and remembers it being about 30cm-  it is predominantly an agricultural society here so there are machete's and huge knives pretty much everywhere...) What happens next is pretty much a blur, but all i remember is thinking, ok start making noise to attract attention, so i start yelling at him, 'what are you doing, we don't have anything!" and at this point i think josh is yelling at him as well, but the guy is now lunging at him with the knife so as we are backing up Josh throws his wallet, meanwhile i am quickly backing away, thinking 'there is no way this guy is getting my bag our passports are inside, i will run fast to the main street'- and then i remember him demanding josh's phone, which he then throws at him as well, so while he is busy with Josh I on the other hand just turn around and start running, yelling, 'I don't have anything' and all i remember hearing is "Madame, Madame, your phone!" I remember thinking, you're robbing us and still being polite and calling me Madame???  So i just run as fast as I can back down the road and see a car coming towards us- so waving my hands like a madwoman I flag down this car (it happens to be the owner of the hotel we are staying at!) and I tell her that we have just been robbed. Somehow josh is also beside the car now too. Josh tells me later that after the guy had picked up his wallet and phone he started running after me for my bag (josh was running now too), but I was well ahead of him and then when he saw the headlights he took off down a side street. So we explain to the woman in the car what happened, meanwhile the security guard for the house we have stopped nearby has just come out (with his shotgun!) to investigate the noise- he apologizes to josh that he came late (you never know, maybe he was sleeping) but we get back in the car and drove to the hotel. The women who picked us up is just really glad that we were not hurt. Which leads me to lesson #3:

Lesson #3-  If someone is threatening you with a weapon, just give them what they ask for instead of trying to fight them.

The owner's husband is at the front desk and he offers to take us to the police to make a statement- so we go there.. but as i had suspected, clearly a waste of time.. resources are lacking and there really is nothing they can do, so we gave them our details (what was stolen etc.) and went back to the hotel, shaken, baffled and trying not to relive what just happened.

phew.. just writing that makes my heart pound again... and I hate that this experience has now instilled fear in us. This was the first time either of us have been threatened with a weapon.. and it's a terrifying experience. We are so lucky and thankful that neither of us got hurt (I am so glad that josh threw his stuff instead of trying to fight! although at one point the guy lowered his knife and josh thought that he could have taken him but made a split second decision not to, that it wasn't worth it). And I don't care about the money (we are happy that he only got away with josh's super old phone, bank card, and the cash we had just withdrawn), but what I hate the most is that this has cast a shadow on the way we view Malawi, and Malawians..  constantly thinking, so who is going to rob us now?  We know we stand out and we know that people think we have money (we are asked for it everyday) but now we are constantly speculating about who is going to use force to get it..  We know that most Malawians are good, hard working, honest, people, but now this is a thought that's hard to shake.. uggg, fear is an ugly thing...

But we learned some good lessons, and maybe we were getting too lax about walking in the dark in Zomba and now will take some extra precautions ...  maybe that experience saved us from something bigger.. you never know.  And we found out later that apparently that stretch of road is a really bad area after dark (thanks for telling us that hotel!) so i guess you should just never take any chances!

This will definitely be a birthday that Josh never forgets!!

Douglas Blond

I'm taking a quick break from writing about our adventures to celebrate the life of my dad. 5 years ago today I lost an amazing father and mentor. It seems like yesterday, but then again not, because so many things have happened since then.. what a strange feeling.

But the memory of my dad is still very much alive as I am often reminded and encouraged by how much he loved all of us, his go-getter and non-complaining attitude (when most of the time all i want to do here is complain!) and his overall love for life. Sometimes when I laugh i remember that I laugh like he did, the whole body shake, and that makes me smile.
He is my inspiration to keep pushing through when times are tough, and to live each moment to the fullest (even as i sit at my desk for 10 hours a day!) And I know he is cheering us on as we go through all our crazy adventures.  He was such a blessing to this world and I want to celebrate that today!

This is one of my favourite pictures- just being silly as a family.. this is always how I will remember him- so full of life.  I miss you everyday dad!

Mozambique Part 3 - Finally arriving at Ilha de Mocambique!

For our final day of our 3-day travel to the coast it really should have been rather straightforward- basically we were told that we needed to go out to the main road and try to catch a direct chapa (mini-bus) to Ilha de Mocambique sometime between 7am-10am. So this is what we attempted to do, so around 8:30am we made our way to the main road but ended up waiting in the wrong location (in our defense it wasn't actually that clear)!  So after much confusion (mostly because we didn’t speak Portuguese) and some advice from a very nice lady (who flagged down a chapa and told him not to rip us off- awesome!) we caught a short distance chapa to the main bus depot where we would then transfer on to a larger chapa and go the 180km to Ilha de Mocambique.  At this bus depot we met a Mozambican named Wilson who spoke some English and veered us through the chaos towards the direct chapa to Ilha (going direct can shave hours off your journey as it won’t stop in every small town along the way).  So the direct chapa was a large green bus that to us looked extremely full- all the seats were taken plus ppl were standing in the entry way. We told Wilson, “hmm.. this looks very full” and he said “There is room!” So josh and I just looked at each other and said ok, this is our last travel day, do we go now direct and be cramped, or wait another couple of hours here for another bus that may or may not go direct.  Unknowingly how cramped it would actually be, we decided to go now (our impatience often got the better of us!). So why was I shocked when we ended up standing in the entrance of this bus (about the size of a 4 person kitchen table) with 10 other ppl. We barely had room to stand and everyone was fighting for foot space as we shimmied and tried to get in a somewhat comfortable stance.

I remember looking at the clock at the front of the bus, first of all thinking, wow they have a digital clock, but also that it was 10:05am, and could I actually do this for 3 hours?  Wison, who was also standing said to me, "some people will get off at Monapo (a city half way) so there will be more room".. although in the end it turned out that they actually crammed more ppl in at this stop, it was this false hope that kept me going at the time. So I’ve never experienced anything quite like this.. there was literally people leaning (and eventually sleeping) on me from all directions- who needs to hang on when you're smooshed together like that! and for those who know Josh, know that he is a pretty sweaty guy.. so needless to say this was an uncomfortable journey! I am always shocked at the lack of need for any personal space- the mentality really is, if you can cram another person in, that is just more money!  At one point in time Wilson jokingly said to me, “we are traveling like slaves!” Enough said.

So after 3 hours of standing in this crammed position (I actually was impressed with my ability to not freak out in this situation) we finally made it to Ilha. Here we were told to get into another truck where we crossed this long bridge to the actual island.In the back of my mind I was thinking, this better have been worth it! And it was- the water was so blue and clear, the beaches so white, the seafood amazing!

The northeastern part of the island

Fresh grilled squid and chips

So our crazy traveling was over, we could hardly believe we actually did all that in 3 days (I must admit I felt pretty stretched by the end of it) and so we really enjoyed just chilling out and staying on this island for awhile. For five nights we stayed at a hotel called ‘O Escondidinho’ (I recommend) where we ended up meeting a Japanese American who lived in Paris and funny enough the same group of Japanese that we met on the train! So we enjoyed hanging out with them for a couple nights, I got to practice my Japanese, and we had some excellent conversations about life and working in Malawi. All in all we enjoyed Ilha and all its quirkiness (historically it was a Portuguese trading post- including playing a role in the slave trade- a naval base and was the capital of Portuguese East Africa until the end of the 19th century), and in the next post I'll blog about our time there.