Sharing their hopes and their hardships

Slideshows - Southern Africa trip

I've been wanting to add some of my slideshows to my blog, but did not know exactly how to upload and show it.
Today I figured it out and thought I'd share two of my old slideshows with you.

I edited a documentary style slideshow after I did my trip through Southern Africa. I made use of my own photos and added some vocals and music to it. It was a fun project.
Check it out!

Southern Mozambique

It was smooth sailing heading from Vilanculos south to Maputo and back to South Africa.

I stayed in Tofo for 4 days and just relaxed on the beach before going to Maputo. I had an amazing time at Fatima’s Backpackers and had to go back with friends.

The past December holiday (2008) I went back as we did another “Via the Backroads” trip and Mozambique as included as one of the many destinations. (news on Via will soon be posted).

The Backpackers in Tofo has a shuttle service that takes travelers and passengers back to Maputo. This is a convenient service as the Chapa leaves at 4am and takes you to your backpackers in Maputo arriving at lunch time.

I was in Maputo for only one day. It was a Sunday and the streets were empty. I walked around the city for hours looking for an internet café and eventually found internet access at a hotel. My experience of Maputo was that this is a run down city though the presence of investment and money was visible. A distributor of paint will become a millionaire over night if the council of Maputo decides to give the city a facelift. My stay was short as I boarded a bus the next morning for Johannesburg.

I would often buy food from street vendors and at the komatipoort border post I had my last street meal. I walked through the street vendors and bought Nshima and a ¼ Chicken. It did not look great, but I was just too hungry. The girl that sat next to me on the bus refused to buy the same meal and said she would rather wait. I was still in Africa mode and did not know when we would stop again and had to fill my stomach.

It was not 15 min after I finished my meal that the bus stopped outside a shopping centre. I walked in and bought a fruit juice, I was back in South Africa and it felt great.

Mozambique: Tete to Vilanculos

I left Malawi just before lunch and made my way to the border of Mozambique. From the border I took a Chapa to Tete and arrived after dark yet again. I had no idea where I was and no one could speak proper English. Luckily the driver was from Zimbabwe and understood me. He took me to a hotel and upon arrival I knew that this place was not for me. I asked around for a cheaper option and ended up at a rest house next to the highway. This was the first time I paid for a bed, but had little option as it was dark.

The next morning I woke up early to be at the bus stop at 6am. When I arrived at the bus stop there were no more busses left and I was told that the busses leave at 4am and should wait another day. So I walked towards the end of town and waited for a pick up truck going to Chimoio.

At 8am the first pick up truck arrived and I took the lift to Chimoio. I sat on the back of the truck for a complete day driving through the hottest province of Mozambique, the Tete province. This was a very long day and just before sunset we arrived in Chimoio. I had to find accommodation fast as I sat on the back of a truck for 10 hours covering 400km and it would be dark soon.

I jumped of next to the road and started walking towards the town centre. Chimoio was a lot bigger than what I thought it would be. I asked around for a place to stay but no one could speak English. Eventually I met a guy and he said he would give me a lift to Pink Papaya Backpackers. I knew about this place thanks to my Lonely Planet Guide.

The next morning I was at the bus station at 4am looking to take a bus to Vilanculos. All the busses passed Vilanculos, but you had to pay the full fair to go to Maputo. I decided I would take a Chapa to Inchope and wait for a pick up or a bus to Vialnculos.

I met a Zimbabwean on the Chapa also going to Vilanculos. We arrived in Inchope and climbed of at the intersection waiting for a lift. Adriano (my Zimbabean friend) said we should try taking a truck as they always took passengers for extra money.

We walked up to a parked truck and asked a lift. I had this feeling that the trip was going to be hell as we started of with an argument about how much we should pay for the journey. With no alternative transport we boarded the truck. We were the first two on board and I thought to myself it could be comfortable. Then we stopped at a pick up point and they just started loading the cabin full of people.

I noticed that the truck was transporting another truck that had broken down, so after the first stop I told the driver who was by that time already drunk that I was going to go sit in the back with Adriano.

We would stop at every town and the drivers would buy goods like goats and chickens to sell at a later stage on the trip. At all the pit stops they would use our money to buy beer and food and chat to the ladies. These guys were there to exploit us and I knew we would not arrive in Vilanculos anytime before dark.

My initiative to go and sit on the truck on the back gave the drunk drivers the idea to add more people and before long the back truck was also filled. Luckily the back truck had a CD player and we listened to Dire Straits and Peter Tosh all the way.

Then matters got worse as we arrived at the Save River police check point and one of the passengers Dina was in the country illegally. He left Zimbabwe with no paperwork and was heading to South Africa. This meant that we had to hide for almost 20min as they inspected the cargo load. This did not bother the drivers or Dina as they would pay a bribe if we got caught and head on.

It started getting dark and even the passengers became annoyed. We were stopping all the time as the drunk drivers changed places driving at no more that 50km/h.

The truck stopped at the turn off for Vilanculos and we were informed that this would be how far they would take us. We were forced to get of and find alternative transport as we lost yet another argument. Adriano, Dina and I caught a lift on the back of truck and arrived in Vilanculos at about 10pm.

Adriano offered me accommodation at his place for the night and the next morning I booked in at the backpackers.

This was truly the longest 3 days of traveling I have experienced and I was glad to know that further south more people would speak English, more transport options available and shorter distances to cover.

Malawi - part 2

I arrived in Nkhota-kota at 5pm, thinking the Ilala would arrive at 8pm. After asking around the locals soon informed me that they did not expect the Ilala Ferry to arrive before 12pm.

I walked down to the lake where all the people were waiting for the ferry. Everyone waited at a broken down building and I soon found out that the Ilala was most definitely not on time. I sat and waited with the locals till the sun rose at 6am when only the Ilala arrived. I boarded the Ilala 10 hours late, bitten by mosquitoes and hardly any sleep.

Wanting to embark the ferry was a complete new adventure. It was every man for himself as everyone on the ferry wanted to get off and I wanted to get on board. I climbed over boxes of fish and vegetables with everyone protesting that I am going the wrong way. I immediately went up to 1^st class and tried to sleep for 4 hours while waiting to head further south.

As the engines started and the ferry made its way south, the crew asked me to pay. I walked around and realized that 2^nd class was empty. 1^st class was a better option but I had limited money and decided to take 2^nd class.

We arrived in Monkey Bay at 12pm and this would be where the Ilala would dock. It was too late to find accommodation and I decided to stay on the ferry till the sun came up. Having docked I told the crew that it’s to late and I am going up to 1^st class to sleep.

The next morning I headed to Cape Maclear. I met an Australian Traveler and we took a pick up truck to Cape Maclear where I stayed for a three days.

I’d been to Cape Maclear before when I was 13 years old. On our visit with my parents I met a local called Francis. Francis would always write letters to me and my brother. Upon arrival in Cape Maclear I went into the village to find Francis. I found his sister and she told me that he was in Blantyre. On the morning I left Cape Maclear to go to Blantyre Francis showed up outside my tent. He was back in town and the community told him that I’d been looking for him. He had a chat where after I took a pick up truck with my Australian friend Adrian to Blantyre.

Blantyre is the biggest city in Malawi and I only stayed for a night. The next morning it was off to Mozambique as this would be a new challenge with no one speaking English and the distances between destinations being further.

Malawi is a great country with the friendliest people. Malawi is a small country and accommodation is easily available with numerous transport options. I had an amazing stay in this beautiful country and will be going back as soon as I get the opportunity.

Malawi - part 1

Malawi – wow!

Deciding to head further north to Malawi was the best decision I made on my trip. Malawi was amazing and the highlight country of my trip.

I headed to Nkhata Bay first as this would be my turn around spot. I would have loved to have traveled further north but sometime I had to turn around. It would have been great if I had a plane ticket back from somewhere further north, but I still had to make ground back to Cape Town and my money started to become tighter. Zambia was ridiculously expensive. While I was there a Liter of Petrol cost R22 and I paid R130 for 10 beers from the local liquor store. These are just a few examples. In Malawi prices were cheaper and compared with South African prices.

I tried to avoid African Cities as I think they all look the same. I did not stay in Lusaka and also didn’t want to stay in Lilongwe. I arrived in Lilongwe at lunch time and immediately boarded an overcrowded bus to Mzuzu. From here it’s an hour’s drive by minibus to Nkhata Bay.

Nkhata Bay is truly one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. I stayed at a backpackers called Mayoka Village. I rate this to be the best Backpackers I have ever stayed at with amazing views, lots of activities, cool like minded travelers and amazing food. This is a place where you can get stuck for a very long time and I going back there as soon possible.

I stayed at Mayoka for a weekend and then turned around and started heading south. I wanted to catch the Ilala Ferry, but did not have enough money for first class all the way and would not have made it in 2^nd class for 2 days to Monkey Bay. So I opted to travel by road to Nkhota-kota where I would board the Ilala to Monkey Bay.

Last of Zambia

While in Zambia I decided to travel further north to Malawi as it was not that far from where I stayed on the Lower Zambezi. From the Lower Zambezi near Siavonga to Chipata on the border with Malawi would take me 12 hours. Hein organized me a lift with a lady he knew from the Kapenta Fishing Industry to Lusaka from where I boarded an afternoon bus to Chipata. Arriving in Chipata after dark would be the first of many. I camped the night and left for Lake Malawi the next morning.

Southern Africa Trip - Namibia

In June 2008 after completing my studies I decided to go and explore more of Southern Africa. I boarded a bus in Bellville and headed north to Windhoek in Namibia where I would meet up with a friend Le Roux Van Schalkwyk.

The bus drive up took 23 hours and we had a delay at the border post for 3 hours. The journey did not feel that long as I sat next to British girl called Sam Murray and we chatted all the way till she got dropped in Keetmanshoop.

From Windhoek I got a lift with Le Roux to the Caprivi Strip in North Eastern Namibia. Here I spent a few days on the banks of the Okavango River with Le Roux and his family.

I was heading towards Mukuyu Outreach in Zambia. This would be my only destination that I had pre arranged. From the Caprivi I headed to Victoria Falls and then onto Mukuyu on the Lower Zambezi River.

I did not spend much time in Namibia as I concentrated on reaching Mukuyu.