This blog is about a simple trip from A to B which has some insight into the simple joy of travel. It’s a basic representation of why I love traveling, the people you meet, the experience you have – even rewriting the experience makes me sparkle on the inside.
We arrived in Maxixe (pronounced Ma’sheesh) at 1.30 in the morning and further to South African charm, my driver had offered me a spare room for the night. Maxixe is on the other side of the lagoon from Inhambane township which was where I would catch my next mode of transport to Barra, my final destination. Me and my backpack were dropped off at the pier where I bought a ferry ticket for 10 Mt (5c). My ticket was collected half way along the pier along with another 10 Mt (5c) for my backpack. All the ferries, large and small head to the one place so I got on the next one filling up with people. As more people, goods and boxes arrived my backpack was tossed up on the canvas roof, the weight of it and lack of waves on the lagoon had me unconcerned about its ability to end up in the drink.
The boat filled up fast, the actual crossing was beautiful and took about 15-20 minutes. Flamingos gathered on a sandbank in the middle of the lagoon made for a stunning landscape and a guy sat at the bow of the boat directing the pilot away from other sandbanks.
This was only the second time in a month that I’d had to use my backpack as it’s supposed to be used and carried it on my back. And yes, I am carrying way too much stuff. There are motorized tuk-tuks lined up on the road outside the pier and one of the very smiley drivers approached me. We haggled over the cost of getting me to Barra and when we couldn’t agree on what I thought was a fair price (which in fact it probably was) I told him I’d keep walking.
Finding a Guide
I passed two men sitting on a park bench and in response to one of their greetings I stopped and asked where I could get a bus/chapa to Barra. He got up while replying, “this way” and walked me to the bus station. It wasn’t even a 1o min walk but a walk I would never have been able to navigate on my own. In part due to the number of people called out greetings to my voluntary guide, I felt safe enough that he wasn’t about to abduct me.
I paid him a volunteers thank you while the chapa man tied my pack onto the back of the van and then paid the driver 100 Mts ($2 USD) 50Mt for me and 50Mt for my pack for our trip to Barra. I got ushered into the middle front seat and a smiley fellow jumped in next to me while saying, “we are going to have a lovely chat” to which I replied well I hope you speak English cause my Portuguese is non-existent.
His name was Pedro and he worked next door to the accommodation I was heading to. He told me he had a sack of potatoes for them and that he would ring them to come and pick them up along with me. We shared a joke about me being a free extra with that days spuds. We discussed where I was from along with the standard rugby of course. We stopped at a traffic police stop where Pedro chatted to the police lady on our side of the vehicle, telling her I was Jacqui from New Zealand. She practiced her English on me while the driver showed his papers and then we headed off. We chatted, the van stopped and started, dropping people off and picking people up. Pedro got the van to slow down on a few occasions to pass other purchases out the window to their owners.
The end of the line was Barra where we got off and the driver turned around and headed back to town. Me, pack, Pedro and potatoes got picked up and headed the 5 mins by car to my next short-term home Neptunes
31/5/2016
I ended up visiting Pedro at Charlies Bar, Makolo Bay a few times during the three weeks I stayed in Barra. The food is very good quality for a great reasonable price. And Pedro is a great barman/host, you never know when he isn’t cracking a joke, he’s such a funny guy.
