After a few days not doing much in Maputo, it was time to hit the road and see what overland travel in Mozambique is all about. I had had a few days not doing much in the city (except for eating and catching up on a few TV shows), so with a plan to get to Malawi, I decided to head north and book a flight to Pemba, Mozambique (not Pemba, Tanzania). To do the trip overland would take around 4 days using public transport, and I don’t really have the time (or patience) for that so I opted to fly.
My flight left at 9am but apparently I was only expected to be at the airport at 8am. I thought I was leaving it a bit fine only showing up an hour beforehand, but we boarded the plan late anyways. We did however depart on time, and landed at around 11:30am in Pemba. From there I caught a cab to Pemba Magic Lodge where I had booked a dorm for the night.
Rice, beans and matapa (cassava leaves) ... vegetarian Moz food (pretty tasty)
After being in a city for the past few days, getting to the beach was nice. Pemba Magic Lodge was located outside of town on Wimbe Beach, so I spent the afternoon walking around and along it. There really wasn’t much else to do in Pemba, so I set about figuring out how to get to Ibo Island the next day, one of the main attractions I wanted to see in Northern Mozambique. Ibo Island is the main point for the Quirimba Archipelago, so I was hoping to go see some islands and hopefully go snorkelling. To get there I would need to catch a taxi at 3:30am to go into town where I would board a chapa (minibus) to the port where I would then take a boat to the island.
I went to bed early that night, knowing I was only going to be able to get a few hours sleep. At 3:30am I was ready and waiting for my taxi to take me into town. It was 20 minutes late. After stopping by the bank to withdraw some money, I got taken to the point where chapas go towards Quisanga. There was a bus there, however it appeared to be broken down. I was unsure of what was happening exactly, but there was a pick-up truck waiting there as well heading to the same place and I was told to get in. I was a bit hesitant, and not keen on riding in the back for the whole journey, but I was thankfully given a seat in the front. ‘This is Africa’.
By this point it was after 4:30am and there were few passengers. For the next hour and a half the truck drove around town, with the guy on the back shouting out “Quisanga” looking for more pay customers. We went along the same route several times, to the exact same spots waiting for people until the sun rose and it seemed to be decided that we finally leave Pemba.
Pemba to Quisanga is 113km (according to Google Maps), and I was very glad I was not sitting in the back of the truck as it would have been a very uncomfortable ride, not that it was much better in the front. It was a bumpy dirt road the whole way through, with many, many dips. I somehow managed to get a bit of sleep on the way, but the constant jumping up and down prevented me from getting too much. We had left Pemba at around 6am, but managed to get to the point to catch the boat at 9:30am. We had made pretty good time but it had felt like double that time had gone by in the truck.
Broken down for a few minutes ...
Dusty, bumpy roads the whole way through
Getting to Ibo Island is dependent on it being a high tide, so originally I thought I thought I would have to wait a few hours, but I was able to board almost immediately. After wading out into knee-high water and climbing onto the dhow, which was crammed full of people, luggage, planks of wood and a motorbike, I had to sit and wait. I had a seat facing the front, but soon realised that people were avoiding this spot because of all the spray from the ocean. It was a calm trip though. I hadn’t any idea how long the boat ride would take, and had assumed it would be around 15 minutes. But we had spent 45 minutes waiting for the boat to fill up with people and items, and then another hour or so sailing. All of this sitting in the hot sun. Luckily my sunscreen was within easy reach, but as per usual I failed to put it properly in some areas (or it just sweated off, it was that hot), and I got burnt again. Not great.
It was close to 12pm when we finally reached Ibo Island. I had been up for 9 hours already, was extremely tired and hungry, and now had to find my way to Karibune, a place I had found online and was one of the (very) few places on the islands that seemed to fit my budget. For 700 meticais ($13aud) I got a private room and bathroom, although it is a bucket shower and toilet - both of which I wasn’t keen on. The room is okay, the mosquito net has a few holes and I may have found a spider (actually two) in the bed sheets (which are now thrown on the floor), but the the other hotels are four times the price (and the one I looked at still uses a bucket shower and toiler anyways) so I think I will just suck it up for the night and hope there aren’t too many weird bugs.
After arriving I was very hungry as I hadn’t eaten all day. I went in search of a restaurant, but I basically walked the length of the island twice before finding anything. It’s the low season, so there are very few tourists (last night at Pemba someone told me that there are probably 5 or 6 tourists on the island at the moment …) and many of the hotels and restaurants have just completely closed up. Not that there that were very many to begin with. I continued walking around (“mazungu! Mazungu”), until a young boy came up to me and said he would show me a restaurant. I’m not sure how he knew I was looking for food, but he did, and he took me to a place where I could get some rice, beans and matapa (cassava leaveas and coconut).
It was all local food, which is what I was looking for, and my new 11 year old friend and I had a pretty good meal. After eating a lot of spaghetti the past few weeks, its nice to be eating rice again (especially coconut rice!). The meal fed the two of us easily for 300 meticais (less than $6aud), and was definitely what I needed. I think the guy was a bit desperate for business because it is the low season so I was happy to give it, but then he started asking if I was married so I made up a fictitious boyfriend and got out of there quickly.
The island was nice to walk around, and despite being stared at a lot, I felt pretty safe – definitely different to say walking around and being stared at in Antananarivo. There are no cars, I’ve only seen motorcycles and this one tractor and only a few small “shops”. I had a good time walking around, but it was so, so, so hot.
Apparently there is a group of 9 people arriving on the island tomorrow and about to go and see some of the Quirimba Archipelago, which will include camping on an island. A guide came up to me and asked if I wanted to join the group when they arrive tomorrow morning, and I agreed as it will be a lot cheaper for me to do it with other people than by myself. He said he would come by and speak to me at 6:30pm tonight, but it’s now nearly 8:30 and he is no where to be seen …hopefully it all goes to plan though as I really want to go camping on the beach!
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