Island Of Mozambique
On the 11/11/11 we took the “chapa” to go to the Island Of Mozambique. Before that, we went to the migration post, so that we could collect Patrícia’s passport, to avoid having problems with the police. Father Ricardo took us to the migration post and then to the “chapa” stop. We left Nampula at around 9 a.m., having the Island Of Mozambique, a World Heritage, as our destination.
When we got to the beginning of the bridge that we would have to cross to get to the island, we had to swap “chapa”: we had to go on one smaller, with a lot more people and luggage.
The “chapa” driver was very kind to us, as he left us on the other side of the island, even though it wasn’t on the “chapa”’s route. It was so hot, that we took the chance to take a dive: my first dive in the Indian Ocean.
After refreshing ourselves, we finally had lunch. It was almost 3 p.m. We went to a restaurant, that belongs to portuguese people, called Relíquias.
We took the chance, while it was still day time, to take a walk around the island. We saw where the market, which was closed, was and we passed through the main streets. On our way to the beach, we saw a few kids playing table football in the middle of the street:
We went to the pontoon of the island. The sun was already setting.
All that time we spent taking a walk on the island, we were accompanied by this young man, called Samuel, who was taking us to all the relevant places.
After having a light dinner (just because he had lunch late), we got back to Relíquias to drink some “caipirinhas”. I also took the chance to eat a chocolate mousse.
On the next day, we visited the Island Of Mozambique’s fortress, having our friend Samuel as a tour guide. It was so hot, that I had to put my towel on my head, because of the sun.
After visiting the fortress, which had na amazing view to the Indian Ocean, we took another walk on the island, so that we could dive once again in the ocean, before leaving the island to go back to Nampula.
When I dived in the ocean, I scratched my leg on a rock. It didn’t stop bleeding, so I decided to put my towel around my leg, to stop it from bleeding. And that’s how I travelled in the “chapa”, all the way to Nampula, for almost 6 hours. It took that long, because we were always stopping to collect more passengers: one time we stayed in the same place, waiting for passengers, for almost an hour; other time, the other “chapa”’s helper started fighting with our “chapa”’s helper, because he said we were stealing passenger from them. That man even hit a lady, who wanted to come inside our “chapa” instead of theirs.
As soon as we got to Nampula, Gabriela picked us up and took us to the airport, so that Patrícia could check if her flight hadn’t been cancelled. It wasn’t cancelled, but she had to check in early in the morning, on the next day, because LAM made a mistake and sold too many plane tickets. This would be Patrícia’s last night in Nampula, because on the 13th she would fly to Maputo and then on the 15th she would go back to Portugal.
I would also like to thank everybody who has been reading my blog; within 3 months, the blog has already surpassed the 4.000 views. Thank you!
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