The Shanties of Soweto

As with all great trips that you can't hawk your ride at the end, this one had to turn circular. We left Swaziland and headed north toward Johannesburg. We arrived early intent on spending the day exploring the Soweto section of town before Bodds and Kulsum had evening flights. I would get to spend an extra day for some solo exploration. I was very excited for that.

Our return plan was imprecise:

Step 1: Find Soweto on a Map
Step 2: Go there

After a few stumbles, we managed to execute our plan. Our maps lacked some of the details that would have made short work of the journey.

Soweto is a bit like the South African Harlem. It is here where close quarters and poverty catalyzed a cultural Renaissance that impacted art, the social construct and ultimately helped empower Mandela  and others to overthrow the apartheid government. We rolled up to a vast yellow brick city square advertised as the central hub. We were surprised though at the apparent lack of activity. It was deserted. In search of a tour guide or accommodations for me, we ducked into a nearby affluent-looking hotel. The prices were prohibitive, but the receptionist knew a local tour guide that would be able to show us around for a couple dollars. Once our tour guide arrived, we were escorted into the shanty towns the surrounded the central square.

We really lucked out by having a tour guide so in tune with the community. He ushered us through an orphanage and to the local water spigot (one of two that serviced the surrounding 10 blocks). We also met several of the local residents who taught us about the nine African nations that live in Soweto each with their own language. We experienced drank some homemade white African beer and shared the warmth of a barrel fire. As Bodds and Kulsum were preparing to go to the airport, I once again needed to address the issue of a place to stay. Our tour guide was able to make a few calls and find space at an elderly woman's guest house on the outskirts of the Shantytown. She prepared dinner and provided a lavish place to stay for a 30 dollar cost that made the hotel from early look ridiculous. It was quite interesting given my swanky accommodations and the proximity to the shantytown though. I thought two or three times about the queen bed I was being provided compared to the orphanage I visited earlier in the day.

Execution Rock

Ah the joys of monarchy! I'm not sure I've ever visited one save for Jordan. There are smiling portraits of the slightly rotund King Mswati III all about the country. The more I dwell on it though, I probably see a similar number of Obama stateside particularly as I frequent government installations for my job. King Mswati III clearly has Obama beat on wife and children count though. Right now, he's got a cool 15 wives and 24 next gens.

In two days in Swaziland, we completed two relatively easy hikes. The first was to a recently scorched  mountain top an hour and a half's walk from our hostel. There are wildfires burning in just about every direction you look. I guess the grasses that are burning are so light that the fire never really gets hot enough to ignite trees (although every trunk bares the mark of fire). The plant life near houses is well manicured so that the fires don't get too close to people's houses. None the less, I can't really be sure of the source of all the fires (it is dry season, but I haven't seen any lightning that would have started these things) or their purpose (they are burning on hilltops and over rocky crags, not fields for slash and burn farming). By far the best thing about the burning is just looking up at the lines fire crisscrossing the mountains at night.

Our second hike took us to a more storied summit, the fabled 1110 meter high Execution Rock (what's up Table mountain?). Kings of old used to force criminals and witches to walk off the edge of the cliff at spear point. It was my favorite of the two hikes because it covered a little more diverse landscape, walked us right through a group of 10 zebras, and was a bit more strenuous. We refueled after the hike in a fashion that proved we were back in the orbit of South Africa. Grilled meats galore! Of course to up the ante, Swaziland had no reservations in throwing impala and African bison into our meat baskets.

Execution Rock

Summit of the first hike

Our nights in Swaziland might be characterized by a lapse in our usually sound moral judgement. First, we headed to a local hot springs called the Cuddle Puddle. What we thought might have been a clever and somewhat tongue in cheek name though turned out to be a little closer to the truth than we would have liked. In every corner of the mood lit pool there were couples getting handsy. Kulsum was deterred from using the the woman's locker room by a couple advocating a name change. The romp swamp, lay bay, or shag quag would have been more accurate based on what had occurred inside the changing room. With our first evening plans thwarted, we made another suspect decision and headed to the local casino. It was fun to throw bills marked in the hundreds down on the table. I went up 80 dollars playing blackjack but with the words of Semion Bezrukov sounding in my head I decided it was time to win big or not at all. In my final act of the evening I walked over to the roulette table and put 40 dollars on black and 40 dollars on 13. Red 23 came up and I broke even for the night.

Swiftly to Swazi

We dashed to the Swaziland/Mozambique line intent on dodging midday traffic that Bodds and I have learned to associate with border-crossings. We succeeded and had an uneventful and waitless passport stamping. Even though it was 9am in the morning, Kulsum was chowing down on a Double Chocolate Magnum Ice Cream bar. After the border guard gave one longing look at the ice cream novelty, I reached into the backseat and handed him a cool Brisk iced tea. The tea once reserved for bribes was no longer needed as we waived Mozambique goodbye. A part of me was sad that I didn’t get a second, bolder attempt at bribery.

These thoughts were soon forgotten and we blazed a trail across the Kingdom—yes Kingdom—of Swaziland. After three hours of driving we were very near reentry into South Africa. We decided to find a backpackers hostel to put us up for a few nights. Unfortunately, the hostel that came widely recommended had no vacancy, but I figured it was about time for me to sack up (despite being without sleeping bag) and join Kulsum and Bodds in the tent they hauled around Southern African for the previous 3 weeks. In proved a long a cold night for me, but I was relieved to find that some beds had opened up by the time the second night had rolled around.

One of the most notable things about Swaziland was the attitude of its people. I’ve been to plenty of places where the people are kind and giving beyond all expectation (Turkey, Baghdad, and Tanzania spring to mind) but Swaziland took helpfulness and cheeriness to the next level. We were literally sitting in the turn lane at a red light deciphering a map, when a woman in the passenger seat of a car two lanes over engaged us just in case we might be lost (we were). She then provided us directions and arranged with her driver and the car that had arrived in the lane between us to let us pass ahead in order to make a turn in the opposition direction from the one we were preparing to take. Another time, when we were looking for the start to hike, a Swazi insisted he walk 5 minutes to the start of the trail with us to make sure we got started on the right path. Folks were always super helpful and never lingered expectant of tips.

The Maputo Central Market and Beyond

Checking out the Central Market

Eating a Custard Apple

Both of our stops in Maputo were more for utility than to see the city. We needed a place to crash to continue our journey to more prioritized destinations (the beaches and islands of Mozambique and the Royal Kingdom of Swaziland). During our second stint though we managed to see a bit more though. It was well worth it as the city proved a hub for goods we had seen across the country and offered some interesting food.

Mozambican-Indian Food: We sought out the sister of one of Kulsum's friends who is living and working in Maputo. She knew the city a bit and was able to guide us to an Indian Restaurant. It was here that we compared the Mozambique twist on Indian food to the American one. As many other Mozambique restaurants, about half of the menu was not in stock, but we still managed to find some Palak Paneer (spinach and cheese dish), Butter Chicken, Veggie Curry Fry, and Chickpea Masala that were quite good. The Palak Paneer was thick with bright green spinach that I wondered might even be a slightly different variety of the vegetable than is common in the United States. The chickpea masala was light and spicy and made for a tasty dish. The highlight of the meal might have been the Butter Chicken which was rich and nicely spiced, and not unlike a version I might find in the US.

The Central Market- On the Saturday morning before we left Maputo, we checked out the Central Market. The market was no bigger than the 30th street market in Philly, but contained a different world of fruit and vegetables. The diversity of fresh spices and more commercialized vendors was dazzling. Particularly we found two fruits I had never seen before. The first was the Custard Apple, an Indonesia-native, green bumpy fruit with a white interior. The white flesh is full of hard black seeds bigger than a watermelon's that need spit out. Its flavor is like a slightly sour pineapple. I really enjoyed. We also purchased a soursop which I think it actually in the same family as the custard apple. It has a smoother green skin covered in soft spikes that look (but do not feel) much like a cactus. It too is full of white flesh and black seeds, but is a more consistent flesh. The custard apple was kind of compartmentalized like a cross between a pomegranate and a orange. The flavor of soursop was not nearly as appealing as the custard apple. It may have been under-ripe. It tasted very sour and flowery. I also managed to purchase some homemade mozambique-style peri-peri sauce in the market. I look forward to attempting the spicy chicken dish upon my return.

Upgrading to the Big Bus

After our exploration of Vilankulos and Archipeligo National Park was complete, we had to head back south to Maputo to collect the Spark Lite for the final leg of our journey. Instead of taking to two chappas and stopping in Tofo as we did on the way up, we boarded one actual bus that would take us the whole way. Even the full size bus would include some special Mozambique-isms though.

1) There was no set time for departure. The hostel told us the bus leaves at 4:20 am. The actual bus operators claimed departures times from 4am to 5am when we grilled them. The bus actually left at 5am.

2) Two buses competed heavily for our business upon arrival. When we walked up we were swarmed by ticket waving bus crews attempting to secure as as passengers on two seemingly rival buses. The both claimed to earlier departure than the other. The crew on bus A proactively pried Bodds' baggage from him and began to pack it under the bus. This seemed to me to be too forward. Based on this move and Kulsum's attempt to obtain the unbiased information on departure times from a bystander, led us retrieve Bodd's baggage and board bus B. Both buses left at 5am.

3) We stopped frequently to drop off and pick up people and goods. While the stops were not as frequent as a chappas, the full size buses still stopped every 30 mins or so--something more of a regional transport than a express one. Futhermore, we stopped at small towns and roadside stands full of people hocking fresh food and drinks. These stops slowly filled up the aisle of the bus with anything from charcoal to coconuts.

All said and done the full size bus was much more comfortable than the chappas (Bodds does not entirely agree with this). The irrefutable benefit was the 5 or so hours that we shaved off both through faster average speed and not stopping back in Tofo.

Three up; Three Dhow(n)

The crew preparing a whole crab, tomato, lemon, onion, and potato stew to be served over rice

Intersecting animal tracks on island number one

Auditioning for my big screen cameo in Castaway 2

The three of us awoke at 7:15am to catch the Vilakulos boat ride. This was to be no ordinary boat ride though. An invite might have looked something like this:

You are invited!
What: A full day trip on a traditional African boat called a dhow
When: Tomorrow at 8:00am (we'll pick you up at the hostel)
How much: 1900 meticles per person (63 dollars)
What to bring: Swim Suit (for swimming off of two islands that are part of Archipelago National Park), Go Pro (for snorkeling the nearby reef), Sun screen
Additional Details: A lunch of freshly caught fish and crabs andbananas and pineapple will be provided. This is a full day event.

Safe it to say, it was a spectacular day. I could have spent the whole thing scuba diving, but eventually they dragged me back onto the boat so we could explore some of the islands. That too proved amazing as the islands loaded with massive dunes that conjured images of the Sahara desert, sea shells that put every other beach I've ever visited to shame, and hilarious herds of wild goats like a two star Chincoteague Island.

The only real problem was just how long the dhow took to traverse to and from the island. After 2.5 hours of transit each way, we only had 4 hours to snorkel, lunch, and island hop. I cannot emphasize enough, I could have spent the whole thing snorkeling.

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The Cuisine of Mozambique

I won't get all the names right the first time around but I wanted to capture some of the unique flavors I have been able to find in Mozambique. There are some similarities to neighboring South Africa (a meat-first, ask questions later sort of place where open flame and smoke dominate cooking styles) and bordering Tanzania (where tropical ingredients meet low income staples like corn meal and beans). The real x factors for Mozambique is the long coast line and some choice exposure to Indian culinary influence. Some of the distinct meals I have been privileged to include:

1. Fried Calamari: This is not your fancy sports bar's battered and fried squid rings. This is the tentacles and fillet-sized side of a large squid soaked in lemon juice and char grilled on an open flame. The mix of char, salt, and lemon with the mild squid gave new life to a ingredient that rarely thrills me.
 

2. Xia (Shia): I may be butchering this name, but this is an important staple across the country, particularly poorer areas where we didn't get to explore. This consists of rough corn meal and water stirred together until it becomes a doughy porridge. Each country in eastern Africa claims a version of this dish and each claims their version the best (despite identical construction). Xia is often served as the starch (sort of a cheap rice replacement) which to pour stew-like dishes over.
 

3. Matapa: This is the country's most cited original culinary creation. It is a thick stew of spinach and coconut milk prepared with crab and white fish. A mild curry is used to spice the dish. Every ingredient is a good one and I ordered this dish a few times to see differences in flavor and preparation. While I like it, I can't say it's my favorite. The spinach, the coconut, the crab, and even the curry all have very subtle flavors and tend to just blur each other for me instead of combining into a particularly fantastic dish.
 

4. Kakana: This is a bitter green in some way like cooking with a tea leaf combined with a bay leaf. The big difference though is that it breaks down a bit and the whole leaf (or chopped up bits) are eaten unlike what those flavor comparisons suggest. The English translations on menus often called the Kakana, collared greens, but it was way more bitter. I'm not having any luck finding the name of the dish that notably served it. It started with a C, so lets just go with that. The dish took on the consistency of hot potato salad but was comprised of a different starchy root vegetable similar to a yucca. Kakana was also strewn throughout the thick stew.  The yucca and kakana  were bound together with coconut milk, curry, and ground peanuts. There was enough sweet in this dish to counter balance the bitter and I thought it was one of the best we had.
 

5. Peanut Flour- A lot of baked good substitute ground peanuts for wheat flour. This creates many dense nutty breads. In several cases we also found ground sweet corn subbed in for flour. These breads were sweet without sugar and moist with tons of eggs. They were one of my other favorite things to grab when they showed up at restaurants. One evening saw our table get served 12 pieces of eggy cornbread. I ate 7 of the pieces before I guiltily was called out by Kulsum.

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Next stop Vilakulos

With our Chevy Spark still parked back in the capital, the next portion of our journey north would be quite complex. All said and done, we'd pack into two different chappas (the crowded African vans), each time negotiating baggage prices for Kulsum and Bodds' hiking packs, and a ferry. Tofo is located on the northern portion of a peninsula. To save total distance traveled, as well experience a boat ride, we opted for the most direct route, part of it over water.

As we knocked out the 6 or so hours of travel, constantly stopping to drop off and pick up new goods and passengers, we reached a capacity not yet seen. In an attempt to accommodate a group of students, even my sitting head space was compromised. A high school aged girl stood in the 'aisle' or door area of the bus with her hip pressed up to the end of a row of seats. She bent at the waist and extended her torso down the back of a (my) row of seats. This forced the me to lean forward onto my knees like a 1960's school drill preparing for a nuclear attack. This uncomfortable possible lasted a good 20 minutes until we got the kids to school.

Upon arriving in Vilakulos, we quickly knew the journey had not been in vain. We booked a day long boat ride out to the islands for the following morning. The trip was to include stops at two islands, a freshly caught and cooked ocean lunch, and snorkeling over a reef. As soon as the boat trip was booked, Bodds and launched a kayak and enjoyed the setting sun from 500 meters out into the water. The waters were crystal clear and schools of sardines nearly launched themselves into the kayak as they swam and flew about us. These seem like great signs for the snorkeling to come tomorrow.

Interestingly, the Vilakulos hostel has a unique bar special this week: a shot called a Mexican Asshole. Anyone care to offer a guess as to its contents?

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Pizza Party

Our final night in Tofo we decided to take a break from our usual attempt to find Africa-specific culinary experiences and headed to a highly touted (although still very cheaply priced- I think we spent 8 dollars a person for food and drink) Italian restaurant. The menu was full of pastas and pizzas, but in typical Mozambique fashion roughly half the menu was unavailable on any given night. On this particular occasion pasta was out and pizza was in. At first we were a little disappointed, but the group of five found some energy by ordering 5 pizzas, tasting them all and then having a pizza draft. Here is the order in which pizza slices ran out during the draft:

1. The hottest commodity was the shrimp and green onion. This one didn't have a ton of flavor for my liking, but Mozambique shrimp are a force to be reckoned with. They are brought in fresh each day, have super soft flesh closer to a lobster than a shrimp, and almost taste buttery without butter. Ok, this pizza was pretty good, I just didn't have the top of the draft picks to get it on my plate.
2. Banana, ham, and sauteed sweet onion pizza was the talk of the table. Cooked bananas! On a pizza! We couldn't resist it during the tasting. If anything it was a bit of a surprise that this didn't get the top spot. It was good, but perhaps not perfectly balanced as the bananas and onions doubled down to create a very sweet pizza.
3. Capers and eggplant was a salty and delicious pizza that held its own in the middle of the pack. The capers were the fun big ones more the size of olives than their frequently cited Spanish cousins.
4. The two mushroom and spinach pizza didn't fly off the table despite one of our British friend's dedication to funghi. These mushrooms were smaller, one perhaps a cremini, and sauteed in a thin brown sauce.
5. Salami and tomato finished up the rear. Pretty much all tubed meats in Mozambique have conjured the American hotdog. Sausage, salami, and chorizo all disappointingly end with a textureless meat substitute. This pizza was no different.

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Tofo Days

Geared up and ready to swim with the elusive whale shark

In Tofo, I found excellent seafood (including a hot rock place that churned out garlic crusted fresh shrimp that will be a prominent feature of my dreams for a year to come), a variety of English-speaking expats from every corner of the globe, and a smattering of soft sand beaches some only accessible from climbing old reefs washed ashore or renting 4x4s.

The highlight of the stay had to be the snorkeling trip on our third day though. We donned snorkeling gear in an attempt to find and swim with dolphins and the rare whale shark which really only lives off in the Indian Ocean coast of Africa. Unfortunately despite a frantic sighting of a whale shark by the boat's captain and subsequent orders to quickly put on our flippers masks, we didn't get the ultimate pay off. We were either too slow or the visibility was too poor. This might lead to suspicions that the trip was a let down. Much the opposite. The boat ride itself was great fun, zipping over waves and floating on the rough waters just a few meters away from the jagged coastline was exhilarating. Oh and this: we saw four humpback whales. They are too dangerous to enter the water with, but that was no problem since they seemed content to come to us. One surfaced 3 meters away from the side of the boat I was sitting on. As I was scanning the horizon I nearly fell back into the boat as the nearest water erupted with the largest animal I had ever seen. Truly spectacular.

One other Tofo anecdote warrants telling. One afternoon after playing some beach cricket with two English friends I had made, I joined Bodds and Kulsum sunbathing on the beach. As soon as I arrived, some of the local 11-13 year olds surrounded us to pedal little ankle bands and wrist bands made of shells and beads. Kulsum had orchestrated a race between two of children. The fastest one to complete a headband to her liking would win her business. While they toiled away (impressively using hands, feet, and teeth in unison to complete the process) several other children had joined us and I started chatting about farm animals with a boy named Rodrigo. His family, he was proud to report were the owners of several pigs, chickens, and goats. I told him that my family had chickens too and tried to explain what a sheep was. It was great fun and required Kulsum's Spanish knowledge of farm animals and several expert sand pictograms. One of the best moments had to be when I told Rodrigo about my neighbor, a pig farmer, who had 5,000 pigs. This kept him silent for 30 full seconds. He was reanimated when I told him the medium pigs were 70 kgs. This, he contended was a huge pig and the remark caused wide eyes, nervous laughs, and arm waving from him and his friends. 

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Up Tofo: Good

Beach view from our hostel

Another beach view

In contrast to most activities covered in this blog, the next leg of our travels would take us north. Tales of rough roads, mileage restrictions on our rental, and the early encounter with the local police deterred us from bringing our rental north. Instead we traversed via African Bus, aka a thirteen seat van stuffed with anywhere from 13 to 20 people at a time. It was a cramped and uncomfortable way to spend 10 hours, but each time the van was stopped by a police checkpoint, we closed our eyes and exhaled instead of frantically shuffling through our passports and rental documents in preparation of a bribe.

Furthermore, the guava juice I was served overlooking the beach the next morning proved worth the squeeze into the African Bus. Our destination was Tofo, a small beach town known to be teeming with tourists during the high season and krill that sustained a healthy whale population year round. Again, it appeared that we were lucky to be traveling during the off season.

Our first full day in Tofo was a Sunday. Bodds and Kulsum really wanted to attend a local church service. I had heard that church services in Tanzania lasted the better part of the day, so I opted to divide and conquer with a different set of activities. I was going to find a surf board and later go on a hike.

The church reviews that filtered back to me were very interesting. The event lasted two and half hours. The service was conducted in a tribal language but not an entirely local one. The abundantly friendly congregation sent translators over to help Bodds and Kulsum understand the proceedings. The service was heavily dependant on song and dance. Offering was taken for each visiting minister as well as for the local church. Things culminated in frantic members of the energized congregation talking in tongues and a woman writhing on the floor until exorcized.

My day included more exercise than exorcism. The welcoming local population of Tofo is well characterized through the church congregation that met Bodds and Kulsum with open arms. The expat community's attitude is best represented by my attempts to find a surf board. I had heard that a place a few blocks down rented surf boards, but I arrived to an empty house. As I was about to try a different spot, the owner of the diving school next door poked his head out and yelled that the owner wasn't around today, but the boards were out back. Just keep track of my hours of use and give the owner a couple bucks if I should happen to see him. Very laid back, man. The boarding itself went well enough. I struggled at first to regain my footing, but eventually I found it and finished the day with a consecutive pair of standing runs.

The hike proved a little more out of the ordinary as I walked 5 miles or so up the coastline over wide stretches of cliff-like coral fields that replaced the once sandy beaches. The hike was half climbing and scrambling over grippy coral inhabited by crabs of all sizes. Once or twice a chasm in the coral required me to perform some creative climbs and long jumps. Despite the sharp coral below, I hopped the gaps until I returned to stretches of untouched beach.

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The law won

An innocuous U turn at an unmarked (no light, no signage)  intersection in downtown Maputo caught the attention of a nearby walking cop. The cop leapt into the road, palm showing and arm extended to grab our attention and pull us over. Perhaps mistakenly, we obliged (would he have really chased us on foot, aren't we above the law?).

The cop who pulled us over ended up not speaking enough English to communicate with us, and soon two other cops joined him at the scene. The cop with the best English walked Bodds away from the car and informed him that in order to keep his license we would need to pay a fine on the spot of 3000 medicles or roughly 100 dollars. At this early stage in our stay, we had about seven dollars worth of local currency to our name. Given the immediacy of the cash request and the dubious crime committed, (folks with local plates continued to perform the u turn as we negotiated) this reeked of a bribe

Bodds started the negotiating away from the vehicle-- I spotted his trouble and decided to join him. Under no circumstance would I leave the vehicle instructed otherwise in the US, but in a developing country with a reputation for corruption, I was soon at his side inserting myself into the conversation. I also considered bringing with me the 'bribery snacks' we had purchased in South Africa (snickers and cans of Lipton iced tea) and offering the cops a refreshing beverage. As it were, I approached empty handed but proceeded to throw out  a series of one liners quite inappropriate for a conversation with officers of the law. Some of Bodds and I's best material included:

(Following a statement that the officer would like visit New York)
Greg: well, I definitely won't give you a ticket in New York and ruin your vacation.

(Upon finally producing a US 20 dollar bill to pay the fine)
Bodds: (proudly) the US dollar, the finest currency in the world!

We ended up paying 27 dollars (all our Mozambique currency plus a 20 dollar bill) and leaving the scene. Next time our approach with be refined and I'll definitely be pushing our bribe snacks harder. There is no reason to leave the country with twelve Lipton iced teas. For the next souvenir guess the financial impact of our next run in with the law. Quantify your guess in Mozambique Medicles (30=1 dollar, Lipton iced teas, and stickers bars).

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Striking it Big

Tales of the horrid road conditions in Mozambique turned out to be quite accurate. The 'main' highway from the South Africa to the capital city of Maputo had stretches of dirt and gravel and an average speed of 25 mph. Our arrival into the city was unfortunately under the cover of darkness.

To make matters worse, we had a pretty loose plan of our accommodations and mode of transport north. We were driving somewhat aimlessly around a city with few traffic regulations with only the name of a recommended hostel to guide us. Crowds of people stretched across intersections whenever a gap in traffic appeared. Taxis wove around our tiny car blinking and honking at our slow progress. After stopping at a couple fancy hotels to ask about pricing and the hostel we had heard about, we were guided across the city to what would turn out to be the ultimate find in Fatima's backpacker hostel.

First off, Fatima's, even at the late hour had vacancy. Secondly the price was an unbeatable 11 dollars a bed, a far cry from the 150 dollar cross-town hotels we had just visited. Thirdly, Fatima's offered a super cheap (although crowded, slow, and bumpy tranport north to Tofo, our main destination in Mozambique to following morning. We booked the cheap room and got the first morning transport to Tofo. The bed we a.welcome site. The Transport turned out to be a grueling 10.5 hour can ride with about 25 other people, but considering our late arrival and lack of directions, we hit the jackpot in a safe arrival to Fatima's.

The Eastern influence (heavily Chinese) on Maputo was instantly noticeable. Interestingly, Fatima's is located on Mao Ze Tung Blvd (and hilariously only a few blocks from Kim Il Sung Blvd). Beyond the street names, cars and trucks bore as much Chinese writing as English. Also, as I might have expected based on visiting the Tanzanian coast, Arab influence was also prominently on display. This was evidenced by our dinner locale, a halal and thus alcohol free pizza joint. The Arab, East Asian, and Western world were all on display in the street of Maputo.

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Power Moves at the Mozambique Border

What had all the makings of of a tough border turned out to be quite harmless.

As we approached the South Africa/Mozambique border, Bodds and I both clenched up. We had witnessed scenes like this before. The two lanes heading into Mozambique were impassable, a mix of halted tractor trailers and honking diagonal sedans and buses. We slowed to a crawl and considered entering the fray. We were delayed by the car in front of us throwing it into reverse and accelerating toward us. Confused, we allowed him space until he cleared the central median. At that point, he jumped out of line and 4-ways-a-flickering dove into on coming traffic on the opposite side of the median. We looked at each other and Kulsum commanded that we follow. Timidly at first, we engaged three 18 wheelers in a game of chicken. Each time, the big rigs pulled into their shoulder just enough to provide us passage at the last minute. We bit our nails and passed the whole traffic mess on the wrong side of the highway.

Just as we were declaring victory through relieved high fives and cries that we were 'above the law', we pulled up to immigration offices. As we parked the car, the flurry of pseudo officials were drawn to the tiny Chevy likes moths to flame. As we emerged from the vehicle we were met by a chorus of Afrikaans, English, and Portuguese greetings. This we were more prepared for, and we shouldered our way past our tip seeking welcomers. The assistance proved particularly superfluous, as a series of short lines and paperwork later we were back in the car and headed toward Maputo. The border seemed to be one of the easiest I've crossed by car although perhaps partially due to our initial boldness.

We did pick up one clingy border helper. I bodied him out while Bodds filled out the paperwork and entertained him with attempts to count to 10 in Portuguese. He was nothing if not persistent, but we ended up not requiring his help as we traveled from line to line stamping passports and showing off our previously acquired visas.

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En Route to Kruger

The three of us pose in front of our rented comically small Chevy Spark Light

Inside our Hoedespruit bnb

Another shot of the Hoedespruit rental

"Potholes," one of the river features in Blyde canyon

Finished with Cape Town, we flew back to Johannesburg, rented a car, and made for the Mozambique/South Africa border. We had one last stop to make in the fictitious-sounding town of Hoedespruit. Hoedespruit is ideally located between Kruger Park (home of the many animals you've been furiously guessing) and Blyde Canyon (a massive canyon that maintains rainforest-like climate due to the massive amount of water evaporating off waterfalls and rivers at the bottom).

Hoedespruit had more to offer than just its great proximity. The town has many private game reserves within 20 miles. We scored a great deal through air bnb to stay on one of the reserves. Our hosts, the Zimbabwe-born Ron and his daughter Angela,  provided a guest house without rival as well as access to their truck and safari 4x4 for local wildlife viewing. We got up close and personal with giraffes, impala, and zebras having hardly left our rental.

The designation of main event would still belong to Krugar. We only spent an afternoon in the park, but managed to find hippos, which I had never seen, a leopard, which even frequent spyers often miss, and dueling elephants. I kept track of the Esser Big Five though. The final tally was 23 elephants, 22 giraffes, 9 hippos, 1 lion, and no rhinos. as a side note and a bit of a downer (sorry), it's actually quite sad the alarming rate that rhinos are disappearing, poached for their horns. We heard that south Africa has had over 500 rhinos poached this year, a rate that will have them extinct in 15 year's time. In case you are using rhino horn for any of your home remedies, knock it off.

Anyways, I think both Katharine and Sean guessed the order correctly. Katharine crushed the tie breaker though and was just one giraffe off. Many guesses only flipped lions and hippos. By all accounts we had surprisingly low attendance from the king of the animal kingdom. Thanks all for reading and guessing.

Blyde also proved sharp. We enjoyed the outlooks over the misty canyons below, but my favorite part had to be the short trail run that we completed. It felt good to stretch our legs between car rides and break a sweat in the dry air. Again and again, the run opened up into vistas that took away what little breathe remained in me.

Posted via Blogaway

Posted via Blogaway

Jumping the Shark

We got picked up from Reezan's house in downtown Cape Town at 5:20am. With sleep still in our eyes, we were whisked two hours east of the city and briefed about 'Shark Alley,' the natural channel to the east of 'Seal Island.' It could expected that these waters would be teeming with shark activity since 60,000 seals--yes sixty thousand-- take up residence on the jagged offshore crags. At around 830am, the anchor dropped and we had the first real briefing with our captain and guide.

Up until this briefing, I had grown increasingly nervous. Being in the water with the sharks didn't seem so bad, but I had never used diving equipment before and didn't know how I would fare on open choppy water. My fears were soon relieved. The dive cage would be attached to the boat and the only equipment required was a scuba mask and a wet suit. Even as the guide laid on his thickest jokes about how he had never seen someone lose both arms in one day, but it was only his second day, I was most relieved to know that I wouldn't need to watch my air meter or worry about severing my own breathing tubes. The cage had metal crossbars the could be used to dunk to the bottom of the cage and remain until the shark had passed or breathe had run out. Seven people entered the cage at once while one person on the top deck of the boat called out approaching sharks and instructed the caged to dunk. The only two serious danger warnings were to abide by the calls to dunk and to keep toes and fingers away from the outer portions of the cage. The warning to dunk on command was due to the unique great whites in south Africa that would actually breach out of the water. The diving as well as the breaching watched from the deck was truly awesome. The whole experience was exhilarating and well worth it. I fired up the go pro and should eventually have some footage once I get a reasonable internet connection.

Hunting the Big Five

The last one hundred years or more of foreign visitors to South Africa has been marred by poaching. Hunters sought to kill and mount "the big five," the African buffalo, the rhino, the lion, the leopard, and the elephant. My game will of course not be to hunt, but to capture the "Big 5" on film. I think I'll change the paradigm further though, but subbing out the animals I am less interested in. Buffaloes are clearly out because giraffes, hello? Leopards are seriously hard to find so hippos. Let's call this 'The Esser Big Five.' These are the five animals I'll be looking for the hardest during our visit to Kruger National Park in two days.

What I need from you is an ordered guess or which of these animals will be the most sighted during my first day in the park. Order the Esser Big Five and I'll keep a tally. The best guess will score an African bottle of liqueur or sash or something. Take a peek back to the end of my last trip to find out what a good gift giver I  am. For a tie breaker, let's say you also provide the number of what, from my experience has been the easiest to spot and count animal on my list, the giraffe. Let's get some guesses in the comments below.

Oh yeah, I went great while shark diving yesterday, but as internet runs out, that's a blog for another time. Best. Cliff. Hanger. EVER. Jaws etc.

Enjoy Some Penguin Picts

Tasting wine with our lovely hosts, Rezaan and Dani

Many penguins covered the beaches

And sometimes a lonely penguin sought refuge from the winds in the local succulents

We headed South from Cape Town, something one cannot do for long without a boat. Our travels netted sights and sounds special to the Cape Town area:

1. Penguins
2. Wine Tasting
3. Ocean cliffs

Table-Topped

A view from the top

A hard to see front ridge forms a gorge between main 'peak'. This is where we ascended.

So we've had a whirlwind of activity since arriving in Cape Town. Our accommodations have been top notch, courtesy of a college friend of mine, Rezaan. He just purchased an apartment in Green Point, a residential leaning downtown area. He has a guest bedroom and prime location for all of our activities.

Fresh off my full day of flying, it was time to get my legs back in gear. We decided to scale the 1050 meter Table Mountain that looms in the backdrop of most Cape Town panoramas. My perception of the hike was that it would be leisurely. With a daily high temperature of 65 or so, this seemed to indicate that jeans and a long sleeve t shirt would be a good choice. It was not. After the first 15 minutes of the upward scramble, I had sweated through the shirt and rolled the jeans to a hipster mid ankle ( thus revealing my Ethiopian socks of course). This garb caught the attention of several better prepared passerbyers who questioned our (but really MY ability to make it to the top). We insisted that we would make it, and eventually we did. But what should have been a comfortable shorts and t shirt (maybe even  broomicorns tank top?) hike, I'm sure appeared like my greatest physical accomplishment to date based on the sweat cascading down my forehead.

The ascent was well worth it. The top of Table Mountain was unsurprisingly a vast flat plateau perfect for picnicking and bird watching. We spotted a wide variety of hummingbirds in particular. When it was time to head back, we opted for the cable car (gondola) and enjoyed the cape-scape as we glided downward.

Safe Arrival

The Johannesburg Apartheid Museum

What!? Ethiopian Airlines gives free socks?!?

The 24+ hours of travel required to get to Africa with anything less than a direct flight is in the books. My route was a particularly round about one. My original flight intended Johannesburg as my final destination via Addis Abba, the capital of Ethiopia. Last week, I decided to tack on a final transfer to Cape Town, but only after an eight hour layover in Joburg.

Needless to say, I was not going to hold tight in Johannesburg airport for 8 hours. I had an email from Bodds and Kulsum that they planned on being at the Apartheid museum that day. I decided it would be awesome and a little unexpected if I could meet them there rather than at our departure gate that evening. To save time and hassle, I hustled out of the airport upon arrival to hail a cab. While it was certainly quick and hassle-free this approach proved costly to the tune of a 48 dollar fare. To make matters worse, I failed to locate my travel companions and their rental car once at the museum. I considered pulling "the lost child" and hailing them over the intercom, but thought it would distinctly break the mood for other museum attendees learning about the South African government's attempts to define and segregate the population. Despite our later realization that we had in fact, been at the museum at the same time, I failed to find them.

Without an easy ride back to the airport and unwilling to double down on a second expensive cab ride, I started to approach some of the guys working at the museum for the cheapest solutions to my dilemma. A guy named Johannes was already running two friends back to the city center after his shift concluded. He offered me a lift to a 'local' taxi stand back downtown (and closer the the airport). The decision would culminate with me jammed in the back of a full size van with at least 18 locals plus driver on the late night casino/airport run. It paid huge dividends-the return trip put me back $1.50, a far cry from the $48 taxi cab ride to the museum.

Make plans to break plans

So a loose plan of attack for the journey is to fly into Cape town on Friday the 11th and stay with Rezaan, a college friend. We'll exhaust our welcome by Tuesday, and fly up to Johannesburg- we considered driving it, but were surprised when told to expect 15 hours in the car.

That evening we'll rent a car and head to Kruger Park. We have an air bnb reserved and a few choice hikes and safaris on the docket for Kruger. After a few days, we'll head to Mozambique starting at the capital and heading north. There is a place 8 hours to the north that is supposed to have the quintessential  tropical island experience. We are hoping to make that which requires passing through Tofu, another attractive destination.

After the Mozambique travels are complete, we'll skip back to Johannesburg where Bodds has an early flight home. My flight is 36 hours later. I don't expect it to be difficult to occupy myself for the remaining time.

Heading South Again

Another sizable chunk of vacation time has been saved. A new destination has been set. This time, I am heading to South Africa and Mozambique. South Africa has the proper mix of history, social interest, and adventure. Mozambique is rumored as one of the most accessible unspoiled places left on our blue marble.

I am over the luxury of having my car in tow. That and I mistakenly forgot it in Costa Rica. This time, I've slimmed down and I'll be traveling just with the pack on my back. Where I've slimmed down in accessories, I've beefed up in company. No, Bodds has not put on weight! Instead the two of us will be joined by his girlfriend, Kulsum. I hope she's ok with being a third wheel.

All that said, I'm firing up the part-time/blog part-time travel log again. I hope to have some interesting and interactive content. I can't possibly get everyone a souvenir, so you will have to win it! Follow along from your desk, porch, or morning  metro commute. I hope to have videos and pictures galore courtesy of a Kindle Fire and Go Pro combination. I'll try doubly hard not to lose this one in the ocean since it belongs to my brother, Sam.

Check out the first of many pictures above for the paltry contents of my pack. Oh yeah, and add a toothbrush to that.