A day in the life

Our last post (which was way too long ago, sorry) announced we would be departing Ilha de Mozambique for Pemba, farther north on the Mozambican coast, at the ungodly hour of 3 in the morning. Leaving at this time was necessary to get to the Namialo crossroads before the bus we wanted to flag down (coming from another location) passed that spot on its way to Pemba. Note: no one can give an exact answer when the bus may pass this crossroads - could be 5:30am, could be 7am, could be Tuesday.

We had hoped Pemba would be the gateway to the Quirimbas Archipelago for us.  However after speaking with a travel agent in Pemba we decided that the cost of getting to the white-sand islands was not a good splurge for this trip. Some day, though.

With this decided, it turned out getting to Pemba was the most remarkable thing about it, so here was our day.

2:42 am -- wake up
3:03 am -- continental breakfast (rolls, mango spread, tea/coffee) at our pensao
3:13 am -- call to prayer from the green mosque across the street (and the other mosque across the island)
3:24 am -- Rich (wearing his backpack and should bag) rides on the back of Miguel’s motorcycle across the bridge from Ilha to the mainland
3:35 am -- reaching the mainland, Miguel returns for Carissa; Rich gets into an empty chapa (mini-bus) blaring Lionel Richie tunes
3:46 am -- Carissa’s turn on the motorcycle, which dies part way across the bridge
4:03 am --the chapa is half full and Carissa gets in after walking the rest of the way across the bridge
4:17 am -- the chapa is nearly full and we notice a chicken with its legs bound is being passed in the back door. We simultaneous think “Chicken, don’t pee on my backpack!” and laugh aloud when we realize we’re both thinking the same thing.
4:22 am -- the chapa is full, we depart
5:27 am -- arrival at the Namialo crossroads, vendors race at the sight of our stopping chapa to be the first there to sell their wares
5:30 am -- we take seats on our backpacks along the roadside to await our bus

Carissa sitting on her pack at the Namialo crossroads around 5:40am. The roads are usually this packed this early, partially to avoid the heat later in the day.

5:31 am -- we are invited to a dance party across the street with some guys who apparently had been dancing and drinking all night; we decline, the techno beats and suggestive dancing go on
6:12 am -- first application of sunscreen, it is already hot enough to be sweating lots
6:38 am -- we board our bus, standing room only
7:37 am -- a seat opens up near where Carissa is standing, she gets to sit down
7:54 am -- our bus is struggling up the hills, we are passed by a much newer looking bus from the same company and wonder if we should have waited longer at the crossroads to get on that bus instead
8:01 am -- Rich gets to sit down, luckily next to Carissa
9:58 am -- we wish the five chatty men behind us would quiet down, they’ve been having way too good of a time since we got on the bus, we recognize we are grumpy
10:54 am -- the paved road becomes half-paved
12:01 pm -- colicky baby in front of up spits up on Carissa’s backpack. awesome.
12:52 pm -- we notice the 10-year old boy sitting next to us is “mining for gold” and decorating the wall with the booger harvest. carissa glares at him despite herself.
1:58 pm -- arrival at the bus station in Pemba, Mozambique. begin trying to figure out where to sleep tonight and where we can get some lunch.

Rich eating beef stew and nsima (nshima, ugali, pap) at Pemba Take Away.

Here are a few pictures of a beautiful sunset on the beach in Pemba: