I’m back in office after a rather rough return to Maputo. Suffered from some sort of fatigue and breakdown in Joburg and couldn’t do all that shopping I was hoping to do. Instead, I went to the bus station and slept on my bags the entire day while kind strangers brought me fruit and water. At night, the ten hour busride to Maputo was spent next to a very inspiring, happy and energetic lady who wouldn’t stop talking.

Her name was Viola and she was 52 years old. She got married at the age of 14 with a 17 year old boy who was serving in the military at the time and they spent the next five years apart, writing love letters.

She had the time to obtain a University degree, he became a doctor, together they got nine children. They are still childlishly in love and all of their children now have a higher education, some are doctors, some lawyers, some sociologists. They live all over the world, in Italy, Norway and Algeria. And whenever possible, last time for Christmas, they all meet. The parents, the children, their partners, and the 8 grandchildren – and together they read those old loveletters and laugh. Apart from that, this lady educates young people about domestic violence and premature marriage, and teaches both girls and boys about how important it is to finish school, truly fall in love and trust a partner before marrying. Viola seemed genuinely happy and kept repeating how lucky and thankful she was. And when she used my cell to call her husband to pick her up, she giggled and used that sweet kind of voice, you know which one.

Back in Maputo my very dear supervisor from work took me to a clinic and after many hours of questions and confusion and a significant dose of persistance I found out that I didn’t have malaria but some sort of infection in the body that they couldn’t yet define.

“Your blood test results? Who are you? Oh, wait.. they should be here somewhere.. uhm.. okay.. so, we made a mistake and you will have to give us another blood sample. Yes. And wait for another two hours. And oh, yes, you will have to pay again because we will have to run another test.”

I didn’t pay anything extra. Nor did I give more blood. But I did go “Excuse me for being rude now but you do see how incredibly outrageous this is, don’t you? Please use the blood I gave you earlier, run the test you’re supposed to, and please give me the results that the doctor needs. Oh, and I’m very sorry but I will not pay again, I am sure you understand that it’s not an option to charge me for this confusão.” and got my results within fifteen minutes. A true T.I.A* moment. I got a prescription for antibiotics but decided to wait a day, listen to my body and see if I can handle this without having to poison myself.

Today I’m not yet completely back on track but at least back on my feet and back in office. I’m feeling tons better compared to yesterday and the day before, so it might be that I will survive this fight on my own, and become more resistant to whatever it was that provoked this breakdown.

*This is Africa

Here’s two random things I’ve done today:

1. Patted cheetahs
2. Tasted maggots

Just like that. And tomorrow I’m leaving Namibia, and ending my two week Easter trip.

I’m taking a flight to Joburg and will spend ten hours there to do some necessary shopping before getting on the bus to Maputo. Joburg is one of the most dangerous places I know of so I’m thinking about hiding my memory card together with my emergency money. Imagine how extremely annoying it would be if my camera with all these experiences got stolen. I can’t have that.

Okay, sleep soon. My last night in a tent. Good night!

Here’s to prove that I’m still alive. Haha.
I’m in Windhoek, Namibia. And it’s much more complicated to get around in this country than anywhere else I have been. Without your own car you’re pretty much stuck. So what happens in the backpackers is that people ask around for companions and people to share a car with but I only have four days so I can’t commit to s 10 days around Namibia drive. There are also organised trips from here, bur paying 300€ for two nights in the desert would kill my budget. I’ll se what I’ll do but it doesn’t look perfect, anyway, I’m not the only one here with the same issue so maybe there will be a joint way to figure it out.

The other thing I have started thinking about is a tent. I have never considered getting one before but it seems that travelling in Africa just gets tons easier once you have your own.. now, tents are not really my expertise, and looking at all these variations doesn’t make this easier. I understand that I would need a tent, a sleeping bag.. and a mat. And carry all of it around. Not awesome.

Also, I guess I would wait until I get to Joburg to do this kind of shopping, as it’s all cheaper there. Oh well, we’ll see.

Windhoek is nice by the way. A very easy to walk, pretty and well organised city.

And the Wifi is great and free in this place, which is why I am uploading all these updates. :)

Sun and water. Well deserved. This place is nice.

@ Cardboard Box Backpackers, Windhoek, Namibia.

So I was told that I would have to split my trip to Windhoek into a two day thing, as there is no public transport between northern Botswana and Namibia. I was also told I needed to book a taxi for the morning and a lot of other things.. people are very helpful and all advice is great for the road, but very often you just need to do your own thing.

I noted the cities I needed to pass in order to get to Namibia and considered the option of sleeping in either Ghanzi or just on the other side of the Namibian border to avoid travelling by night. Other than that, I had no idea how I would get to Windhoek, but I have learnt by now that things somehow always work out around here.

I set off from Old Bridge Backpackers just before seven in the morning and walked out to the main road as the sun was rising. From there I jumped on a passing minibus that took me straight to Maun bus station. A taxi would have been 4€, this was 30cent and much faster.

At the bus station I was shown the spot where the Ghanzi bus leaves at 6.30, 7.30 and 8.30. One important thing here is however that the buses leave when they are full, so by 7.15 there was no Ghanzi bus. I took the 8.30 one and it was 5€. The trip to Ghanzi took about six hours and I was sitting next to a Baherero lady with amazing clothing. Her name was Mavekea which means “they will come”. I gave her a cookie, she bought me a lollipop, we couldn’t understand each other, but we laughed a lot.

When we arrived to Ghanzi it was still fairly early and I felt I might as well continue across the Namibian border and find a place to sleep on the other side. I asked around and got pointed to a bus just next to me. It was a chaotic bus filled with very interesting characters, from men looking like pimps with gold chains and big hats, to ladies in weird wigs and people basically going to small desert villages. I got a seat next to a beautiful Kalahari girl and her 7 month old baby. Her name was Ketshipile and she was 21 years old. The boy was her first child and his name was Rooniy. She spoke a little english so we were talking about her family as I was playing with Rooniy. All kids love to grab, bite and play with my old Casio watch. Haha.

I have had a slight obsession with the faces of Kalahari people ever since I watched Gregory Colberts “Ashes and Snow”, they have really amazing features and it was magical for me to finally see these faces in real life.

Anyway, the bus took much longer than I had expected and it was already passing four o’clock when I got dropped off outside of the border. (4h, 5€)

I walked to the border, got my passport stamped and had to walk across “no man’s land” to Namibia. The sun made me think about my big backpack at home and how heavy it would have been to carry that one instead. In Namibia the immigration ladies were friendly, just remember that you need an address (your hotel) and a contact person and a telephone number when filling out the visa application. I had a contact already but it might be worth remembering noting those things down, or at least making them up beforehand.

I got through to the other side and saw a long straight road. A very long road. And almost no cars.

I was trying to get on a teacher’s association tour bus, but they were making things complicated and they said it was full. Then I spotted a 4×4 Toyota that was on its way from the border and it stopped as I waived it down. It was a young guy, and he said he was going to Windhoek. I noted the number plates down and took the guys name, making sure he knew I sent it off to my mom.

My mom is kind of my travellimg secretary and keeps track of where and with whom I am at all times. I always send her a copy of every itinerary and text her the details. It’s a great and easy way to stay safe, and to show people that somebody knows where you are.

Anyway, 30 year old Bercy from Burundi drove me to Windhoek and took me straight to my hostel. It was pitch black when we arrived but it was perfectly fine.. It took three hours, and he wanted to know everything I know about HIV issues in Mozambique and the rest of the world and about the Human Development Report. He also asked me whether the Americans already had invented a cure for AIDS but were hiding it. The ride cost me 20€, and I had arrived in Windhoek.

Now I’m very very tired and will go to sleep. Sorry about these boring technical updates – you will get the fun stuff once I have uploaded photos back in Maputo.

Good night.

 

On my last evening in Maun I had a long and interesting chat with man from Barcelona and an older German traveller that I also met in Victoria Falls. Anyway, I went to sleep at eight to get ready for another day of travelling, and had a slightly weird experience in the night.

I have this thing that I’m very sensitive when I sleep so if somebody enters my room or gets too close, I wake up. So in the middle of the night I suddenly noticed a man standing between my bed and the bed next to me where my things were spread out. He wasn’t touching anything but clearly looking for something. Maybe he was drunk, or lost, even if that’s very unlikely as 2 o’clock really is way past bedtime in Africa. Even the lodge bar closes at ten.

Anyway, I had my valuables and camera on the other side, on the floor between my bed and a wall, so there was nothing of value that he could see. Then he suddenly looked at me and I’m not sure if he saw that my eyes were open or not, so I raised my head a little and he quickly walked off. I didn’t want to scare him or turn on the lights as I knew I had nothing to lose but I was very ready to do so if he had tried grabbing anything. I had either the option of naively and kindly asking if he was looking for something, or to scream. I think I would have done the first option not to make too much of a fuss or put myself in trouble. Anyway, I didn’t have to do anything, and when the mysterious person was gone I took my camera from the floor and slept with it for the rest of the night as if it was a baby.

These things never really happen in dorms and experienced travellers are generally not very paranoid about their belongings as there is some sort of mutual trust that we live by. But it’s still good to keep your things close and try to be aware of your surroundings. I don’t know where I got my sensibility from, but it has been very valuable for me when travelling alone or when going by bus. It’s really easy for me to fall asleep, but I’m kind of always aware of where I am anyway, so I don’t miss my stop, and I see you – so don’t try. Haha.

So I arrived to Maun and made my way to the Old Bridge Backpackers lodge. The sun is setting as I write, and I will soon finally get that long, nice sleep that I have been promising myself since I left Maputo. I can hear the water right next to my bed, the only thing separating me from it is a mosquito net (thank god for that). And the rest of the place is really great as well with a nice bar, reasonably priced restaurant and loads of interesting people. I am def staying here a couple of days.

Oh, and maybe it was just my general state of exhaustion and bad need for a shower, but I really love the showers here! They are kind of built like a maze of straw walls, and you mark them occupied by hanging a rope by the entrance. Inside, they are fresh, clean and.. without a roof! So basically, when showering, you do so in the sun. Lovely.

Okay. Time for some sleep, I want to see the sunrise.

Took a minibus from Kasane at five o’clock in the morning. It broke down 50km from Nata and I got my money back somewhere in the middle of what seemed to be a never-ending highway.

Stood in the sun for a while, listening to how silent it was and sometimes, a car passed, taking a couple of people on board. I stopped a huge petrol truck and the R&B loving driver took me and another man from the minibus on. I was enjoying the music until he dropped us off in Nata where I found a store where I could buy some more cookies and water. It was 11am and I was only half way to Maun.

Found another minibus outside the shop, it was on its way to Maun but already full. I was the first person to ask whether I could sit on the floor and go with them anyway but two other girls squeezed in as I was letting people on. The driver said that he only could take two people but the girl looked afraid and pretended that she didn’t understand English when I told her she had taken my spot, I felt sorry for her and squeezed in as well, and nobody seemed to really care. I used my backpack to sit on and did that for two hours until somebody got off and I got a proper seat for the last two hours of the ride. I paid 63pula for the last part, that’s 6€ and all I finally spent to get from Kasane to Maun. It took 10 hours.

The whole thing about hitchhiking always seemed like a big and dangerous deal to me. But it is the way most people move from place to place around here. So why couldn’t I? As long as the art of common sense with a touch of intuition is practiced, I think it’s a very safe, interesting, cheap and comfortable way to travel.

Hey – I’m in Maun, baby!

So I had just passed the border between Zimbabwe and Botswana and stood there waiting to hitch a ride to take me further. Met Moses. And now I’m in a house somewhere outside of Kasane.

You’ll get the full story when I’m back in Maputo, all is great! Good night.

A preview of my photos from the Victoria Falls. We got completely soaked by the spray from the violent water, it was like taking a shower in a warm waterfall.