Well I got to Cintsa a few days ago after only spending a couple of days in Coffee Bay. Well everyone I've met travelling has said that you must go to Coffee Bay, so I though as I'd missed it on the way up by spending too much time in Cintsa I had to go on the way back down. Well I planned to stay for five days as I was sure after what everyone had told me I'd want to spend at least that much time there. I cut it short to only two days, it was a nice place but I didn't get the vibe there and it just wasn't Cintsa. So I decided I was better spending more time in Cintsa where a know a lot of people. It's been quite nice coming back to a place where a know people and it feels a bit like a home, feels like I never left! Sitting in the Barefoot cafe all day eating and drinking, oh and the volleyball with free wine is also very good.
Well I'm off the Hogsback in a few minutes, another place I was supposed to go to on the way up! Staying in the mountains at a hostel called Away with the Fairies. Now all the locals and the people who work in the hostel here say I must go, so I don't think I'll be disappointed. After going the I'm coming back to Cintsa for one last time, (can't stay away!), before I head back down to Cape Town to head off so Sydney.
I've got mixed emotions about leaving South Africa, part of me is looking forward to going to a new place and part of me is sad to be leaving. I know I'm going to have a great time in Australia and I do think that I have spent the right amount of time here and it is now time to move on. I just hope that the people in Australia are as welcoming and friendly as everyone here.
Tuesday 23 November 2010
Sunday 14 November 2010
Back in SA
Well I got back to South Africa yesterday, I'm now back in Durban after choosing the much more comfortable option of getting back here by coach. I must say a much more comfortable option than the Chapas from Tofo, and air conditioned as well. Even though we left three hours late, but I'm starting to get used to that now! Actually talking about the Chapas reminds me of the road rage incident we witnessed on the ride back down to Maputo. I just remember seeing or driver get out of and start shouting at the driver of the car in front, then the driver pulled off to the side of the road and lots of shouting and fighting ensued while we were still stuck in the middle of the road in the Chapas watching. I think this possibly went on for 10-15 minutes and I was starting to think we would have to get out and find some other form of transport back. Anyway to cut to the chase after several pushes and many badly aimed punches, looks like the locals were incredibly bad a fighting luckily, we did manage to get going again and make it to Maputo.
So what to say about my time in Tofo, well as I was diving most of the time I didn't indulge in too much drinking. Well apart from the last night, we had to catch the Chapas back to Maputo at 4am so we just decided to not go to bed at all. So basically we just rolled out of the bar straight into the bus, well I think this was by far the best option as I think only getting a couple of hours sleep would have made it worse. As mentioned in my previous post I managed to see plenty of amazing creatures while diving. The Manta rays are pretty amazing creature, huge and seem to float through the water as a bird. I only wish I had an underwater case for my camera so I could capture some of the underwater world. I definitely intend on getting one in Australia so I can start sharing the underwater world with you all. Oh yes one other thing, when I got back from diving one day as I got back to the hostel I saw someone who I recognised. It was a Canadian guy called Pat who I had met over a month ago in Cintsa, small world. It appears we were following more or less the same route but not quite staying at the same place at the same time. Like everywhere I stay here I seem to hang out with a truly multinational group of all ages. So Swedish, Canadian, German, Swiss, Brazilian, Chilean, English, American, Australian, Mozambiquan, South African, Dutch, Japanese and probably many more that I can't remember. And ranging from 20 to 55, travelling is a great leveller which you don't always seem to get in normal life.
Oh yes nearly forgot to add mine and Pat's trip to the police station. We were walking to a restaurant and Pat saw a shortcut, so we thought we would take it. Pat was just taking it when a couple of people started shouting at us from the distance. We just ignored them and carried on going as it just looked like some locals who we thought just wanted to sell us something. Well they came running towards us from the other side of the building we were going behind and told us to go into the building we were passing behind. Well naturally we said no, it doesn't seem like a good idea to enter a random building in a foreign country with locals. Well then we eventually realised that it was actually the police station, the only visibly signs of this were the letters PRM on the wall. Well we did start go get a bit worried at that point, I had visions of us being made to spend hours in the police station and being made to pay a big bribe. We could just about get the gist of what they were saying very angrily at us, but as neither of us speak Portuguese we were unable to let them know we were sorry and didn't realise it was a police station. Anyway luckily we were with a Brazilian guy that night and he came in and spoke to them, anyway the upshot is we got away with just a stern telling off and a lesson learnt about taking short cuts in the future!
Well, I'm off to Coffee bay for a few days tomorrow as everyone says it is a great place and it missed it on the way down. Then of course I can't not stop in Cintsa again on the way back down to Cape Town. I'll probably also go to Hogsback as it is also another place I wanted to go to but missed on the way up. Then I'll spend another few days in Cape Town before leaving for Sidney at the end of the month. I'm ready to leave now and see a new place, but also knowing that there is so much of Africa I haven't seen, most of it actually, and will need to come back at some point.
So what to say about my time in Tofo, well as I was diving most of the time I didn't indulge in too much drinking. Well apart from the last night, we had to catch the Chapas back to Maputo at 4am so we just decided to not go to bed at all. So basically we just rolled out of the bar straight into the bus, well I think this was by far the best option as I think only getting a couple of hours sleep would have made it worse. As mentioned in my previous post I managed to see plenty of amazing creatures while diving. The Manta rays are pretty amazing creature, huge and seem to float through the water as a bird. I only wish I had an underwater case for my camera so I could capture some of the underwater world. I definitely intend on getting one in Australia so I can start sharing the underwater world with you all. Oh yes one other thing, when I got back from diving one day as I got back to the hostel I saw someone who I recognised. It was a Canadian guy called Pat who I had met over a month ago in Cintsa, small world. It appears we were following more or less the same route but not quite staying at the same place at the same time. Like everywhere I stay here I seem to hang out with a truly multinational group of all ages. So Swedish, Canadian, German, Swiss, Brazilian, Chilean, English, American, Australian, Mozambiquan, South African, Dutch, Japanese and probably many more that I can't remember. And ranging from 20 to 55, travelling is a great leveller which you don't always seem to get in normal life.
Oh yes nearly forgot to add mine and Pat's trip to the police station. We were walking to a restaurant and Pat saw a shortcut, so we thought we would take it. Pat was just taking it when a couple of people started shouting at us from the distance. We just ignored them and carried on going as it just looked like some locals who we thought just wanted to sell us something. Well they came running towards us from the other side of the building we were going behind and told us to go into the building we were passing behind. Well naturally we said no, it doesn't seem like a good idea to enter a random building in a foreign country with locals. Well then we eventually realised that it was actually the police station, the only visibly signs of this were the letters PRM on the wall. Well we did start go get a bit worried at that point, I had visions of us being made to spend hours in the police station and being made to pay a big bribe. We could just about get the gist of what they were saying very angrily at us, but as neither of us speak Portuguese we were unable to let them know we were sorry and didn't realise it was a police station. Anyway luckily we were with a Brazilian guy that night and he came in and spoke to them, anyway the upshot is we got away with just a stern telling off and a lesson learnt about taking short cuts in the future!
Well, I'm off to Coffee bay for a few days tomorrow as everyone says it is a great place and it missed it on the way down. Then of course I can't not stop in Cintsa again on the way back down to Cape Town. I'll probably also go to Hogsback as it is also another place I wanted to go to but missed on the way up. Then I'll spend another few days in Cape Town before leaving for Sidney at the end of the month. I'm ready to leave now and see a new place, but also knowing that there is so much of Africa I haven't seen, most of it actually, and will need to come back at some point.
Sunday 7 November 2010
Just a quick post
Yes I am still alive, I'm still in Tofo and have now completed my Advanced diving course and will finish a Nitrox course tomorrow (will explain this later). So that will take my dives up to 14. Seen some cool stuff like large Manta's and sharks. I'm just about to run out of internet time so this is just a short post. I'll be back in Maputo on Tuesday and I'll give a more thorough account of my exploits then.
Monday 1 November 2010
Now in Mozambique
Well I did get to Mozambique a few days ago, the bus journey was uneventful until we got to the border. I was travelling with a Welsh girl and a Finish guy, we tried to get our visas in Swaziland the day before as was recommended, but were told to get it at the border by the embassy and it would cost 40 rand. When we got there we were told that it actually cost 560 rand. Well neither me or Sian had that much on us and the woman at the border was very unhelpful and just told us we had to find it. Well that's easier said than done at a border post, so we faced the prospect of either going back in to Swaziland and trying to hitch hike back into the capital, or find some money from someone. We went outside to ask the Finish guy if he had any he could lend us, when we saw that the bus, along with our bags, had already crossed the border! We had to persuade the border guard to let us cross if we left our passports with them to find money. As you can probably guess we did manage to borrow money off the Finish guy and got to Maputo uneventfully after that.
I spent a few days in Maputo and I must say it was quite a weird place, we managed to go out with locals for the first couple of evenings which helped a lot. But Maputo is not laid out like any other city I've been to before, there is no city centre everything is just spread out all over the place. You will wander around the city and you'll just be passing lots of run down buildings and just come across a nice shop or a bar, but after that you are back to run done buildings again. It did make it very hard to do anything in Maputo without a lot of walking. I did manage to go to an open air music festival while I was there, outside the town hall. There was some good music on, but I haven't been to a festival quite like it before. Every artist came on for one song and then you would have to wait for 10 minutes while the next band set up. The was one band that played two songs in a row, well actually they played the same song twice, but no one actually seemed to notice!
We I'm now in Tofo where there are beautiful sandy beaches and turquoise coloured water. I got here yesterday after an 8 and a half hours bus journey where I couldn't move as I was squashed onto a seat with a local woman that really wasn't big enough for two. She also kept on falling asleep on my shoulder, well I was very sore after that ride and still am today. But looking at the sea and the beach makes it all worth it, just!
Well I'm booked on the advanced dive course tomorrow, which will last for a few days. I thought as I want to dive I might as well take the next course so I allows me to dive in more areas around the world. I'm looking forward to seeing what all the hype about diving here is all about, I'm sure it is going to be amazing.
Well I'm not sure yet where I will head after here, either down the coast in an even longer bus journey to Pont a' Dora to do some more diving or head straight back to South Africa. Well in any case I have some more unpleasant bus rides ahead of me, well in any case it may get me use to them before I head to South America!
I spent a few days in Maputo and I must say it was quite a weird place, we managed to go out with locals for the first couple of evenings which helped a lot. But Maputo is not laid out like any other city I've been to before, there is no city centre everything is just spread out all over the place. You will wander around the city and you'll just be passing lots of run down buildings and just come across a nice shop or a bar, but after that you are back to run done buildings again. It did make it very hard to do anything in Maputo without a lot of walking. I did manage to go to an open air music festival while I was there, outside the town hall. There was some good music on, but I haven't been to a festival quite like it before. Every artist came on for one song and then you would have to wait for 10 minutes while the next band set up. The was one band that played two songs in a row, well actually they played the same song twice, but no one actually seemed to notice!
We I'm now in Tofo where there are beautiful sandy beaches and turquoise coloured water. I got here yesterday after an 8 and a half hours bus journey where I couldn't move as I was squashed onto a seat with a local woman that really wasn't big enough for two. She also kept on falling asleep on my shoulder, well I was very sore after that ride and still am today. But looking at the sea and the beach makes it all worth it, just!
Well I'm booked on the advanced dive course tomorrow, which will last for a few days. I thought as I want to dive I might as well take the next course so I allows me to dive in more areas around the world. I'm looking forward to seeing what all the hype about diving here is all about, I'm sure it is going to be amazing.
Well I'm not sure yet where I will head after here, either down the coast in an even longer bus journey to Pont a' Dora to do some more diving or head straight back to South Africa. Well in any case I have some more unpleasant bus rides ahead of me, well in any case it may get me use to them before I head to South America!
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