a way

In Portland OR. On the move.

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Matemwe, Zanzibar.  Northeastern side of the island. 

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Sights from the road in Zanzibar. (yes, that is a cow carcass on a moped)

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In Zanzibar, after a day in Old Town we rented a car & drove as far a way from the “hustle & bustle” as we could. We used an illustrated map, along with a hand drawn one to find our way through the island. Getting lost was the highlight because we got to see the rural village. 

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Travel is magic. To place your body in a different place & culture. To spend days exploring & contemplating.  To be left speechless, to be left feeling so foreign and insecure yet at the same time more connected to the earth and to fellow humans. To appreciate everyday things that are so familiar yet different. These are the reasons I love travel, to experience everyday things for the first time. To observe and appreciate that raw beauty of human existence.   

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A journey of observation must leave as much as possible to chance. Random movement is the best plan for maximum observation

Tahir Shah

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All around Mozambique turned out to be trickier than anticipated. We don't really make plans on our travels but we had thoughts about Moz. We thought we'd stay for 6 weeks, we thought we would do a couple week woofing or work-away, we thought we would dive up & down the coast...

A couple countries away we started hearing about the civil unrest. The refugees fleeing Malawi and no go zones. Practically since independence from the Portugese in 1974, Mozambiqians have had dealt with political problems. They survived a 16yr civil war and since the peace agreement there has been widespread speculations of voter fraud. In addition large sums of money have been pocketed by the leaders.  The question here is which is the first problem, corruption or education.   This is obviously not unique to Mozambique, all of Africa has been robbed over and over and over. From slaves to ivory to minerals, the recent leak of Panama papers shows the amount of natural resources & money being funneled out of the continent. Never reaping the benefit of their rich land, never being compensated for the injustice.

Same shit different flies, our historian guide tells us. The same players today as in the civil war, Frelimo, the current party in power & Renamo, ”the guerrillas in the bush”. Renamo is widely thought to have won as least 2 elections in the past decade.  Only time will tell the path of Mozambique. The multi-national corporations are waiting on the shores for things to quite down, there’s oil under the ocean. Something the first world needs for survival, unlike Africans, they can survive on very little.

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Stepping back in time and at an African pace we reached Ibo Island in the heart of the Quirimbas Archipelago. A fascinating place with a rich history, similar to Ilha de Mozambique. It's known history started as a Muslim trading post in the 15th century, with Indian, Chinese & local traders to an important Portuguese slave-trading port up to the 18th century.

Today its a quiet and slow island with wide sandy streets lined with dilapidated villas and crumbling, moss-covered buildings. We counted 4 vehicles, 12 motor bikes, and 8 tourists on the island. Days on the island are dictated by the tides, the sun & the wind. The island has an airport but it is quite expensive & only used for passenger travel not importing goods. Therefore, everything that comes to Ibo comes by wooden dhow boat. Getting to know the local expats helped us to understand how one leaves 'civilization' & sets up life on the  island.  

A little sickness and some windy days kept us from island hopping, but we did a mangrove hike to another island, a cultural tour, and some scuba diving.    

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Leaving Mozambique Island, all signs pointed north towards the secluded Quirimbas Archipelago. The city of Pemba is the gateway and stopping off point to the Archipelago.  Unbenounced to us, a slice of paradise was found just south of Pemba on Murrebue beach - a deserted, long, clean, and beautiful beach. A great place to spend a couple days and get into some art projects and beach-combing.

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After Jambesse, it was an easy (and much welcomed) travel day of a whole 20 minutes to get to Ilha de Mocambique. Mozambique Island is a Unesco World Heritage Site with a rich history as an important boat-building center and trading settlement dating back to the 15th century. It was the capital of Portugese East Africa for 300 years with ties to Madagascar, Persia, Arabia, and India. This ethnic mix, along with Muslim influence and the local Makua culture, dominates life today on the island.

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We found a volunteer opportunity at a cultural center in a village called Jambesse, on the coast right before entering Ilha de Mocambique. We really didn't know what we were getting into as the person we were corresponding with is Spanish and not on location... We arrived to a warm yet awkward welcome due to the language barrier. A young husband & wife currently run the show, Dois & Vickie, along with Dois' little sister, Salima. It is a 'hostel' in a traditional African family home with a cultural center in the front that functions as a space for a pre-school & after school programs for children 8-12. The home is middle class for the area. It's constructed of bamboo & stones with clay-concrete stucco over the top. The roof is mangrove wood with palm leaves layered. The beds were traditional woven palm leaves strung to wood & elevated off the floor. The toilet was a hole in the ground. The kitchen was a wood stove & cabinet for dishes. Life was lived outside. Electricity came & went. Water was gathered everyday from the well 100 meters away.

We spent 5 nights in Jambesse and built 6 benches for the center & one taller table for washing dishes or clothes. Chris installed a new lock & light switch. We played with the kids & danced almost everyday at 4 (or whenever).      

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Ahhh Mozambique... The love/hate relationship started before we even set foot in the country. After trying to obtain a visa in three different capital-city embassies, we were finally told to just 'get our visa at the border crossing'.  Border crossings in general are usually anxiety-ridden enough, then add to that notoriously corrupt officials that speak a language you don't (Portuguese), that may or may not choose to issue you a visa, and you are left with sweaty palms and a nervously beating heart. However, like most worries in life, they never came to fruition and it was down the road we went. After a couple more early mornings, cramming into buses on dusty roads, we were back on the shores of the Indian Ocean, in Jambesse, near Mozambique Island.