Mozambique

I was walking through my political science building on the University of Cape Town campus one day and picked up a flyer about a trip to Mozambique. Its funny how one piece of paper can completely change you and your experiences. I decided to give it a go with my roommate Gabi and venture out to Mozambique with a diving group from Cape Town for our Spring break. The trip took place September 3rd- 12th and promised to be fun, relaxing, and memorable. I can definitely say that it was all of that and much more!

After arriving at the Johannesburg airport on Friday, September 3rd Gabi and I met with the 15 other group members and piled into a very nice, but small van. We were headed for Kruger National Park, world renowned for its wildlife, but the only catch was that we had to travel throughout the night. Needless to say when we finally arrived at Kruger the next morning, “tired” wouldn’t even begin to describe how we all felt. Our driver and group leader Vanessa was amazing—6 Red Bulls throughout the night kept her going strong.

Our group arrived at Kruger in the wee hours of the morning—perfect viewing time for the wildlife. While in Kruger we saw many elephants, rhino, zebras, bison, giraffes, and birds. I was a little disappointed not to see any lions or leopards, but I plan to go back with my mom in January and spend more time there. After spending a few hours at Kruger, we drove through to the border of Mozambique from the park on the bumpiest roads I’ve ever seen and felt. Our group spent approximately 2 and a half hours getting through the border patrol. We passed the time by staring at one another, counting the number of mosquitoes, and calculating how much we would sleep that night. But finally our passports were all stamped and we were ready to go onto our next destination—a grass hut in the middle of nowhere. Our group drove for another few hours and we found ourselves at a camp site literally in the Middle of Nowhere, Mozambique. The camp site was bare bones, but very welcoming. I was able to see the Southern hemisphere stars so clearly—absolutely stunning. We all grilled out for supper, took our anti-Malaria medications, and went to bed early.

Sunrise in Mozambique happens quite early because the country doesn’t operate in its assigned time zone. I asked some locals why not and they replied, “We just don’t feel like it”. Now that is real “Island Time” :). So the sun woke us all up early the next morning and we were back on the road again for 9 hours to Tofo, Mozambique. On the road we passed through many villages—complete with grass huts, people gathering water in large buckets at watering holes, random farm animals (even a camel or two), and Coca-Cola signs everywhere. America has indeed touched absolutely everything. Also on the journey to Tofo I noticed many Chinese construction crews building roads (proper roads with asphalt). If you haven’t read the latest about the Chinese deals in Africa, check out this site http://www.heritage.org/Research/Lecture/Into-Africa-Chinas-Grab-for-Influence-and-Oil . It’s a little daunting for Africa.

Finally after a long and bumpy journey, we arrived at our vacation site, Bamboozi, in Tofo just in time for sunset (5:45- 6pm). The site of the beach and the Indian Ocean was absolutely gorgeous! I knew this would be a great vacation. Upon arrival, we settled in our hut which was no more than an open air cabin made of bamboo and dried palm leaves. The cabin had a few lights above in the ceiling, mosquito nets for each one of the 13 beds, and a pillow for each bed. Bamboozi shut off the lights every night around 10:30pm to save electricity (we found this out the hard way on the first night). The darkness was a little scary at times because you literally could not see your hand in front of your face until the sun rose the next morning. There were communal bathrooms and showers located a feet from our hut, but the best part of all was that the beach was literally steps away.

The next few days were filled with swimming, diving in the Indian Ocean, touring the Tofo area, horseback riding on the beach, venturing out in the ocean to a remote island to hang with the locals, shopping at the local market, and reading. For me the highlight of the trip was completing my diving certification. Diving is a sport which requires a lot of gear and a lot of patience. For example, to get ready for a dive I had to meet my group at the dive center and get briefed on the day’s dive: where we were going, how deep it was, what to look out for in terms of aquatic life, and how long we would be diving. Next, I had to get all of my gear together: wet suit, bcd (vest), regulator and other gauges, cylinder, flippers, mask and snorkel, and weight belt. Once everything was assembled, then it was time to go through all of the equipment checks (basically to make sure your stuff works before it’s too late and you’re underwater). Then, the boat is loaded and the drivers haul it down to the beach on a trailer. The boat was then pushed out the edge of the ocean and the divers have to work together to flip it around and ready to launch. Pushing the boat into the ocean can sometimes be very tricky. We had several huge waves crash into us that would literally knock you off your feet. Once the boat started in the water, everyone would jump on board and hang on for the bumpy ride (i.e. put your feet in the feet straps and hold on to ropes on the boat so you don’t fall off).

I was able to experience some really cool dives complete with sea turtles, manta rays, coral archways, tropical fish, lion fish, whale sharks, and jellyfish. The only part I didn’t like was completing my skills test for my certification; particularly taking off my mask under 60 feet of water, putting it back on, and clearing it. Before this task, I meditated underwater and prayed that everything would go okay. Thankfully it did and then I was able to enjoy the dives. Now I just have the problem of planning more vacations around places that I can go dive!

Saturday morning, September 11th, our group left Tofo and headed for Maputo, the capitol of Mozambique. It took us another 9 hours in the van to get there, but the scenery was so beautiful and unique around us that it didn’t matter. Arriving in Maputo was an experience—I think it was obvious to see the long lasting devastation from colonialism from the rundown buildings that the Portuguese left behind. The city people are now rioting due to the rising costs of fuel, food, and water. The unemployment rate is 21% and rising. The government is literally on the edge of collapse. We only stayed there for one night, but it was an experience I’ll never forget.

The next morning we woke up at 5:30am and headed to Johannesburg. The journey took us about 6 and half hours—much time to reflect on the whole Mozambique experience. On the way back we crossed the border control and noticed a sign that said “Arrive Alive” as we were headed back into South Africa. I guess that’s good advice to follow! We made it back to the Joburg airport and headed home to Cape Town. I found it strange to suddenly be back in a civilized, Western atmosphere with computers, cell phones, and cars. All of a sudden I could communicate again; which also meant that all of a sudden I would be back at school, studying politics.

This trip was absolutely amazing and I have Rotary to thank for giving me the opportunity study abroad here in South Africa!

Lessons in the Water

Growing up in Charleston, SC I would safely argue that I spent at least 50% of my childhood in the water. We were fortunate enough to live relatively close to the beach and to have a swimming pool in our backyard. I remember my summer schedule as such:

7am- Morning swim
9am- Read
10am- Run errands with dad
11am- lunch
12:30pm- afternoon swim
3pm- Clean up room
5pm- Dinner
6:30pm- Evening swim

Those of you who know my dad will understand that even during the summer vacation time, my brother and I had daily schedules that we were expected to follow. But my point in this is to show how much time we spent in the water. My brother and I took swim lessons, went through several certifications, and learned to be very good swimmers. Later on in life I learned to water ski and subsequently spent even more time in the water.

I think I subconsciously chose Cape Town because it is located on the water. Contrary to what some of my friends think, Cape Town is only located on the Atlantic Ocean, but the water here is much clearer than back home. The two things that are unfortunate about the Cape Town waters are that the water is VERY cold, but more importantly highly inhabited by great white sharks. At first I was just comforted by the notion of being near water, but then my curiosity took hold. I first experienced the cold, shark infested waters when I went surfing (or attempted to surf) with one of my roommates Frederik. We took the train to Muizenberg which is about a 25 minute ride and rented equipment at the beach. The wet suit and surf board rental equaled out to be $8, so it was a good price to try to learn. The minute I entered the water my body went into shock from the temperature. I was actually so focused on trying to control my shivering that I didn’t even think about sharks. Surfing was incredibly hard and I definitely need lessons and a lot of practice. So after experiencing how cold the waters here are I didn’t think I would enter them again for quite some time. But not true…

I was going to class a few weeks ago and passed a flyer on a bulletin board advertising diving. I picked it up and held onto it for a few days. The flyer listed the contact details of a local organization that taught people how to dive and showed multiple pictures of people having fun while diving. So after talking to another roommate of mine, Gabi, we decided to give it a go. The course that they teach at the organization is a PADI certification course. Basically PADI will certify you in diving for life, but a few refresher courses might need to be taken from time to time. Gabi and I went to an info session and watched a video that depicted the fun and enjoyment of diving. We were both psyched and couldn’t wait to try it, but first came the studying. The manual and diving tables were given to us and so we began our studying. Everything seemed incredibly clear in theory, but then it came time for the reality of diving.

The first session of diving was done in a swimming pool. I was incredibly excited about getting in the pool since I considered myself to be an excellent swimmer (plus I’m a Pisces, so even my astrological sign tells me that I should be in water). Upon entering the frigid water of the pool, my body completely froze. Then I was told to go for it—breathe underwater. It was the strangest feeling, not as comfortable as I had imagined. The day progressed slowly because some students (like me) were a little panicked about the fact that you’re under alot water and are totally reliant upon your oxygen source. But as the session went on I became more comfortable—that is until my oxygen source decided to blow up. It was a panic situation for me, one that the instructor claims has only happened once before in over 2,000 dives. I guess you can say that I learned by experience early on.

The second session took place in the ocean. I went with one instructor and one other student. We went to Long Beach in Simon’s Town which is about a 30 minute drive from Cape Town. We suited up on the beach—wet suit, booties, fins, cylinders, bcd’s, masks, and weight belts. Walking with all of this equipment on plus fins is incredibly difficult, but I’m sure entertaining for others to watch. Eventually we waded into the cold ocean and began our dive. I again wasn’t concerned about the great whites because my instructor assured me that they don’t like divers because of the cylinders we carry. If great whites are to attack, it’s generally swimmers and surfers (comforting right?). The dive was great—I felt much more relaxed and saw many sea creatures- octopi, starfish, fish, and jellyfish. After exploring we swam back to the beach, or at least attempted to. I noticed that on the way back I wasn’t moving much. The current was incredibly strong (as thus cut the rest of our session short because it was too dangerous), but also I apparently had lost a fin. I’m not really sure how or when it happened because the water was so cold and I had booties that I never noticed. But we made it back to the shore safely and took all of our gear apart. On the drive back my instructor decided to tell me that a few days ago a group was diving in the same spot we were today and swam into a great white. The group remained calm and the shark swam away. I’m so glad he told me this AFTER our dive.

I’m leaving this Friday, September 3rd to go to Mozambique with my roommate Gabi to finish my required dives there and also to vacation (it’s a work hard, play hard attitude here). I’m so excited because the water temperature will be at least 20 degrees warmer. People say that if you can learn to dive in Cape Town that you can dive anywhere. I hope they’re right!

So this Pisces has once again found water and is happy :).