A Few Nights In Mozambique

I ended up having enough time at the end of my time in Africa to head over to Mozambique for a quick stint. It was fantastic. I am really glad that I had saved up a few days here and there and was able to make it to Mozambique, even if only just Maputo. I really felt like I was back to the `real Africa` more than in Swaziland! It all brought back my experiences of Africa and my feeling for it that I had gotten in the rest of East Africa. A superb way to finish up Africa.

The Portugese influence here is also truly interesting. Seeing an African culrture which has been affected and influenced by the Portugese was really different and unique to Africa. They speak portugese and their music and arhcitecture and even their art is all influenced by the Portugese. The Batiks here are by far the best that I saw in all of Africa.

One night, a few of us went down to the fish market. Here you pick out your freshly caught fish and shellfish, whatever seafood you like, buy it from the stalls after a bit of haggling. Then, you take this seafood over to the kitchens and haggle for a price for all to be cooked up for you. We had lobster, clams, and squid. It was absolutely delicious. We came back the next night!

But, on that second night we were stopped by the police on the way there. We had too many people in the cab and had tried to hide the one extra person. This had aroused suspicion. The cops detained the hiding passenger in the back of the police car. He and his friend were both from France and very uneasy. The cops wanted to see our passports. I, luckily, had mine due to just having crossed the border. And, the girl with had a copy of hers, which had a tear off of the side where she had used the paper for giving out her email. This determined as `very bad`. The cop threatened to take the two French and one German to jail. I stepped up and offered that their passports were at the hostel, and we could get them, but that only the French and German had access as they were 'locked up` in a safe at the hostel. The cop didn`t really care. He slid in the back with the French guy, who then emerged got 50,000 Metacais from his friend and got back into the police car. After the bribe had been given we were free to go. By the way 50,000 Metacais is about 2 US Dollars! Corruption in Africa is rife! I was not surprised at this whole event, in fact I found it quite humorous. But, the French were a bit worked up!

After another fine meal we headed out for some live music and the next day I headed back to Swaziland briefly before heading on to Johannesburg...