ANOTHER YEAR, ANOTHER LION

Well, not really much of another lion as Kruger was not particularly plentiful in the lion area, in fact, we only saw one and she was a bit off the road. Still she was graceful, beautiful and wonderful to watch slink along the edge of the grass and into the trees. Then again, I guess, another lion could refer to another year ahead to tackle but that seems like a bleak way of looking at the new year and I would much rather look at it as another year to hunt for more adventures and, so far so good.

New Year’s eve and the first four days of the new year were spent in Kruger National park attempting to see more lions, leopards, elephants, hippos, rhino etc. etc. etc. It rained on New Year’s eve so the animals weren’t particularly cooperative the first 24 hours of so and had all wandered off to find shelter or enjoy the nice lush lands that appeared right around them, reducing their need to wander. However we did get to see a fair number of good things in the following days: a massive leopard enjoying a nap on a rock and then climbing the tree for a late afternoon snack, multiple rhino sightings, huge bull elephants wandering off and on the road in front of us and a group playing in the local watering hole, zebras hanging with their favorite buddies – the wildebeest, and a couple hyenas. One hyena was lounging right on the side of the road with her two cubs (? – babies? Wonder what they are called) feeding. She barely even stirred when we drove up, only looked at us with her huge eyes and then put her head back down. Clearly we weren’t a threat to her little ones. It was incredible to see her so close up and not moving and I can now see how they are actually part of the cat family and not the dog family. She really did live up to the name “spotted hyena” and you could see the spots on her fir, almost clown like really. Oh, and I must not forget, loads and loads and loads of Impala. They really are like rabbits – no lion is ever going to go hungry in that park and in fact, I think they might need a few more lions to help reduce the population. Still they are cute.

PS on the animal sightings…also had a small cobra run across the road in front of us and by small, I do mean tiny. It stood up in front of the car (to its full four inch height) and flared it’s head menacingly as if to let us know who was boss and well, then we drove over it and it was gone. No, we did not hit it.

MOZAMBIQUE HERE WE COME…

After Kruger we headed for the Ressano Garcia boarder post keeping our fingers crossed that the crossing would not be as painful as we were told it would be. Before departing we had to get permission from the rental car company to take the car over the boarder, registration papers, a sticker for the back that said ZA for South Africa and secondary car insurance. Cash in hand the prepared to pay up the various bribes we approached customs. In fact, they ask for none of our papers except the rental agreement and the secondary insurance and charged us exactly what we thought they would to cross the boarder and get the visas. The worst thing about the crossing was having to go from point A to point B and back to point A for a signature, then to point B to show the signature from point A and possibly hitting a point C somewhere in the middle. It probably took about an hour to get through everything and then we were on our way to Tofo to enjoy a few beach days.

Getting to Tofo didn’t seem too bad to start with as the reputedly hideous roads seemed to be quite good and we were making good time. That was, until just after Xai Xai, when I took the wheel and the road turned into pothole city. It was like playing a video game – dodging potholes, people and even the occasional bus or car that strayed onto our side of the road to avoid a pothole or person on it’s side of the road. And just when we hit the grand finale of potholes – a patch that spanned the entire road and turned out to be several inches deep in places (the one I hit) – I managed to get just the right angle and, well, bent the rim. Wayne was quite the trooper and took this all very calmly and didn’t bitch, moan or well, get bitter with me, which he well could have. We dug out the spare, which thankfully was a full tire and not one of the doughnut things. As is the norm in Africa, loads of people started oozing out of the previously unpopulated grass and trees on the side of the road and all descended upon us like locusts. They wanted to help – for a price that is. Wayne could barely managed to get the bolts loosened before one of the guys enthusiastically started jacking up the car. We had to shoo them off like flies on a fresh fruit tart. Of course, once we were finished and getting in the car, they tried to explain that they wanted money. We still aren’t quite sure what they wanted money for – maybe getting in the way?

The car righted, we carried on to Tofo and finally arrived at our destination around 8:30. After tracking down someone to show us where we were to sleep (reception was closed) we were lead to a grass tool shed looking building. OK, that is a mean description and probably stems from what was inside. The outside looked fine, in fact a little like a cute grass hut. However, once the light was flipped on, we looked inside to see two very dingy, old tired, torn mattresses tossed onto a concrete floor with mossie nets tied above them. The guy who showed us our place explained that they didn’t really provide sheets and said – “you do have your sleeping bags right?” – which we didn’t. He was kind and managed to track down some polyester sheets (great for the heat and humidity we were in) and some very disgusting pillows (rather sleep with my head on a stinky dirty dog). We took the sheets gratefully and did what we could to fashion pillows out of clothes. It looked a little better in the daylight the next morning but my feet sure as hell didn’t. Thought it was mossies at first, but realize now, it was probably bed bugs. My toes, top of my feet, ankles and even up my legs were covered with little red bumps. Thought after all those years of my dad tucking me in with “Don’t let the bed bugs bite!” would have been enough to keep them away for a lifetime (love you dad!) but they finally caught up to me. My feet are finally now just recovering. Needless to say, we changed to another hostel that turned out to be much better and also right bang on the beach.

Tofo was lovely and we went out for a couple of dives, which were quite nice. Saw a few Mantas – so gracefully and peaceful to watch. Supposedly they are about 4 meters across, but they don’t feel that big when you are watching them in the water. On the first dive we finished it sitting on the top waiting for the boat and watching a manta circle below us. It just kept going around and around with the light reflecting off various parts as it moved and then finally dove to deep to see. We also took a quick tour out on the boat in search of Whale Sharks. It is supposedly Whale Shark season in Mozambique but weather patterns have changed and they seem to be coming earlier. We did get one though and all jumped in the water and same over and around it. They are massive creatures and the one we saw was supposedly 9 meters long, or, the size of our boat. We swam with it for around 7 minutes and at one point it was so close that I swore the current from its tail, would push me off to the side. They are so giant and so docile. It just glided through the water ignoring us.

After Tofo we headed to Vilankulos for a couple nights and maybe another dive. The hostel was pretty decent and we had yet another grass hut thing. Did a snorkeling trip out to Magaruque island in the Bazaruto Archipelago on a dhow boat. The dhow is very similar to the Felucca in Egypt and equally amusing. We should have known it might not be the smoothest of trips given the rude owner, the motor that wouldn’t start initially, the yelling between one of the boat captains and the owner and well, the fins that bent down and were supposedly “special snorkeling fins” (hah!). Our captains spent half the time bailing and half the time sleeping, which was OK as long as one of the three was awake to steer the boat. We ended up having to stop at another island to pick up a guy and a boat and tow them back to the mainland so while we had the benefit of seeing another island (briefly) we were slowed a bit by the extra weight. Once we got to the island and sorted out the gear, which was all the wrong sizes, we jumped in the water for a quick tour of the reef. The snorkeling was OK but the water a bit cloudy as some crazy storm system was off the coast and the currents were quite strong. We pretty much just had to jump in and watch the fish go by. On a clear day it must be absolutely amazing as you could see loads of fish and some quite colorful coral. Nice way to pass an afternoon in any case. On the way back we got caught in a crazy storm and all got soaked. We had a bit of a laugh about it, shook with cold until the storm passed over, rushed back to take (cold) showers and then finished the afternoon with a few beers and dinner with the Swiss couple that had also taken the dhow trip. All in all, it was a good day.

Given that we weren’t in love with Vilankulos, we decided to head back down to South Africa. Another long drive day got us to Maputo, where we managed to get pulled over by the “police” for going the wrong was down a road. They informed us that we needed to go to the post office to have the ticket written for our error. Reluctant to comply, we looked at each other a little skeptically but decided that they were four and all had big machine guns so we ought to maybe see…Well, we drove about ½ of a block and one of the guys got off his very beaten up motorcycle – oh, and did I mention that they were basically in riot gear? – and came to our window. When we rolled down the window he said that a cold drink or something would make it better and we could go on our way. This lead to a debate between Wayne and I on how much money we could and should give or could we head to the gas station up ahead and maybe buy them a drink. We parted with 50 Meticas (Mozambique money) and about 6 Rand for a grand total close to $4. Not so bad.

The next day we headed for the Swaziland/Mozambique boarder to see if we couldn’t find something fun to do in Swaziland. However, I will have to tell you about all that at a later date as the queue for the Internet is growing and my next bus is about to arrive.