Still at the beach

We are now staying at our 4th ‘resort’ in Moz. This one, Areia Branca Lodge, is at Praia da Barra, north east of Inhambane. We got here yesterday and will stay until tomorrow or maybe Sunday. Very nice campsites with individual thatched shelter, outdoor sink with large concrete bench, braai (of course!) and indoor bathroom. Again, we are the only people here, but Sth African school holidays are in a couple of weeks so it will fill up then. 

It’s overcast and raining off and on today … first rainy day we’ve had since we arrived in Joburg 6 weeks ago! We’re now as far north in Moz as we’ll travel on this trip – we’ll head south from here and cross back into Sth Africa next week.

Prior to arriving here yesterday, we spent a couple of nights at Paidane Beach Resort south of Inhambane and were the only ones there. They were having trouble with their water pump, which didn’t really worry us as we travel with plenty of drinking water and other water. They gave us water for flushing the toilet. Very, very sandy campsites, with lots of warnings about lowering tyre pressures. We had a site that overlooked the  beach and Greg got some sunrise photos as he was awake early one morning. There are a couple of different ways to get to Paidane – a shorter, more direct route and a longer but much easier route. You can guess which one we took, but we wouldn’t recommend it … low-hanging branches on trees that had Greg getting out his 20V reciprocating saw, soft sandy track. We lost the track at one point and the locals kept on pointing ‘over there’. One helpful young man actually walked for a km or so to show us how to get to the right track.

Yesterday when we were in Inhambane we met Johnny, a young electrical engineering student. I was walking to a local grocery shop and said ‘hello’ to Johnny and a younger boy Manuel. Greg stayed with Clancy and when I got back, he had a group of 5 or 6 boys and young men around him. Johnny offered to take me to the local market to buy some fruit and vegetables and he told me about his studies, his favourite food (Matapa – cassava flowers or leaves boiled with peanuts, coconut milk, seafood), where to find stuff at the market and general chat. He had been very interested in how Greg built Clancy and we told him that once he had his engineering degree, he could get work in Australia.

a town on the way that we found a vegetable market in to get some supplies
Cutting low tree branches with the reciprocating saw to clear the way through down the “short-cut”
On the “short-cut”, a tiny track between villages mostly used by people walking
Camped at Paindane. We got there close to dark because of the problems with the “short-cut”
Dawn over Paindane
Looking up from the beach to our campsite at Paindane
the beach at Paindane

 

We suddenly came upon a very low electricity cable strung across the road. Judy guided me past it and everyone else in town came out to look
the commercial/industrial outskirts of Inhambane

 

The northern end of Inhambane
Mozambique is covered with election posters for the October election. Most of the posters are for Frelimo the ruling party since independence
main street of Inhambane
camped at Areia Branca Lodge
a Dhow boat of the coast
the clouds come over and the rain starts at Areia Branca Lodge

 

 

 

5 thoughts on “Still at the beach”

  1. Your adventures are just so amazing. It’s so wonderful to really connect with the locals away from areas with just crowds of tourists.

    1. Thanks Linda, I’m sure the local touts would love it if there were crowds of tourists – they keep coming and trying to sell us their Chinese crap souvenirs and we don’t buy souvenirs!
      However a guy this morning came and tried to sell Greg prawns. I’d have loved to ask the price and have a look at them, but then my refusal to purchase would have caused offence. So I just stayed out of it. xxx

    1. Hi Jane! We were just saying yesterday … wait 20 years and this place will be on everyone’s travel radar. 19 years ago we went to Viet Nam, now everyone’s going.
      Love to you and Ian, see you soon xxx

Leave a Reply to Cristobal Pectol Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *