Mozambique!!!

A street in Inhabane
I just got back from a trip to Mozambique. I went with 4 of the other Americans and it was very much a last minute thing. But it was a fantastic time.
There’s not actually that much to say we did. We mostly lounged around and took long walks. But it was beautiful and chill. Just the way to end the school year.
Mozambique is very beautiful and very poor. Things have improved greatly in the 10 years since the civil war ended but the roads are, how to put this nicely? utter and complete crap. When Jennifer, Josh and I rented a car we were told we could take it into Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Zambia, ZIMBABWE but if we wanted to take it into Mozambique our fees would double.
“That doesn’t make any sense,” I said, “if we take the car into Zimbabwe there’s a good chance that it will be LIT ON FIRE. Why not Mozambique?”
“Because, young lady,” the man said “the roads really are that bad.”
The sidewalks in the capital also have these giant holes in them that go down for about five feet, sometimes more. And because there are no street lights (and I am a giant klutz) I was in constant fear for my life. But, I made it through alive.
The girls in Inhabane. Mama always told me to wear a hat, which is my excuse for my funny expression in this photo. Me, Tina, and Meryl.

We started out in Inhabane which is in the middle of the country. Its very rural and jungley with these beautiful palm forests.
Tina and Meryl outside of the hostel we stayed at in Inhabane.

We then went to Maputo which is the capital and where every single street is named after a communist leader. We stayed on Mao Tse Tung Ave.
A typical Maputo building.

My favorite picture of Tina

A market in Maputo, selling fresh produce, and live chickens as well as really really cheap clothes.

Tina in a beautiful fabric store that I had to be forceably removed from before I bought everything.

The way people get around in Mozambique (unless you are hideously wealthy and are tooling around in an SUV) are in Minibus taxis, or shupas (I think that’s what they were saying). They are also used in South Africa but in Jo'burg every person gets there own seat. Mozambique makes an art of packing as many people into these minibuses as physically possible. There was a point where I was sitting on Tinas lap and the mother sitting next to me handed me her infant to hold. Considering how protective westerners are of their children I was too shocked to appreciate the little bundle of cuteness in my arms.
this picture does not capture the cramptness of a shupa.


Random Fact: Theresa Heinz-Kerry, former first lady candidate, who is Mozambiquean, went to the University of the Witwatersrand (aka, my school).
Random Fact #2: The former Mozambiquan President Samora Machel’s widow, Gracia Machel is now married to Nelsen Mandela, making her the only person in the world to be the first lady of two different countries.