more mozambique (read the one below first!)
we made our way down to the ilha de mozambique, a place that i enjoyed very much. basically, a run down colonial capital, complete with fort, churches, piazzas, stunning beaches, dhows, great food, a tranquil ambience, friendly locals, and almost no tourists. i wish we could have stayed longer but we had to keep heading north. the north of mozambique is truely remote. we are lucky in a way that we werent riding through as it would have been very difficult to find water and food. we are also lucky our buses and trucks didnt break down or crash. we passed through regional towns, cliche tropical beaches, portugese ruins, forest and many amazing rocky peaks, and after a few days arrived at the most northern town, palma. paul was a little sick in palma, so we decided not to ride the final 45 kilometres to the border. unfortunately, sick or not, there was simply no transport heading there, so we pushed on with two wheels each. and pushed and pushed... our bikes through sand. more than nine hours later, we arrived at the border post, met a few other folk trapped there without transport, had a well deserved fanta, and set up our tent in the immigration officers backyard. it was easily the most remote, and sometimes worrying, day of cycling during this african safari, and nicely appropriate for the last real day of cycling. the next day we rode down to the river, crossed on a little boat, then rode up to the tanzanian border post, back to the land of african food. from here we head north as quickly as possibly, trying to fit in a couple of days of big game hunting, before flying out of nairobi in two weeks.