Going to Mabalane

Last week, for the first time since we arrived in Mozambique, Moz 17 was let loose on the country. For 5 days we travelled in groups of 2 or more around various regions of this vast land without schedules, chaperons, or drivers. Much to my enjoyment, all we had from the Peace Corps was a name, phone number, and location for the volunteer we were to visit and a nice chuck of change to get us there. What ensued were 5 days of chapa rides, hitchhiking on pickup trucks, sleeping on various surfaces, eating a wide variety of selfcooked and restaurant meals,  visiting several schools, and in general learning a bit more about Mozambique.

Myself and another trainee name Nick aimed to visit James, an education volunteer just finishing his first year, north of Maputo (really the only choice) in Gaza province. Though I have no clue why it happens to have the same name as the conflict ridden zone on the Mediterranean sea, I can promise you that it is nothing like it. To start our trip out, we caught a ride in a Peace Corps car out of Namachaa to Maputo with several other trainnees. Upon arrival at the Peace Corps Office, we met up with a few volunteers from the Maputo area who led us to a fantastic fish market (sorry no pictures) where we ate lunch. After that we jumped onto a chapa and headed to Macia. A chapa, for those who do not know, is kind of like the 15 passenger vans that you may have used for club sports or camp, except smaller, and with 18 people. Since they are the most common method of transportation in Mozambique, we were briefed on what to expect and dealt with it quite well. After 3 hours in the back of the bus, we all hoped off and made the short walk to Mark and Peggy’s house, the volunteers on whos couches we’d be spending the night.

The next morning came with a bright and early visit of the school, devoid of students since it was a Saturday. Built by the Poirtugese government only a year earlier, the 7Macia secondary school is, for lack of a better word, perfect. Clean, equipped, and enclosed classrooms are surrounded by athletic facilities, water collection systems, a library, and other educational amenities. AS Mark said, his site wasn’t the Peace Corps, but the Posh Corps. Later in the morning, James, the volunteer who Nick and I were visitng, met up with us and we hoped in another chapa for Chokwe. We arrived in the bustling farming town after a few hours and quickly caught a break with a boleia (hitchhike) on the back of an empty charcoal truck. This is by far the best way to get anywhere. Spacious, cool, and cheap, it gets you where you need to go in the most varied way possible. The advantage of a pickup truck is that you can take the shelter behind the cab if you’re getting cold, or you can ride standing up with the wind blowing in your face and the view unfolding before you, as I did.

3 hours later we arrived in Mabalane, a pretty dry and matu (bush) site. James lives at a house right next to the school, so we hiked over and unpacked, while cooking dinner for the next few hours. Being it had been an exhausting day of travelling, sleep was in order and we all retired to our respective beds (mine being a few grass mats stacked on top of each other on the floor). For the next 3 days we visited the town and surrounding area which includes a train station, market, secondary school, primary school, health clinic, prison (anchor point for the town), and a couple barracas. In the down time, and when James had to proctor exams, we played chess, read, and worked out. From this aspect the visit was very similar to what I've heard Peace Corps life is like, in that you have a lot of free time and become very good at amusing yourself without TV or the internet. This is definitely something I am looking forward to as I have a huge mental list of classics I need to read and can always get in better shape.

After a few days of visiting Mabalane, it was about time to start the journey back towards Namachaa. Again we had amazing boleia karma and caught a ride in the back of a skynet delivery truck as soon as we were ready to leave town. After a hour on the very rough roads out of Mabalane, we ran into a Land Cruiser which seemed to be having some problems. Due to reasons that were not yet apparent, the driver had blown out a tire and was looking for a little help to get back on the road. Being the good guys that we are, Nick and I assisted in changing the tire with no thoughts to our own desires. It was never on pour mind that this lovely car had air conditioning, comfortable seats, and 6 cylinder 4 wheel drive engine with amazing suspension. As a result, it came as a great surprise to us that he would offer us a ride to Chokwe after the tire was changed. Let this be a cautionary tale: if a driver has blown out a tire, it’s probably not the Michelin Man’s fault. The next 20 min were some of the scariest moments of my life. Rolling at 90 kph down rocky dirt roads in a car driven by a beer drinking Mozambiquean is not at all comfortable. Sure we did in 20 min what would have normally taken 2 hours, but I would never do it again. Arriving in Chokwe was accompanied with one great sigh of relief. That night we slept at the lovely house of Valerie and Clancy, two PCV’s finishing up their second years and getting ready to go home.

On the last day of our trip, we took a chapa back to Maputo (3 hours), then went to buy western delicacies at a supermarket (1 hour) ate thai food (2 hours, yummy!) then got another chapa back to Namachaa (a very hot 2 hours). Dirty, exhausted, and a little sick, I made it back to my fantastic host family and took a great nap. Travel is fun, but in Mozambique, it really takes it out of you.

Sorry, no music quote

I ran out of battery while I wrote,

I hope the poem will satisfy you

Unitl I get a clue