MOZAMBIQUE

The Mozambique coast has to be one of the best places for a holiday !! We spent Christmas and New Year there and has a wonderful time. It was hectic ... being a busy holiday time of the year ....but a fun holiday. The drive from Bulawayo to Inhassoro is LONG .. we left Bulawayo at 0030 hrs and arrived at 1430 hours. I managed to sleep most of the way. We took the road via Chivu to Nyazura to avoid the numerous road blocks outside Mutare, and this was a good choice. The road is mostly in good condition with a few bad patches here and there, and was very very quiet in the early morning. Forbes border post was fairly busy - getting out of Zimbabwe was not much of a problem, except we had one little doggy with us which needed an International Movement Permit, but that did not cause much of a delay, only a bit of aggravation as the owner had been told before leaving that it was not required - but apparently it is ! Getting into Mozambique took a bit longer. Being unfamiliar with the Mozambique requirements we made use of an "agent", which was probably the right thing for us to do as everything is written in Portugese and the order in which to do things is confusing, but being holiday time, I do think we were over charged - our own fault. From there we head straight through without needing to stop in Manica or Chimoio. Our only stop was at Muxungune (I know I've spelt this wrong, and I'll correct it when I can !!). This is the BP garage in "Cashew Nut Country". This appears to be the only place you can buy the sought after cashew nuts. The garage has a security guard complete with rubber baton to keep the vendors at bay as they WILL surround your car and cause much stress !! In season you will also have a hundred pineapples shoved in your face before the trusty guard appears. We thought about using the loo here as the garage gives the impression of looking fairly organised, but we were stopped at the door and told we needed to pay 2 mets to use the loo. Well that is about 50 rand cents which we did not have handy seeing as we had just arrived there and were armed with 100 and 200 met notes, and I had a feeling we might not get change !!!!! I left refusing to (or being unable to) pay my 2 mets. Now the problem is that about 95% of the population of Mozambique appears to live along the only road, so stopping for a wee break is tricky. But then I remembered that on the next section of the road there appears to be a National Park area or something and there are no homesteads, so we drove on a little longer and found some thick bush where we all stopped with relief !! A little hint about this area - you don't have to buy your cashew nuts at the garage and be harrassed, if you drive a little longer you will find both cashew nuts and pineapples being sold on the side of the road, for a few kms, and you can indulge in some more peaceful shopping there. The pineapples are the BEST and sweetest ever !!

Dugong in Inhassoro is a great place to stay. There are 4 lodges, (3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, living area, air conditioned), and 6 chalets (open plan sleeping/living area, bathroom

and kitchenette, air conditioned), set in beautiful gardens. The complex is set on the beachfront with direct access on to the beach. There are boats available to excurions to the islands, snorkelling and fishing. The men went fishing quite a few times and always came back with something decent in the bag. The snorkelling at Paradise Island and/or 2 Mile Reef is a must. I went snorkelling with Mikey at Paradise and it was truely beautiful. The beach and water there is so clean and clear, and we saw just hundreds and hundreds of brightly coloured tropical fish. It was a lovely experience to share with Mike who wanted to keep going for ever !!!

We had piles and piles and food, and the outstanding managers, Martin and Caron, had stocked up on the seafood for us, so we ate to our fill. ALL of the meals were outstanding, and Caron & Ann, chef Jean-Paul and assistant Stuart, all worked like trojans to satisfy our appetites. There was also an endless supply of ice cold drinks for us to help ourselves to.

The sea water was very warm, warmer even than the swimming pool, which was warm, but cooler than the sun which was HOT ! At that time of year we could have had rain every day, but we were blessed with outstanding sunshine the whole time we were there. No trip to Inhassoro would be complete without a visit or 2 to Johnson's Bar, the proverbial beach bar, owned and run by a Mozambican by the name of Johnson. I just love the atmosphere there, the beach "floor" and although we did not eat there this time, the food being served up looked really good !! The only downfall of Johnsons is that if they are busy, they run out of certain drinks, and their refrigeration cannot keep up with demand and the drinks get warmer. But if you are there on a not-too-busy day, it's a wonderful spot to wile away a few hours.

New Year's Eve was something else !!! Firstly the moonrise was a sight to witness, the Full Moon, complete with small partial eclipse, all over the wide sea vista. The closer to midnight, the more people arrived for the beach party, and soon there were hundreds of people there. I did not go through to sunrise, but I believe most of them stayed until the sun was up (which is early ... about 4.30), and the music went all night.

A good party - not much dancing, but lots of drinking !!! I was glad not to have stayed up too late otherwise I probably would have slept most of New Year's Day, which was a beautiful bright sunny

day. Unfortunately I was inflicted with some ugly infection in my foot, caused, I believe, by an allergic reaction to something, so I wasn't too mobile, but it was a good day too !!

The holiday came to an end all to quickly. We were at Dugong for 10 full days, with 2 days travelling on either side, but it just doesn't feel long enough. Next time I am going to try and be there for a full 2 weeks AT LEAST, if not a little longer ($$$$ permitting), and it will have to be in the month of April, which I am reliably told is the best month to visit there.

We left Dugong at 0430 on our last day, by which time the sun had just risen and it was daylight already !! Our trip back was uneventful, and the cashew nut and pineapple sellers were already on the road at 6 a.m., so we could have bought fresh stuff on the way back, but we didn't. We stopped again to refuel and the BP garage, and this time the girls (excluding me) braved the 2 met loo. They came back with the comment that it was not worth the money !! It was disgusting !! So don't stop there, rather use the bush loo in both directions !! We again passed through Chimoio and Manica without stopping. Manica is a surprising little place. In contrast to the rest of Mozambique it looks very clean and neat and quite interesting ... perhaps one day I shall stopover and explore there a little. The border post on both sides was very quiet - in fact we were the only people there - and we were through in a few minutes. We also stopped at the garage in Mutare to refuel the other vehicles and to wait for one lost vehicle, and the boys used that loo, and they also came back with the comment that it was not a pleasant experience. We pressed on to Musangano Lodge about 20 kms outside of Mutare - I had spotted the sign on our way to Moz. We found the place and what a delight ...!!! I was very glad that I had waited some 7 hours to use the loo, because these had to be the cleanest ever and the only decent loo between Bulawayo and Inhassoro !! Musangano was a great little find. We had a nice snack there, and I snooped around a little. It was very quiet, we didn't see any other people except for the smart and obliging staff. The accommodation (self-catering chalets) look very nice, and I was sorry not to have asked for a key to look inside. I would certainly recommend to others to use this as a stopover.

And so, we returned home safe and sound at about 7 that night, to some very happy little dogs. It was good to be home, but I was already missing the sights and sounds of the Mozambique sea. It was about 3 and a half years ago that we were last in Mozambique, and I have to say that I could see some subtle changes. Last time, the people there appeared to have NOTHING !! This time, I noticed a lot of them had bicycles, and that they were better dressed.

They still have very little, but it's more than they had before. There are a few new buildings in the Inhassoro village, including a garage and a bank. Now they need a slightly better organised supermarket !! The market place appeared quieter, but there were roadside curio sellers that weren't there before, and they had some lovely little artifacts for sale, and they are still cheap, compared to the equivalent in neighbouring countries.

Can't wait for my next visit there .....