Mozambique is the shit. I just got back from a ten day adventure and I must admit, from the capital, Maputo, to the beaches that rival Tortola, I fell in love with the country. I flew from Lusaka to Joburg then to Maputo and somewhere along the line the bag I checked was rifled through. My iPod portable speakers and my Leatherman were stolen, but I quickly cursed and moved on. Maputo is a city. By that I mean that Lusaka feels like a bush town compared with it. There's tall apartment buildings, interesting architecture and avenues with names like Mao Tze Tung Boulevard. There is a whole Portugese, Brazilian, African vibe that reminded me of a dirty Miami, but with better cafe con leche.

My crew (we were nine deep) crashed at a friend's apartment who happened to be from Newton. That made three of us because one of my friends from Lusaka who came is also from the hometown. Weird? Word. It was comforting staying in a home rather than a backpackers or hotel. We rented a 12 person van to travel up the coast to our destination. But first we tooled around in the capital for a day. Highlights included haggling at the Saturday market downtown, eating gelato, going to a bar where a cat with his shirt off had a 2pac tatoo on his chest and looked like an east LA esse (after I had joined him in his pursuit of shirtlessness he looked at me and said, "Westsiiide" no joke) and then there was this:


Our host Peter took us to this fish market (mind you I haven't had fresh fish in land-locked Zambia) where you got to pick out the fish you wanted and then they would cook it up for you any way you like. This is the remains of my hand-picked fried red snapper. We also shared some barracuda and prawns. No forks, all business. That's my idea of a meal the likes of which I've only had once before in PR!

By the way, here's the story of that first picture. Prefaced by this fact: I rolled deep. There were eight of us from Lusaka: me and my housemate May; Jenny (the Newtonite); Nancy, who heads the BU public health program for Zambia; Sarah, who works for CIDRZ here; Ian, a Brit working for the UN; Nasser, a Jordanian who owns a candy factory in Lusaka; and Luka, my boy who I run the Kidsafe league with. However, the ninth member of our party made all the difference for me. That was Pat Garrity who I went to Wesleyan with and who now works for GRS in South Africa. We had a ball together and it wasn't just because the Black Label at the Duty free in Joburg was only $25. I'm not going to lie, the one thing about Lusaka is that I don't have any American male friends my age (that's a hint for all you mf's who need to come visit me). Chilling with Pat was a like a breath of fresh air.

Anyway, we were walking down the boardwalk in Maputo and we come across all of these strange writings on the wall. They must have gone on for 200 meters. It was all in Portugese but my meager Spanish skills made it clear that this was some weird metaphysical philosophy type ish talking about futurism, jazz, hell etc. While we were admiring the treatise someone walked by and told us this was all the work of this crazy guy sprawled out on the sidewalk we hadn't even noticed. Point being, "Eu Suo Um Futurista" is one of this guys works.

So at five in the morning on Sunday we set out on a 12 hour road trip up the coast in the van we rented to get to Vilanculos, a beautiful town on the coast of the Indian Ocean. It was a good 40 degrees Celcius everyday so we would sweat through our sheets every night at Smugglers Backpackers where we stayed, so the object was to get drunk enough to pass out and not care. Heavy drinking ensued, but don't worry mom, I'm not sick of alcohol.

The first night we were there I had my first encounter with Afrikaner racism. Mozambique is a vacation hotspot for South Africa. While all my friends left the table as Leon, an Afrikaner with scars on his face, told me about why monkeys were better than black people, I stayed. I've never encountered anything like it before. These kids were convinced that the only way South Africa would be ok was if whites took over the government again. It was scary. But you must study the enemy. After that though I steered away from white South Africans.




The next morning we took a Dhow (tradition sailboat) to the Bazaruto Archipelago. Here's my crew on board. This place was no joke. We snorkeled along the reef there and I marvelled at the flourescent colors that the ocean provides. We spent the rest of the day in a natural pool lazing like hippos in the sun and walking along a stretch of breathtaking beach. The only place that rivals Bazaruto in beauty is Tortola. It's a toss up for Paradise.


We stayed in Vilenculos for five days, relaxing, trying to stay in the shade, and partying. Our motto was "So Far, So Good" which really summed things up. Christmas eve I spent downing Black Label with Pat and Luka then convincing a local drummer to play while we sang. I ended up at the Dred Bar, packed with locals and dancing to Nirvana. We got carried away and started tossing this 15 year kid in the air but somehow managed not to throw him through the roof.

We then headed down to Tofo for New Year's. It almost felt like spring break. The place we stayed at, Fatima's Nest, was so disorganized I ended up staying the three nights there for free; granted one of those nights I slept on a hammock on the beach and New Year's Eve I didn't really sleep at all. That's cause New Year's was like this:


Everyone had pitched tents everywhere and pretty much mayhem ensued. On Saturday night we walked down the beach and randomly found a jazz band playing in front of a bonfire right there on the ocean. It was magical. Until the power went out and then it just turned into an incredible drum circle with portugese singing. Crazy. We ordered Chicken from a shack and each got a whole Chicken. Love the language barrier.

Luka and I pledged that we would try to change the world in 2007. I think we are on our way. Our first step is to have an iPod Party in Lusaka in a couple weeks. You are all invited. If you RSVP in the next week, I'll put you on the guestlist.


New Year's Eve itself was interesting because we were caught in a cyclone. So it was wet. We were at this club that looked like a hut but kept us dry. At Fatima's I met these two cats from Joburg and these two girls from Portugal. At 12 there was a huge firework show and then a techno version of "Crazy" came on and everybody went nuts. That has got to be the song of 2006. And I still love it. I somehow managed not to catch pneumonia. It was like a late Hanukah present. Here's to 2006.


These guys from Joburg, Max and Leroy, have a blog about life there, Fluffy Dice. Check it out. Anyway, I'm back in Lusaka. I got about four hours of sleep the past five nights but that's the life I lead. Gotta be one of the best vacations ever except now I need another one to recover. I also need to learn Portugese so I can start GRS in Mozambique. Here's to 2007.