Tomorrow is Magda’s last night in Pemba this time :( She has been here 8 weeks already; time really does fly when you’re having fun! I’m going to miss her very very much, but cross my fingers she decides to come back soon. Anyway, her leaving calls for a party – tonight!
And Jutta is back! She has been 6½ weeks in Germany on vacation. It’s nice to have her back :)
I also have to leave the country in the end of the month to renew my visa. Am thinking of Malawi this time. Everybody I meet who has been there says it’s beautiful! I will have to go by chapas (local buses) and it will take me at least 4 days or so to get to Monkey Bay and then I’ll probably continue to Kande Beach which is supposedly stunning. The other alternative I might have is to go with Frank to South Africa, by car. That would mean seeing a lot of Mozambique! Which also would be a great trip! The next week will tell which trip it will be – am looking forward to whichever…
torsdag 22 juli 2010
fredag 16 juli 2010
My latest adventure…
…turned out to be malaria. And – yeah it is nasty! I know I’ve said it before, but now I have experienced it myself!
It all started with Frank last week. He got really sick and we figured it must be from the bush trip. A couple of days later C went down but nothing happened to me. I felt a little weird and a little nauseous that whole week, but nothing seemed to break out so I thought (and certainly hoped) it was just imagination. Then came Sunday.
Magda and I had been watching the game at Russell’s the night before, with a couple of glasses of wine ;) so I thought it was just a hangover. Not too bad or anything, but I was tired and didn’t really feel like eating. After meeting up with her and Pieter at Mar e Sol on the beach I walked over to C. By the time I got there I was really exhausted and was starting to think that it might be a little bit too much for a “normal” hangover.
Then it took about 4 hours before I was sick, sick, sick. Of course we had gone to Russell’s for the final soccer game, which probably turned out to be a good thing because Frank went home to get me medicine so I could start as soon as possible. But in halftime I had to ask C to take me home – I really needed to go to bed. That was one of the worst nights in my life! If I wasn’t sweating oceans I felt like I was deep frozen, all the time with this horrible ache in my whole body. Still, I must say I consider myself lucky since I didn’t get it in the hot season – that must be hell!
Both Frank and C are much better and they were even sicker than me I think, but thanks to Frank I got medicine very early and that probably prevented me from the worst symptoms.
I recovered quite fast though and am back to normal already.
It all started with Frank last week. He got really sick and we figured it must be from the bush trip. A couple of days later C went down but nothing happened to me. I felt a little weird and a little nauseous that whole week, but nothing seemed to break out so I thought (and certainly hoped) it was just imagination. Then came Sunday.
Magda and I had been watching the game at Russell’s the night before, with a couple of glasses of wine ;) so I thought it was just a hangover. Not too bad or anything, but I was tired and didn’t really feel like eating. After meeting up with her and Pieter at Mar e Sol on the beach I walked over to C. By the time I got there I was really exhausted and was starting to think that it might be a little bit too much for a “normal” hangover.
Then it took about 4 hours before I was sick, sick, sick. Of course we had gone to Russell’s for the final soccer game, which probably turned out to be a good thing because Frank went home to get me medicine so I could start as soon as possible. But in halftime I had to ask C to take me home – I really needed to go to bed. That was one of the worst nights in my life! If I wasn’t sweating oceans I felt like I was deep frozen, all the time with this horrible ache in my whole body. Still, I must say I consider myself lucky since I didn’t get it in the hot season – that must be hell!
Both Frank and C are much better and they were even sicker than me I think, but thanks to Frank I got medicine very early and that probably prevented me from the worst symptoms.
I recovered quite fast though and am back to normal already.
torsdag 8 juli 2010
Moving
Hopefully I will move into my new house this weekend! It has taken me a couple of days extra because things happened that I couldn’t foresee (am beginning to get used to that). Monday I went into town to buy some buckets and pots & pans, without those things I can’t live there. But before going to that shop we had to go to the clinic with Magda’s finger; she had a bite that just didn’t heal and needed to be cleaned properly. Once that was ok the time was after 12.00 so, of course, the shop was closed for siesta. That meant either hanging around in town 2 hours or walk back home and take a nap. We walked back home and took a nap :) Tuesday the ATM machine stole my bank card so I couldn’t take out any money and I didn’t have ID with me so that took another couple of days to sort out. Today I managed to get some shopping done finally, but now C is sick so I can’t get the bed…
Life in Africa is definitely a bit different from Sweden!
Life in Africa is definitely a bit different from Sweden!
fredag 2 juli 2010
The bush
I have just had one of the best weekends in my life!
Early Thursday morning last week C and Frank came to pick me up for our bush trip. We left Pemba at 06.30 and headed towards the Niassa National Reserve and Lucingi Camp. C drove the first half of the distance; 200 km on the highway, which took us about 2 hours. Frank drove the next 250 km, which took us about 5 hours… My neck is still a bit stiff after all the bumping up and down on the dirt roads, full of pot holes and all different big holes you can think of. But I must say Frank is a really good driver! And the scenery is beautiful!
Towards the end of the drive we got a BIG treat => a pack of 10 Wild Dogs that let us come quite close and didn’t hurry to take off. Wow! And even if I knew that was something else I didn’t realize just how rare it is to get such a good look at them. I read later during the weekend that there are only approximately 5 500 wild dogs left in Africa. And I got to see 10 of them!
Arriving at Lucingi, Gordon and Dorothy welcomed us to the camp. It is a very nice camp, beautifully situated on the riverbank with a view over the mountains. We were told that we were sleeping in tent 3 and after settling in we had dinner. The food was great and Gordon & Dorothy’s stories even better. It’s been a while since I laughed so much in one evening. They told us hilarious stories about their lives as cops in London and we had a wonderful night!
After breakfast Friday morning we went to Lugenda, one of the other camps that is managed by Derek & Paula, also very beautiful and a bit more upscale than Lucingi. On the way there we stopped by the river to see if we could spot any Hippos – and we did. There they were; 4 of them lying in the water. We only saw their heads when they came up occasionally for air, but that’s definitely enough. Frank and walked as close as possible but were still probably about 100 meters away. That was exciting!
Coming to Lugenda we met up with Nick and Andrew who treated us with lunch before we went on a game drive. I had to pinch my arm a couple of times to make sure it was for real. This is the truly wild Africa and driving in an open jeep in the middle of the bush is just amazing. We didn’t see that much game going out, but it really didn’t matter because the experience was fantastic in itself. And of course we did see some animals; a Wart hog, Impalas, Bushbucks and monkeys.
For sundowners we went up a really steep hill (I almost thought we would roll over at one point) and had an amazing view of the sunset. Life at its best!
On the way back to camp some exciting things happened; first we heard an elephant trumpeting very close by, but couldn’t see him since it was pitch black. And then we saw a leopard :) my first! So now I’ve seen all Big Five. Unfortunately it sneaked away quite fast into the bush, but I did get a good look at him. And later, on the way back to Lucingi, we actually saw another one! That is almost incredible!
So now I really wanted to see the elephants and crocodiles. I knew there were crocs in the river right outside the camp, but they hadn’t showed themselves to me. Usually they crawl up on the sand bank in the middle of the river to have a nice sun bath, but not when I was in the camp… Eventually I got to see the tip of the heads of two of them but that’s not nearly enough, so I guess that’s one thing I have to come back for.
Because - on Saturday afternoon I got to see an elephant!
We had a relaxed and nice day in the camp and went on an elephant look out at about 4 o’clock. I was, of course, really excited! After driving about half an hour we spotted a young bull. When he saw us he took off into the bush and Derek, Nick and I followed him – by foot!! It took us about 10 minutes before we saw him again behind some trees and now he was only 20 meters away! At that point I was quite happy about the big rifle Derek was carrying because the elephant picked up our scent and was getting a bit anxious. I managed to take a great ;) photo before we slowly moved away from him. He took off the other way and we could safely return to the car. But wow – just imagine that!! My day was made!
Sunday morning we took off and landed back in Pemba around 5.00 pm after a wonderful and adventurous weekend. I couldn’t be happier. And, even if I have suspected it a long time, I can now confirm that I am in love. Totally, wildly and madly in love! With Africa.
I am still uploading pics from Ibo and hope to publish them soon. Then I will continue with bush pics…
Early Thursday morning last week C and Frank came to pick me up for our bush trip. We left Pemba at 06.30 and headed towards the Niassa National Reserve and Lucingi Camp. C drove the first half of the distance; 200 km on the highway, which took us about 2 hours. Frank drove the next 250 km, which took us about 5 hours… My neck is still a bit stiff after all the bumping up and down on the dirt roads, full of pot holes and all different big holes you can think of. But I must say Frank is a really good driver! And the scenery is beautiful!
Towards the end of the drive we got a BIG treat => a pack of 10 Wild Dogs that let us come quite close and didn’t hurry to take off. Wow! And even if I knew that was something else I didn’t realize just how rare it is to get such a good look at them. I read later during the weekend that there are only approximately 5 500 wild dogs left in Africa. And I got to see 10 of them!
Arriving at Lucingi, Gordon and Dorothy welcomed us to the camp. It is a very nice camp, beautifully situated on the riverbank with a view over the mountains. We were told that we were sleeping in tent 3 and after settling in we had dinner. The food was great and Gordon & Dorothy’s stories even better. It’s been a while since I laughed so much in one evening. They told us hilarious stories about their lives as cops in London and we had a wonderful night!
After breakfast Friday morning we went to Lugenda, one of the other camps that is managed by Derek & Paula, also very beautiful and a bit more upscale than Lucingi. On the way there we stopped by the river to see if we could spot any Hippos – and we did. There they were; 4 of them lying in the water. We only saw their heads when they came up occasionally for air, but that’s definitely enough. Frank and walked as close as possible but were still probably about 100 meters away. That was exciting!
Coming to Lugenda we met up with Nick and Andrew who treated us with lunch before we went on a game drive. I had to pinch my arm a couple of times to make sure it was for real. This is the truly wild Africa and driving in an open jeep in the middle of the bush is just amazing. We didn’t see that much game going out, but it really didn’t matter because the experience was fantastic in itself. And of course we did see some animals; a Wart hog, Impalas, Bushbucks and monkeys.
For sundowners we went up a really steep hill (I almost thought we would roll over at one point) and had an amazing view of the sunset. Life at its best!
On the way back to camp some exciting things happened; first we heard an elephant trumpeting very close by, but couldn’t see him since it was pitch black. And then we saw a leopard :) my first! So now I’ve seen all Big Five. Unfortunately it sneaked away quite fast into the bush, but I did get a good look at him. And later, on the way back to Lucingi, we actually saw another one! That is almost incredible!
So now I really wanted to see the elephants and crocodiles. I knew there were crocs in the river right outside the camp, but they hadn’t showed themselves to me. Usually they crawl up on the sand bank in the middle of the river to have a nice sun bath, but not when I was in the camp… Eventually I got to see the tip of the heads of two of them but that’s not nearly enough, so I guess that’s one thing I have to come back for.
Because - on Saturday afternoon I got to see an elephant!
We had a relaxed and nice day in the camp and went on an elephant look out at about 4 o’clock. I was, of course, really excited! After driving about half an hour we spotted a young bull. When he saw us he took off into the bush and Derek, Nick and I followed him – by foot!! It took us about 10 minutes before we saw him again behind some trees and now he was only 20 meters away! At that point I was quite happy about the big rifle Derek was carrying because the elephant picked up our scent and was getting a bit anxious. I managed to take a great ;) photo before we slowly moved away from him. He took off the other way and we could safely return to the car. But wow – just imagine that!! My day was made!
Sunday morning we took off and landed back in Pemba around 5.00 pm after a wonderful and adventurous weekend. I couldn’t be happier. And, even if I have suspected it a long time, I can now confirm that I am in love. Totally, wildly and madly in love! With Africa.
I am still uploading pics from Ibo and hope to publish them soon. Then I will continue with bush pics…
måndag 28 juni 2010
Stitches
Last Wednesday C and I had a busy day in front of us – we had to do all the shopping for the bush trip and things were changing by the minute. Eventually everything was settled, so we started by going to Frank’s house to pick up a couple of things. And then everything changed again – I walked into a rusty iron thing sticking out from a trailer. Hmmm, did I say I would try to be a little bit more careful just a few days ago?!? Anyway => big hole in my leg! So instead of running around shopping we ended up in the clinic. It was (I think ;)) a nasty cut, about 5 cm long I guess and maybe ½ cm wide, but it needed only 3 stitches. It was quite fascinating to see the doctor put the needle into my skin and pull it all together without feeling too much of it.
After that we had to go back to my house to pick up the vaccination card we specifically was there to pick up 30 minutes earlier and which I left on the desk... I am very grateful to C’s wonderful patience, without any sign of irritation whatsoever, over my stupid forgetfulness! She is really a great friend!
Since the clinic didn’t have any tetanus vaccine (stelkramp) we then had to go the hospital. I paid 25 öre, waited 1,5 hours and then I was almost back to normal. Except for the big bandage on my leg of course :) And we did manage to do the shopping in the end, so then we were all set for the exciting trip to the bush!!! I’ll tell you more about that in a few days.
After that we had to go back to my house to pick up the vaccination card we specifically was there to pick up 30 minutes earlier and which I left on the desk... I am very grateful to C’s wonderful patience, without any sign of irritation whatsoever, over my stupid forgetfulness! She is really a great friend!
Since the clinic didn’t have any tetanus vaccine (stelkramp) we then had to go the hospital. I paid 25 öre, waited 1,5 hours and then I was almost back to normal. Except for the big bandage on my leg of course :) And we did manage to do the shopping in the end, so then we were all set for the exciting trip to the bush!!! I’ll tell you more about that in a few days.
måndag 21 juni 2010
My own house
After coming back from Ibo I found a house to rent! It all started with Magda looking at this house a coupl of weeks ago when she needed a place to stay. She found another house and that was that. But since then I’ve been thinking how nice it would be to have my own place. It has been really great renting the room from Jutta, but it’s just the thing of having your own space you know. And now I do :)
I am really excited but will have to wait a couple of more days before I can move in. There are some things that need to be done; I have to put a bed in for one thing. Frank has promised to lend me one and both C and Frank have some pots & pans and stuff that I can have to start with. There is nothing in the house now, except a sitting room set the landlord gave me to have in the beginning, which was really nice of him!
I am really excited but will have to wait a couple of more days before I can move in. There are some things that need to be done; I have to put a bed in for one thing. Frank has promised to lend me one and both C and Frank have some pots & pans and stuff that I can have to start with. There is nothing in the house now, except a sitting room set the landlord gave me to have in the beginning, which was really nice of him!
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…
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…
söndag 20 juni 2010
torsdag 10 juni 2010
New trip
Magda and I have started to plan a trip. We will probably leave this weekend, but still don’t know where to. Yesterday we decided to go to Ibo, which is an island a little bit further up north from Pemba. But today we started to talk about maybe going to Malawi instead or Maputo or Ilha de Mozambique or the Niassa Reserve… Toooo many options!
Tuesday I actually made my first whole sentence in Portuguese and was understood :) I’ve also had my second lesson and I’m starting to think I might even get to being able to have a conversation eventually. It just seems I don’t have enough time to study these days, but I guess I have to pull myself together soon.
When it comes to running – same thing, nothing at the moment and this is because I have injured BOTH my big toes. The stupid toes hit stones or stairways a couple too many times. Maybe I should just cut them off. Or start to wear proper shoes. Or try to be a bit more careful…
Tuesday I actually made my first whole sentence in Portuguese and was understood :) I’ve also had my second lesson and I’m starting to think I might even get to being able to have a conversation eventually. It just seems I don’t have enough time to study these days, but I guess I have to pull myself together soon.
When it comes to running – same thing, nothing at the moment and this is because I have injured BOTH my big toes. The stupid toes hit stones or stairways a couple too many times. Maybe I should just cut them off. Or start to wear proper shoes. Or try to be a bit more careful…
torsdag 3 juni 2010
Another lazy day
Went to Clube Naval with Magda today – it was hot and sunny, but we had a very nice and refreshing breeze from the ocean that kept us alive. Magda was examining me on my Portuguese homework and I must say I did pretty well ;)
The last few days have been very nice; we have just been floating around more or less. Yesterday we went to Starfish in the afternoon for a glass of wine and some beautiful views, then dinner at Pemba Dolphin with Thomas & Vanda. Pemba life at its best!
Now: movie night at Russell’s…
The last few days have been very nice; we have just been floating around more or less. Yesterday we went to Starfish in the afternoon for a glass of wine and some beautiful views, then dinner at Pemba Dolphin with Thomas & Vanda. Pemba life at its best!
Now: movie night at Russell’s…
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