indian26

O.k, so I bet you are wondering why I titled this blog entry after a children’s song. Well, I could not think of a more appropriate song to describe my bus trip across Mozambique. Wait, let’s back up....

The Mozambican government is holding a census, and as a result, has canceled school for one month to conduct the census. So, my fellow PCV and I decided to travel to northern Mozambique to see how different it is from the south. Since I am traveling on just my PC allowance, I could not afford to fly round trip. So, we decided to hitchhike, take buses, or any other form of transportation heading north. This may seem like an easy task, but it was very challenging at some times.

We started at my house in Gaza Province and got a ride up to Vilanculos in Inhambane Province. The trip only took 6 hours. We stayed with two PCVs for a few days. Vilanculos is the starting point for the Bazaruto Islands, so it is a heavy tourist spot in Mozambique. We just chilled out on the beach for a few days and enjoyed the breeze. It was too cold to go swimming.

We left my friend’s house at 3:30am to catch the bus that leaves at 4:30. Even though we had bought our bus tickets in advance, it was recommended to get their early to get a seat. The bus was packed when we got there, but luckily we were able to sit in the front row, next to the driver. There is more leg room up in the front. The bus didn’t leave until 5:30am and then it took us 7 hours to reach a junction in the road. We had to get out and transfer buses to travel the last hour to Chimoio. Again, we stayed with a PCV in Chimoio. The next morning, we woke up and caught a chapa (mini bus) to Manica city to hike the mountains and check out some ancient rock paintings. We then ate lunch and headed back to Chimoio.

We got up early again to head to the bus station to catch a bus headed to Caia. Caia is on the border of the Zambezi River. We decided to stay with another PCV in Caia for a few days. Caia is a really nice town. They have bike taxis that will take you down to the river or anywhere in town. You just sit on this metal shelf on the back of the bike, and put your legs over the back tire. It costs about 40 cents to go 1 mile. We didn’t take the bike taxi because we wanted to hike around. I really liked Caia because it seemed like a ªrealª African town. There were a lot of mud houses, dirt roads, bike taxis, and a big market. I really liked seeing the mud houses, especially the ones that were made with the really dark mud. In my province, there aren’t many mud houses. People either live in reed houses, grass houses, or cement houses. There are some people in my town that cover their reed houses in mud, but it isn’t that common.

So, we decided to keep heading up north along EN-1, which is the main road north through the whole country. My friend and I waited on the side of the road to get a ride to the river to cross it and then catch a bus to Mocuba. We were lucky to get a ride with some International Red Cross workers. We drove 10 minutes to the ferry and then had to wait four hours for the ferry to leave. It was very foggy out, so we had to wait for it to clear up before they could run the ferry. So, I spend four hours walking around the market and talking to random people. I met a returned PCV who is doing graduate research in Mozambique. He is a student at the University of Michigan. I was happy to meet someone from my home state.... Then, the ferry finally started to work. For safety reasons, they only allow the driver to be in the car on the ferry, so all passengers had to get off and wait. After two trips, we were finally allowed to board the ferry and had to stand behind all of the cars. It was only a two minute ferry ride across the Zambezi River. The ferry doesn’t totally reach the other shore, so we had to jump across or walk in the water. After I jumped across, this guy looks at me and says: Teacher Jill, how are you? I could not believe that I ran into someone from my town this far north. It was such a great feeling... After we got back into the Red Cross truck, we rode for two more hours to another junction. Then, we said goodbye to our Red Cross friends and got into another truck/bus for two more hours. We finally made it to Mocuba at 4pm.

Mocuba was a small city and easy to get around. Their are two PCVs in Mocuba and they were nice enough to show us around town and to take us to the local river.

After resting for two days in Mocuba, we got on another bus and traveled north to Murrupula, which is in Nampula Province. The two PCVs in Murrupula live in mud houses and grass roofs. Everyone in their town lives in mud houses. I slept two nights in a hammock outside, even though it was cold. We hiked out to the mountains in Murrupula.

The bus ride from Murrupula to Nampula City took a few hours because the bus was very slow. The bus was so crowded and I had to stand the whole way. Luckily, there was a bar to hang on to. Some times, there were so many people packed into the bus where I didn’t have to hold on to the bar because we were packed in like sardines. I know I should have been irritated because I was so crowded, but instead I found myself laughing at the situation. What an adventure...

After spending a few days in Nampula City, my PCV friend and I parted. She went to Malawi with other PCVs and I went to Ilha De Mozambique by myself. It was very stressful traveling with someone 24/7, so I was happy we went our own ways. I took a bus to Ilha and stayed at a hostel for two nights. The island is small, so it was easy to walk around and take pictures. I also read a lot. I would just find a bench, sit and read, and then move to another bench and sit and read more. It was very relaxing. Ilha is a really historical site in Mozambique and southern Africa. I could definitely see the Arab, Indian, and Portuguese influence on Ilha.

Now, I am flying back to Maputo and will head back to site soon. Now, I am flying back to Maputo and will head back to site soon. Overall, I have traveled 44 hours by bus, car, or chapa. That does not include the time I spent waiting for the bus to fill up and leave. Or it does not include the time I spent waiting on the side of the road for a car or chapa to go by.

I am glad that I traveled to northern Mozambique. It was different than the south. The roads are worse up here and take a really long time to travel. So, that is why our journey was 7 or 8 hour bus/truck rides. And sometimes there are not even buses up here, just trucks with benches in the back.