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Archive for December, 2006

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Beaches…public toilets…what’s the difference?

Monday, December 18th, 2006

My next destination was Ilha de Mozambique, or Mozambique Island. It’s a small island off the coast, and has an amazing history. It’s probably the top tourist destination in Mozambique (that is, of course, if you’re interested in venturing a bit further north than the beaches in the south). It started out as an Arab trading port until the Portuguese settled in the early 16th century. For them, it was a convenient post in the Indian Ocean from which to venture further east to India and beyond. It remained the capital of Mozambique until its importance waned (due to the opening of the Suez canal), when Maputo (then called Lourenco Marques) became the capital. There. History.

[read on]

Posted in Mozambique | No Comments »

Good night, sleep tight…

Thursday, December 14th, 2006

The next week or so was not so exciting. I went to a small town called Alto Molocue, where Said and Zein live. (These guys were the father-son duo who gave me a free ride just a week or so earlier). The town was not all that interesting, though there was an American Peace Corps volunteer that I hung out with, who offered interesting insight into being a black American working in Africa. I spent a lot of time staring out the window at Said’s guesthouse to the back area where locals pulled water from the well and a chicken farmer tossed his chickens into the back of his pickup to take to market. Besides that, Said wanted to show me his mine, where he’s apparently starting to mine semi-precious stones. In the end, we got there too late to see it, although I did meet a local man who was apparently a general of the Renamo party during the Mozambican civil war, which was interesting. [read on]

Posted in Mozambique, Travel | 1 Comment »