Day 11 – “I’ve got magic hands”

Maputo to Johannesburg, Melville Palm

We were allowed to sleep in until 6am today, as we had to get the bus back to Joburg. This was another Greyhound – so we spent the trip in the comfortable seats listening to our iPods and watching the scenery rush past.

The border crossing took quite some time – the police insisted on checking all the luggage on the bus. This was done mainly by touch, the policeman felt for what he was after (and we’re not sure what it was, presumably drugs or weapons). However, although the search was time consuming, it didn’t seem very thorough, he just felt around the inside of the cases. (M later heard the policeman tell someone he had “magic hands”!).

Along the way K managed to persuade the bus driver to change our surplus Mozambican Meticais to SA Rand – the rate wasn’t the best, but it was better than being stuck with money we couldn’t use.

At the Joburg bus station , we picked up a taxi back to Melville, and booked the same driver for 9am the next day as we had to head out to pick up our campervan. We used the rest of the day to catch up on emails, and then enjoyed a great steak dinner at one of Melville’s many restaurants.

Day 10 – 3am start – thought this was meant to be a holiday!

Praia Tofo to Maputo, Hotel Turismo

The bus back to Maputo left at 4am, we were hoping it was going to be better than the one we arrived in and it was marginally, we were on first so had the pick of the seats. It was the same deal as last time – try to cram as many people in as possible!

We finally arrived into Maputo about 1pm, but as the bus driver couldn’t find our hotel we were dropped off on the wrong side of town and we had to catch a taxi – not what we felt like doing after all those hours in the bus.

We checked into the horrid Hotel Turismo – shame Palmerias Guest House was booked out, a very poor room for the price we paid, with the sight of (unused) condoms in the bathroom causing us some mirth! (We later found that they also gave them away on the border – so hopefully this had more to do with addressing Africa’s AIDS problem than the dubious nature of our hotel).

The afternoon was spent slowly making our way through the streets of Maputo to the waterside restaurant we had lunched at on day one, with refreshment stops on the way of course! The day ended with watching the sunset and a nice dinner overlooking the bay.

Day 9 - What happened to Paradise?

Praia Tofo, Annex of Aquatico Ocean Lodge

After listening to a night of pouring rain we expected to wake up to sunshine and be able to go for our last swim in the surf but instead it was overcast and before long the rain set in and we were stuck in our room. Even the maids didn't arrive to clean.

We were hoping to go snorkelling with the whale sharks, but a check at 10:30am confirmed they weren't going out today. So we waited for a break in the rain and headed up the road to book our bus trip back to Maputo (a 4am departure the next day!). 

The afternoon cleared well enough to go for a walk on the beach and find somewhere new for lunch, then the rain set in again – perhaps we should have left today!

Day 8 - Another Day in Paradise

Praia Tofo, Annex of Aquatico Ocean Lodge
Another morning of lying around reading, this kind of life certainly makes you very lazy. The mornings are very hot but the afternoons are just nice.

K headed off for her dive around 1pm, everyone had to push the rubber boat into the shallows and wait for waves to carry it our further. Only on the boat did I learn that there had been a cyclone here 2 weeks earlier & this was the first week they had been able to dive - this of course meant visibility was poor to say the least! All that wind stirring up the ocean, it was like being in a washing machine of dirty debris. The morning group had swam with 15 Whale Sharks, but no such luck for us 2 were spotted but I didn't see them. Hopefully tomorrow morning we can go swimming with them.

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Day 7 - Idyllic Life

Praia Tofo, Annex of Aquatico Ocean Lodge

We woke early and ran out the door for a swim at 7.30am (the earliest either of us have ever gone for a swim!), the Indian Ocean was warm and it was a delightful start to a day of doing almost nothing.

After finishing a weeks worth of hand washing the maids appeared to tell us that was their job - so they can have the rest tomorrow! The afternoon was spent reading, sorting  photos, and arranging K's dive trip for tomorrow, after which we strolled along the beach back to town.

There was a local gathering on the beach there, with music and dancing. We stood in a circle along with everyone else and watched a local children's dance group perform, the crowd was clapping and cheering and it was lots of fun to watch. Very African dancing.

Also, another update - we've just uploaded an album of photos to Picasa Web albums, so if you want to see more, just go to this link :  Joburg and Mozambique photos

Update: We've now uploaded a couple of videos of the dancing - see below!

Day 6 - Not that bus for 7 hours no way!

Praia Tofo, Annex of Aquatico Ocean Lodge

We were meant to be picked up from our hotel at 5am for the 7 hour bus ride to Tofo, however we were forgotten. By 6am a replacement taxi had been arranged to take us to the local bus station to get on a mini bus with the locals. The bus station was what you would expect Africa to be like - bustling, noisy, dirty. We were rushed onto the bus and told to take a seat - and then we waited....

Eventually we realised it wouldn't leave until it was full  - and their idea of full wasn't the same as ours! It finally left at 7.30am, with our suitcases on the floor between the seats. The thought of spending 7 hours cramped like sardines in the horrendous seats was daunting to say the least. Initially the road was covered in sand (due to roadworks) and the journey was looking pretty bad. However the road improved over time and our ipods made the trip bearable - especially for K, who was listening to the audio book "Power of One" - suitable reading for a journey through Southern Africa!

The bus continued to pick up people along the way although you wouldn't think it was possible to squeeze anyone else in. Every person on and off the bus for 7 hours used some poor person's case as steps - it was only at the very end of the trip that M realised it was his case they were using - his case has now been "Africaned"!  There was only one toilet/food stop on the way, many people (including M) couldn't be bothered negotiating bodies and cases to get to the door so exited via the window. The toilet stop was certainly interesting as using the toilet was optional, many women just went without any privacy, and appear to have mastered the art of standing up to go!

We finally made it to the beach haven of Tofo and our delightful room on the ocean by about 3pm - for four days of relaxation.

Day 5 - Now that's a beer!

Maputo, Palmeiras Guesthouse

Spent the first part of the day arranging our transport and accommodation for the next few days - bus to Tofo booked for 5am, and a bus from Maputo to Joburg after Tofo. After that we walked around Maputo taking in the sights - cathedral, fort, beachfront and main street.

It is a hot, hilly city - therefore K ended up with a sunburnt back, not expecting that the city would have so little shade. After walking along the waterfront we found a lovely restaurant for lunch overlooking the sea. The people at the table next to us all ordered beer and were as shocked as we were when we saw how it arrived - but it's a good way to learn how to pull a beer!

Day 4 - Nude Nuns with Big Guns!

Johannesburg to Maputo, Palmeiras Guesthouse

Early start today, as we were taking the 6:45am bus from Joburg to Maputo (Mozambique).

As we should have known, the bus (which we boarded at a suburban McDonalds) was late arriving. It then headed into the Greyhound office in the middle of town (in peak hour traffic) so our luggage could be weighed, and after that it went to the central bus station to pick up more passengers. As a result, we didn't really get going until 8:30am.

We had the front seats in the top deck of a Greyhound double decker - a perfect position
to view the countryside as we travelled on our 8 hour journey. There were stops along the way
- in Nelspruit (where the driver missed the turnoff and drove about 10km before turning back), and in Malelane.

The entertainment on the bus was quite interesting - it started off with Mr Bean, then some film that starred Luke Perry, and then it got a bit surreal when a film called "Nude Nuns with Big Guns" came on ..... with all of the shooting, killing and disrobed nuns you'd expect from a film with that title (I must see if I can download it some time for a closer look .....).

We were nervous about the border crossing, as we needed to pick up a visa at the border and
weren't sure whether the bus would wait for us. However the bus attendant was very helpful, and did all she could to speed up the process - so 30 minutes and 840 Rand (about $120) later, we had our visas and resumed our journey. Based on our experience, we highly recommend you use Greyhound for next trip from Joburg to Maputo!!

On arrival in Maputo, M's trusty GPS told us we had about 1km to get to our hotel - and against K's better judgement, M managed to persuade K that we could walk from the bus stop to the hotel with all of our luggage! It started well, with a downhill stretch, but as we got further along, the slope headed upwards, and the heat and humidity, as well as the footpaths that wouldn't be considered safe back home, started taking its toll, and this money saving attempt was looking like a very bad idea! Then out of nowhere a kind local stopped and offered us a lift - which we accepted of course!

5 minutes and 500 metres later, we were at the cute Palmeiras Guesthouse. A short rest to get settled and cool down, and then we braved the streets of Maputo and headed off to find dinner. We spent the meal watching the tactics of a local beggar with a sling and a crutch. He would approach cars at the lights for money, and then when the lights changed he would discard the crutch, take his arm out of the sling, and light up a cigarette, until the next group of cars stopped.

On the way back to the hotel we spent most of the time trying to avoid the police - on the advice of many travel guides! This is the first country we've been to where you are told to stay clear of the police as they will hold tourists on any trumped up charge to extort money - including "fining" you for not having your passport on you.