Ilha do Ibo…

…was beautiful! And interesting and relaxing and a great experience in many ways.

Magda changed her mind and decided to stay in Pemba after all. But I have wanted to see the Quirimba archipelago since I came here so I decided to go anyway. I don’t mind travelling alone, sometimes it’s even better since it’s easier to meet new people that way.

Anyway – I flew up in a tiny plane and got to sit up front with the pilot :) That was really neat, I have never before been in such a small plane and the flight was beautiful!

The airport and “terminal” at Ibo are not exactly what I’m used to either…
I was met by a local guy that probably heard the plane come in and hoped for a couple of hours of work. He carried my bags to “Miti Miwiri”, which means two trees, (the lodge I had booked a room at) and showed me some of the island on the way. It’s a fantastic place! The architecture of all the old houses is really beautiful and the whole island has a very nice, quiet ambience. I learnt that there are only two cars and just a few motorbikes.

I’d had very little sleep the night before because of all the noise from Wimbe Beach disco and some fighting outside my window, so after checking in I took a nap and just relaxed before going out to see some of the small town. In the evening I had dinner at Miti Miwiri and was lucky enough to meet Arne and Amaya that I know a little bit from Pemba, it was very nice to have them as dinner company and get to know them a little bit more. They were only there for one night so we decided to meet for breakfast the next day before exploring a little more.

We walked through Stone town all the way to the Fort of São João Batista where one of the silver smiths has their workshop and a shop. I found two necklaces and a pair of earrings, they were pretty tough bargainers but I managed to bring the price down almost to half of what they began asking.

Going back into town we had a cup of tea before Arne and Amaya had to go and catch the boat back to the mainland. In the afternoon I just relaxed, reading a book in the hammock at Miti Miwiri.

Monday morning I had booked a guide to take me, walking, to a neighboring island; Ilha Quirimba. It was fascinating to walk through the mangroves knowing that in a couple of hours there will be so much water it would reach above my head. The walk is about 4 km. Ilha Qurimba is also a very beautiful island with a big coconut plantation run by a very nice German family who invited me for a glass of homemade lemonade :)

After walking around the island a couple of hours we had lunch at a local restaurant. And later in the afternoon I took a boat back to Ibo and was again amazed by the fact that I had walked that same path just a couple of hours earlier. The huge tide differences really fascinate me!

I had already decided to go back to Pemba on Tuesday morning, so at 05.00 am I was at the beach waiting for the boat to get ready. It was a beautiful morning, but really chilly and I hadn’t packed any sweaters so I was freezing quite a bit. The boat ride to Quissanga took about 1 hour 15 minutes and was very easy on perfectly calm water. In Quissanga I had to wait 45 minutes before the chapa arrived (the local buses here are called chapa) and then another half hour 200 meters into the trip… It took almost 6 hours to get back to Pemba, it’s only about 120 km but when you average 20 km/h that’s how long it takes. And of course all the stops on the way, with people getting on and off, don’t make it faster. But I really wanted the experience and will definitely do it again. I paid $132 to get to Ibo in the plane and $7 to get back by boat and chapa. For me it was perfect! I got to see the coast line from above on the way there and the countryside on my way home.

I will definitely go back to Ibo, hopefully sooner than later. And the next trip is planned to the bush – guess if I’m all excited about that!!!

Am uploading pics, but it doesn’t work to well (no surprise there) so I will have to continue doing that the next couple of days before I can publish them…