Day 1
I left Pemba for Mocuba, Zambezia. Took the morning bus to Nampula then a combination of chapas and trucks got me the rest of the way.
This was my first time south of Nampula so I was a little nervous. The day
before I was interrogating everyone that traveled the road before. How much
was the ride? Where did you stop? How long did it take?
That’s always the key question in Mozambique-
how long did it take? Poor road conditions and flexible schedules can
leave people stranded in places they weren’t planning on. so, how long did it take? I left Pemba at 4
am and arrived in Mocuba after dark - at some point time lost its importance.
Day 2
As is my policy when traveling, I woke up before
dawn. I made my way over to the the chapa station. What I found was an empty
station with a lone chapa. The driver was sleeping in the front. As I
approached he woke up and rolled down the window “Milange?”
Me -- “Sim” Yes
Him --“Vamos juntos. Entra” - We go together. Get
in.
Me -- “Estou bem. Vou esperar afora” - I’m good. I’ll
wait outside.
I waited for all of two minutes before I got
impatient and walked to the road. After an eternity of twenty minutes, a truck
drove by and I jumped in. Five hours later, I was at the border. I was giddy with the idea that I made the right decision. The chapa never passed us. the driver was safe and nice the whole time. It was a comfortable and beautiful ride. I was in Milange by eleven, I had time to find a restaurant, eat lunch, and relax
before crossing the border.
After lunch I crossed the border
(including a 200 met bribe because I forgot my yellow fever card at home) and
CH met me at the border.
CH was in Malawi working on a research
project for her MPH. She’d been living and working with a Malawian Nurse in
Milange (on the Malawian side). Her
colleagues gave us a ride to Blantyre and we stayed there for the
night.
It was interesting to see the slight
differences and similarities between Malawi and Mozambique. The big obvious one
was the English- it was no longer my secret language when walking through the
market. However, like in Mozambique most people speak the local language on a
daily basis. In Blantyre it was Chichewa. English is only used for government,
school, and talking to lost foreigners. What was more interesting was the
variation in houses. The red brick instead of stick and mud houses that dotted
the country side. It gave the country a sense of .... development? I know nothing about the quality of brinks but the style just reminded me of home.
But, there wasn’t time to dwell on bricks or the way women wrap their children to their back (with towels?!) -- On to Harare!
Day 3
7 am bus to Harare, Zimbabwe. We took the national
bus company, Zupco. It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t clean but it left on time and
the seats were in a permanent recline. The route took us through Tete Province of
Mozambique, and CH got to experience the bureaucracy of Mozambique
and forced to pay $70 just to drive three hours through the country.
We made it to Harare after dark, but the driver
of the bus went out of his way to get us a taxi to our hostel. We crashed and
the next morning we were out of there.
Day 4
Another bus, this time we got the CHIIIIIQQQUIIII (nice) Intercape bus: TV, footrest and CLEAN.
This was a short ride, only five hours. Bulawayo was bigger
and more developed than I expected. We walked around, had lunch, and went food
shopping. I’m glad we did because Victoria Falls was expensive. But, subsisting on
peanut butter and bread is part of the adventure.
We
boarded the night train to the Falls. The train is a relic from the colonial
days- seemingly untouched. CH and I shared a 4 person sleeper car with two other women. One was about our age, the older a mother. She was in Bulawayo attending her son's wedding. She wore an ornate capulana dress with the matching head wrap. She looked like a women who was used to getting her way. I marveled at her as she played Bejeweled on her tablet.
As it got darker, we set up the bunk beds. I took my time putting my phone, kindle, toiletry bag, and hiking pack in the various compartments. I imagined the thousands of people - probably racist colonialists- that took this train. The change of power it saw. The miracle that it was still running; the fragility of it, the power of it.
Day 5
I was told that the view of Victoria Falls from the train is NOT to be missed. Eh. It was gorgeous, but I think the image I had in my mind was ... nonexistent. It was cloudy that morning so we didn't see the Falls, but waaaayyy before entering the city you could hear the rumbles of the water.
We
arrived about three hours late at 11:00am. And, after arguing with the first cab
driver trying to charge us $6 for a $3 ride, we made it to our hostel. I loved
it. It was cute, clean and cheap. Everything a girl needs. CH and I decided to
go to a night safari. It was our big splurge on the trip.
Day 6
Six days
after starting the journey, we finally made it to the falls! It was gorgeous. I
could’ve spent the entire day just walking back and forth to all the look out
points. But then I wouldn’t have had time to eat at all the fancy restaurants. The actual waterfall didn't take long to walk through. We waked around from maybe 30 minutes then walked along the border of Zimbabwe and Zambia. Then spent the afternoon in town - eating amazing food. CH and I didn't have a lot of money to spend so we decided to take a detour back to Harare...
Day 7
We started
the day at the Look Out Point Café, enjoyed a lazy afternoon, including a full
body massage in the city and packed up our tent. Instead of spending a day at the Falls trying NOT to spend money, we decided to go to Great Zimbabwe. A days travel away but it was on the way to Mozambique/Harare. This meant another night train back to
Bulawayo.
Day 8.
Train.
Bus. We arrived late to Masvingo and luckily for me my travel buddy wasn’t
comfortable roaming the streets of a new city looking for a cheap hostel. She
splurged on a hotel. Running water, private bathroom, and a TV. Basically, Heaven.
Day 9
We took a
minibus (chapa) to the Great Zimbabwe National Park. And when I say Minibus, I mean NOT A CHAPA. Yes, it was shaped like a chapa but oh, how clean it was! We were dropped off on the
edge of the Great Zimbabwe Hotel. It took about 15 minutes to walk to the
entrance of the park.
Great Zimbabwe
is a collection of stone ruins that once served as the capital for an ancient
city that existed from the 11th to 14th century. I loved
the museum. It was wonderful seeing the history of Zimbabwe with little
reference to colonial interference. After it’s independence from Great Britain
the new government chose the name Zimbabwe from this great ruin. The people
clearly take a lot of pride in this site; we saw several families and school
groups on trips at the park.
I was a little sad to see that it was possible to camp and dorm at the park - but we didn't have time for that.
Day 10
Cheryl
and I went our separate ways. She went north to Harare for her flight back to
the states. I went east towards Mozambique. This time I was passing through
Chimoio, Province of Manica.
On the
mini bus to the border town of Mutare I met a fellow Teacher Trainer. She was
sweet, funny and offered me a ride from the bus station to the city center. Her
car was parked at the Teacher Training Institute and I was able to get a
glimpse of the school. It was like walking into a bizarre alternative universe.
This is what my school could look like, with proper funding, motivation, and
ability. Of course all of this comes from a glimpse. But just in that glimpse,
I saw a clean school, an attentive guard, a water fountain and… AND a huge sign
at the front of a building that read “Learning Disability Resource Center”. I
was amazed, I had never heard of a Disability Resource center during my one and
a half years in Moz.
A quick
hitchhike later and I was in Chimoio by lunch time.
Day 11
I stayed
the night at a fellow PCV’s house and took a day to explore Chimoio. It was
nice to be speaking Portuguese again – I always have this little fear that I’m
going to forget it, but I didn’t. I loved seeing another side of Mozambique,
but at this point I was ready to go home.
Day 12/13
I’m tired
of writing and this part isn’t that interesting. I took a 12 hour bus ride from
Chimoio to Nampula. Stayed the night with a friend of a friend. The next day I
went from Nampula (took a quick trip to Monapo to pick up some Tshirts) and
made my way up to Pemba. Nothing special happened, just roaming through Africa.
That was
it! That was my trip to Victoria Falls. I spent more time traveling on buses, trains and cars then
anything else and I wouldn’t change a thing. Traveling alone tends to cause a lot of anxiety - for me and my parents. But, its reminds me of how strong I am. That's something that can't be discovered at home.
