YouMe&Michael


After years of saving and planning, our dream to overland through Africa is finally becoming a reality. Along with our Land Cruiser, Michael Buble, we will be travelling through our beautiful continent for 6 months! Woohoo!

About Us

We have been married for two busy years and have lived in Johannesburg all our lives. Ang is a Speech Therapist and Grant, an Environmental Consultant. We both love the outdoors and have dreamt of travelling through Africa together before we were even together (sort of). Please keep in touch and let us know your news. Hope you enjoy the journey with us.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Mozambique Part 2: Doing Time in Mozambique

Our southward journey continued as we left Pemba for Nacala, another coastal town offering more stunning views, white beaches and warm seas. It is tough, but we soldiered on. The town of Nacala is positioned around a bustling port, however, we found a pearler of a spot south of the town called Libelula. Perched above the ocean and with it's own private beach, Libelula became our home for three nights. The first night was awesome with sundowners, and later, dinner on the beach. We like mozambique, we like it a lot. Most of our time there was spent reading and relaxing on the beach. This routine was only disturbed by the need to eat and sleep. We also conducted our 2nd Malaria test of the trip on Ang and thankfully the result was negative, just a bit of a cold. After three nights the road was calling and we packed up Michael and headed south.





Our next destination was Ilha Da Mozambique. A fascinating island just off the coast of Mozambique that is steeped in history and conveniently connected to the mainland with a 4km long bridge. Although the island is only 3km long and 500m wide there were loads of sights and sounds to absorb and we did that by walking the streets. While walking through the island town we tried to imagine it as it was a hundred or so years ago when it was bustling with Arab traders and fishermen. It was, unfortunately, also a key cog in the slave trade and many of the slaves were sold and bought here. Now the streets are alot quieter and the buildings a little worse for wear. Our evening was spent on a roof top terrace of a local restaurant soaking up the sounds of the islands population walking the streets. It was hard to believe we were in Mozambique!








We made an early start the next morning and while crossing the bridge to the mainland we were treated to an amazing sunrise that could not be ignored and we pulled over to enjoy the spectacle. It was going to be a huge day of driving for us and probably the longest stretch we had done the whole trip. We had to travel the 900 odd kilometers inland because central Mozambique apparently has limited accommodation or sights worth stopping for. It was during this trip that we had our first encounter with the infamous Mozambican Traffic Officers. We still did not have a front number plate after it was claimed by a horrible stretch of Tanzanian road and we were certain we would get whacked with a fine due to it's absence. What followed, however, was priceless. The missing number plate was overlooked, but, instead they wanted to know where we were going and where we came from. The "where do you come from" question always gets me and I am never sure whether I should say South Africa or the place we had just departed from. On this occasion I chose the South Africa option and apparently I passed the test, but, Ang was not so lucky and she was asked to prove her South Africaness by producing her passport which was scrutinised for 10 minutes. The photo was compared with the real life face and even drew the attention of a beggar who thought it fascinating and there we were waiting for the cop and beggar to surrender Ange's passport to her so that we could depart. The long journey finally came to an end at the banks of the Zambezi river, where we set up camp and spoilt ourselves with a meal at the restaurant.


The next day we crossed our old friend the Zambezi. We figured out that it was our sixth encounter with the mighty river. I also did a quick calculation as we crossed the newly built bridge and taking into consideration the mean annual rainfall, average gradient, wind direction, water temperature ad barometric pressures i was able to determine that we were crossing over the exact same water that we witnessed falling over the Victoria Falls a few months earlier. Truly amazing!!!! Just kidding, but, imagine how cool that would have been. Just imagine it....now.


We pulled off the EN1 and headed east on a dirt road to the Gorongoza National Park. We were really excited to be back in the bush and it was really cool to be there, a park that was once one of the greatest in Africa, but, was decimated by poachers in the early nineties. Thankfully with the help of the Carr Foundation the park is getting back on it's feet and becoming a tourist destination again. Although game sightings were few we loved waking up to the sounds of the bush, reminding us of the Kruger.





Vilankulos was just an overnight stop for us and provided the facilities to stock up on food before we headed down to Pomene. We did not know what to expect of Pomene, but, knew that one could only access it by 4x4. Michael negotiated the sand track with ease and when we came to the campsite at the Pomene Lodge we knew we had found a gem. The lodge is situated on a thin spit of sand that separates a huge mangrove estuary from the Indian Ocean.  Our camping spot was a mere 30m from the sea and the view from the rooftop tent was amazing.







Ang: We set-up camp there for four nights and enjoyed long walks on the beach, early morning swims in the sea and meeting more amazing people. We were invited for dinner at Mike and Yvonne's campsite on one of our nights there and were treated to delicious Cutta steaks and a curried veg potjie. The following day we met a Dutch couple, Danny and Lieka and all six of us spent many hours gazing up at the lunar eclipse that evening on a deserted stretch of African beach. Definitely one of the trip highlights. After more socialising with our new friends over the following two days, we excitedly packed-up camp to head down to Inhambane, where we were going to be joined by friends from back home, Pierre, Ross and Dave!










After a mammoth drive from the Kruger, the guys arrived in Tofu, where we were waiting for them with much anticipation. It was amazing to see them again and we spent the evening catching up at Bamboozi Backpackers. We had such a great time, playing cards, swimming in the crystal clear Mozambican sea, exploring the area, buying fish for a delicious fish braai, and just lots of chats and laughs! We also caught some waves in Tofu, with Ross showing us the ropes.








After a few days in Tofu we packed-up Michael and Wilson (the Landy) and headed south to the beautiful, isolated area of Chidenguele. We had a great two days there. Grant and i felt like we were on holiday (from the trip :-)) and only every now and again remembered with mixed feelings that we are on the final final stretch of the trip! The guys needed to head back home and we needed to 'wrap the trip-up', so we all drove to Maputo together.




We met-up with my cousin Glenn and his wife Danae (who have lived in Mozambique for a number of years) and were entertained with insider's experiences of living in Mozambique and Maputo. Having friends to share our experiences with and make new memories with was wonderful and the perfect way to 'end' the trip. Thanks so much for meeting up with us Pierre, Ross and Daves (and Wilson of course)! We love you guys!!


Very soon we are going to brave the Maputo-Ponta sand road and enter into our beloved Sunny South Africa! We will then spend two nights with Craig and Nadia and get to see their home and life working at Manguzi hospital in Kosi Bay. After that we'll do the last stretch of the trip into Jozi!!

Bob, again, right on the money :)
"And when it's time for leaving Mozambique
Just say goodbye to sand and sea
You turn around to take a final peek
And you see why it's so unique to be
Among the lovely people living free
Upon the beach of sunny Mozambique"

As we mentioned, we are feeling quite mixed about the trip ending. We are overwhelmed that we have been so abundantly blessed in being able to live out our dream to travel through Africa together; and although we are sad that our nomad-life is coming to an end, we are so excited to see our family and friends again and we are proudly looking forward to the arrival of our first niece/nephew on the 30th June!! So, we have very exciting times ahead of us. Once we are back home, we will blog some of our 'trip stats' and those types of things.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Mozambique: Bob Dylan was right on the money

"i'd like to spend some time in Mozambique, the sunny sky is aqua blue, and all the couples dancing cheek to cheek, it's very nice to stay a week or two..."

...or three, or four.

But let's start at the journey TO Mozambique. We left Dar and headed South towards our destination, Kilwa Masako, about 300km's from Dar. We'd been warned that 60km's of the journey would be bad, real bad. It had been raining ALOT while we'd been in Dar and we were told; "Expect the worst", and "the road will be hell on earth". So, off we went.

We whizzed along smooth tar for about 120km's and almost believed that the infamous 60km's had been tarred since our informers had last attempted it. Alas, this was not the case. Smooth tar disappeared and a 'road' made of brownish red mud and mud pools appeared before our eyes. To prove a point, it started to rain as we hit the mud.

Mud puddle number 1 of 500!
The five hours it took us to drive that 60km's were adventurous to say the least. Michael performed like a prize amphibeous tank, taking us through long, deep mud pools and slushy, porridge-like mud sections. Until his brakes decided that they'd had enough and stopped working. Eish. After some brake pumping, they started working again, albeit sluggishly. We shared the road with a number of trucks, buses and other 4X4's. Observing these vehicles negotiate themselves through the mud proved entertaining. Over the three years that this stretch of road has been a mud bath, a bull-dozer is permanently tasked at pushing or pulling stuck trucks/buses/cars out of the mud and we were priveledged to observe this on a number of occassions before we braved the dodgy sections.




At one stage, we were driving behind a bus and a rather impatient Land Rover Discovery (in middle pic above) was behind us. The bus got stuck in the mud, and the cowboy behind us decided that he would be able to drive through the extra thick mud next to the bus. Off he went at speed, only to get horribly stuck and in the process managed to damage the under-carriage of his car. It was like a fast-speed comedy.

We arrived at Kilwa feeling tired and anxious about the brakes. While we were in Zanzibar, we'd met a Swiss/German couple at the hotel we stayed at in Stone Town. As they were leaving the hotel one morning, they mentioned that they lived at the Benedictine Fathers compound in a small town along the journey into Moz and that it was a good place to stay if we needed clean water/German food and any work done on the car. So, after a team meeting we decided to leave the next day and head to said spot (Ndanda is the name of the town) and pray that the brakes held out.


The brakes held out and we arrived in Ndanda and followed the signs to the Benedictine fathers. Along the road, we spotted our friends, Bernice and her daughter, Emma. They hopped in the car and directed us to the garage, and arranged a room for us at the guest house.

We ended up staying in Ndanda for four nights. All of Michael's brake pads were replaced, as was the master cylinder and oil of different types. We were invited for delicious lemon cake at Bernice and Elias's home, watched a soccer match at a nearby pub, were shown around the area and walked to the clean nearby lake for a swim.





Our 'un-planned' stay in Ndanda turned out to be a trip high-light and we made some great friends. We left Ndanda in an embarrassingly clean car (the work of a high-pressure hose...Germans!), fresh water in our water tank, a tupperware filled with delicious leb-koechen (not sure about spelling) and some heavenly Swiss chocolate. Thank-you Elias, Bernice, Emma, Fransesca and Agnus!!

We lost our number plate in one of the mud puddles

Before the high-pressure hose


After the high-pressure hose


We entered Mozambique at the Unity bridge feeling quite overwhelmed and emotional that we were entering the last country of our trip. The scenery was rugged, beautiful and mostly untouched. We spent the night at Hotel Chez Natalie in the small town of Mocimba Da Praia. After swapping our books and becoming acquainted with a new currency, we headed south to Pemba. Which is where we find ourselves as I type this. Yesterday, we spent the day updating our anti-virus programme and various other laptop-related tasks. Today we plan to head into town and explore a bit and will then head further south to Nacala/Mozambique Island.






Things Ange has learnt:
1. Nothing beats being able to drink water straight out of the tap (Ndanda is the only place in Tanzania where you are able to do this).
2. Cormac McCarthy's THE ROAD is a phenomenal book.
3. German cake is delicious.

Things Grant has learnt:
1. Brakes are important and not having them feels like playing tennis without a racket....not so much fun.
2. Germans are incredibly efficient, organised and thorough......I love them!
3. A tar road on the map is only that. It does not, however,  guarantee that in real life you will find a nice smooth road covered in black stuff.

... And Michael was his Name-O

Our Trusty Land Cruiser goes by the name of Michael Buble'. Unlike his human namesake, he is not from Canada, has not won any Grammy's and does not sing (he purrs). Our Michael got his name courtesy of Ang. When she first saw the Land Cruiser 80 Series she said they looked like big bubbles. Upon doing a little research we found that in Columbia and Venezuela the Land Cruiser was nicknamed Burbuja (Bubble) because of it's roundness. Bubble turned into Buble' and Michael was his name.

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