Mozambique rules

Sorry for the lack of posting recently. Internet has been pretty tough since we landed in Mozambique on August 19th. The one time I had a good connection, we had shitloads of power outages that prevented me from doing more than just taking care of business. but I'm here in Tofo Beach, Inhambane, Mozambique and I just finished my PADI Advanced Scuba Diving Course.

Mozambique has been unbelievable. The vibe here is much more laid back than in Tanzania. The things we did in TZ were fun (Kili, safari, diving in Zanzibar), but the country itself and its cities we visited really lacked something and the people we ran into had a sharpness too them that I have to say was a little unpleasant - especially compared to what we've been experiencing here over the last 2 weeks. Most of the places we've been in Moz are not that heavily touristed yet - I hope the laid back vibe of the people doesn't get corrupted too much when tourism floods in a bit more, which it undoubtedly will at some point.

We ended up taking a much easier route of travel than I had originally planned to get here. I think the realites of days and days on cramped buses really hit me once I got to Moshi and I was more than happy to sign up for flights vs. buses - especially in Moz where there aren't really any "tourist" buses yet - you are riding with the locals and all that goes with that.

We ended up skippign Malawi entirely and going from Dar right to Pemba, Mozamabique, which made for an easier entry visa experience - we heard some crazy stories of the Tanzania/Moz border and the "ferry" (3 small wooden dhow boats tied together with planks for one car at a tiem on top "piloted" by drunk people) they use to get cars across the river - nuts! Iwouldn't pu my car on that thing, but I wouldl love ot have my truck right now.

I did want to experience the local "chapas" (buses) at least once and we were forced to when we left Beira (the second largest city oin Moz) for Vilankulo and the Bazaruto Archipeligo. Chapas all leave form a central spot at around 4am. We went the evening before to line things up with the driver and found what was the shittiest looking bus in the area with the "Vilankulo" sign on it. I won't get into too much detail, but what was suppossed to be a 9 hour ride, turned into 14 hours on seats with almost no padding and crammed into with too many people and everything they all owned. Add in a flat tire at one of teh amusing stops along the way and it spelled for a painful ride, but a worthwhiel experience. We had no realistic flight option for that leg and the fact that we even got on the bus and got the seats we asked for the day before made it seem not THAT bad (but it was). We found out later that a new "luxury" tourist-focused line runs the same route in less than have the tiem ti took us, but the word isn't rerally otu on that yet. Oh well.

Now I'll post some pics from Moz.