…means ‘Merry Christmas’ in Portuguese. I bought myself a present for Christmas – a cadbury’s chocolate bar. Those who know me will find this unsurprising. Although melted and slightly old, I was thrilled that it was sugar and savoured it delicately over the course of the minute or so that it took to devour. Read the rest of this entry »
I am lying flat on my back on Bazaruto Island. We stopped here for lunch and the wind has picked up from a whisper to a proper sea breeze. Lying down on a straw maton the shore and watching life pass by, it becomes harder to imagine the world where answering the telephone is important, where I would get wound into such a tight ball over people’s expectations. It is also difficult to to get up. Tired as my sunburnedm salted, wind-blasted body has been from two days spent mostly at sea, the simple, restful calm and chance at momentary recovery that shade, a straw mat and no immediate need to be anywhere represents, is bliss. The entire experience is not unlike what being lost somewhere like the Caribbean must be like. I imagine. Read the rest of this entry »
On this day, last year, we had spent a day so far in Luang Prabhang, and I was trekking through the city looking at temples and sharing the experience with close friends. This christmas eve, I am alone, but woke up in a tent somewhere west of Bazaruto Island, and watched the sun rise over the Indian Ocean. Much of the rest of the day will have me braving the dhow to some local reefs and another of the archipelago islands. It’s not, I realise, the way that christmas eve is traditionally spent, but I don’t regret it. I feel I am stronger today for feeling that growing history of travel, marked by this day.
Another (more or less) twenty four hours, and a wealth of new things seen and done. Shortly after finishing yesterday’s post and realising that the two barmen had a musical preference for Gorillaz, we ended up crowded around my laptop, watching various music videos. One thing leading to another, conversation starts and I ended up talking until midnight with the manager of the backpackers, Sabrina.
Departing Johannesburg International Airport for Maputo, I picked up a copy of Falling off the Edge: Globalisation, World Peace & Other Lies by James Perry, African Bureau Chief for Time Magazine. In the book, he argues compellingly for the simple conclusion that globalisation causes wars. Incidental to this is are some fascinating analyses of the causes of the rise of the new global left under the leadership of personalities such as Hugo Chavez, and the (argued) globalisation/economic roots of many of the developed world’s anti-western insurgencies – from the likes of the more populist Al Quaeda, to lesser known (in the developed West) groups such as the Shining Path and India’s Naxalites. Read the rest of this entry »
Today was spent rather restfully. Walking at least two circuits of town and being back at the backpackers by 12 really highlights the (non) size of the place. The Bazaruto islands sitting just off the shore have been teasing me since I arrived, so I have made a tentative arrangement to do an overnight dhow safari to see the islands, with camping and seafood dinners included. Given that everything here is a seafood dinner, that is not as pretentious as it sounds, but I am nevertheless excited at the prospect. This may also mean that updates will disappear, along with me, for a few days.
…then I would have been able to post much sooner. Alas, it is not. Nor is it a coconut, and so I have not been able to get to a computer until just now to post on experiences had so far.
Today saw me waking at 5am (without an alarm clock – so proud) to catch the bus to Vilanculos which, I had decided, would be as good a place as any to spend the next few days. It is near the Bazaruto Archipelago, with some of the most amazing diving and beaches in the region, and is one of the largest towns (a very relative term) which I may not get to see with my friends when they arrive in Maputo in just over a week. Read the rest of this entry »
I am frequently skeptical of second hand travel advice, whether from well-intentioned friends or official sources such as the Lonely Planet guidebook – feeling that things cannot surely be that cheap, dirty, hot, or under-developed. In the case of Maputo, however, my sources appear to have had it correct on at least a few counts. Read the rest of this entry »
This is a quick note to let the world know I have in fact arrived here safely. Tomorrow I will be heading to Vilanculos for a few days and will compose a more complete narrative of today’s events this evening. Intermittent (nonexistent) internet means that said account will only be likely to be posted here some time late tomorrow at the earliest.
In the absence of security, I make my way into the night.
George Michael – Fastlove
Waking up to head to the airport in 5 hours. Better get some sleep. When I returned from Asia, there was a definite period of shedding the skin I wore there and re-settling into the ‘normal’ world. It feels now as if that process has started again in reverse, that I am putting on that travelling skin again and going back to where that Richard is happiest. To a world of change and uncertainty, a world of delicious discovery.