Friday, February 13, 2009

Vilankulos







Mozambique
December 10th, 2008

The road we travelled was unbelievable. The scenery was stunning with forests of palm trees, cute villages with neat yards, stalls alongside the road with neat stacks of firewood, papaya trees sprinkled alongside the road, and heavily loaded vehicles with people and goods stacked miles high. It was amazing. What wasn’t as amazing was the potholes. I’m not just talking about one or two potholes, but a road stretching about 100km filled with them. There were no lanes; you just drove wherever you could to avoid them, which often meant that we drove with one tire on the road and the other in the ditch, and occasionally driving totally in the ditch. It was madness, but quite an experience.

We reached our destination, Vilankulos, sometime later. Finding a place appropriately called Babab Backpackers we set our camp up suitingly underneath one. We arrived and thoroughly enjoyed some cold drinks served by an Irish bartender full of charm. Talking amongst some fellow travellers we decided to go exploring on a nearby island the next day. There are several islands close by, all World Wildlife Fund protected. To reach these islands you need to take a Dhow, a small boat with a tiny motor and a sail. It’s an expensive journey costing about $80 US per person and a long one. It took us about three hours to reach the island in the morning and about two and a half to return (with winds) in the evening. The distance isn’t far, only a few kms but the technology is well, charming shall we say.

Words can not really describe how amazing the experience was. We arrived during low tide, kicked off our sandals and walked 25 metres to shore. In the pockets of water left by the tide there were little fishes and gorgeous shells, all sorts including stunningly beautiful sand dollars. The beach was perfect with fine white sand and lush vegetation growing from the sand. It was like being on a private beach as there were only five of us. The water was warm, most likely at least 25 degrees.

Once we reached the shore we grabbed some kit and snorkelled. When we finished we relaxed on the beach and had lunch. Lunch was included with the trip and one of the loosely termed ‘sailors’ prepared the food for us. We had fresh calamari cooked with tomatoes and onions in a stew of sorts, salad, fresh bread, fire cooked line fish, and fresh mango for dessert. Food never tasted so good. After lunch we went for a walk and saw loads of crabs hunting for their lunch, and later for a swim. In a word it was amazing.

No comments: