Siri in Africa: June 2012

ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END

2008

We wake up early and pack resignedly for the last time, then go down to wait for Victor in the dining room. Truth to tell we are both quiet and sad. It’s so hard to say these goodbyes. You know your child is as well as he could possibly be, still he is no longer under your care. He is moving forwards into his own life, and you must let go. It’s the same for all parents.

After breakfast we take a last look around the room and then take off towards the airport in our dusty white Ford Ranger. I snap pictures of the passing urban scene until suddenly all traffic is stopped at a crossroads by an endless motorcade of diplomatic vehicles, guarded by many cops on motorcycles. They turn out to be leaving an Independence Day ceremony held at an impressive and colorful monument near the airport. Since there is that ban on photographing official scenes I keep the camera out of sight. Still, when they have passed, I can click excited groups of local families dressed in dark suits and fitted white dresses on their way to the celebration, as well as tough looking teenagers hanging out at the street-corners.

When we hand over the car to the rental people, three guys appear out of nowhere and try to carry our luggage. I have to throw a fit to make them stay and wait for us and not drive us crazy with stress. Apparently this is the way to do things here, but it doesn’t feel good. The men seem very poor, but they are so insistent! Victor’s friend Bernardo comes to get him at the airport and so we say our tearful goodbyes. A cute young woman behind the counter looks at my streaming face and inquires kindly in Mozambican Portuguese, ”Estais a chorare?”

But we rally and go through security to check out the departure hall. An hour later we are landing in the super-modern Tambo airport with the cleanest floors I have ever seen. We find the shuttle to our hotel, located in an entertainment complex. The hotel is fine, but the complex is entered through a dark nightmarish and noisy area filled with game machines. Entertainment for kids. Further on the space opens to various food offerings as well as a casino, which we never visit. We are tired and after eating go back to our room, which we only leave the next morning to have breakfast and catch the day flight to Rio. We have many hours in the air to fill and also a stopover in São Paulo. It is 10pm when we arrive at our house to be greeted by ecstatic dogs and cats, and it is wonderful to go to sleep in our own bed.

https://picasaweb.google.com/108088723826036223432/LeavingMaputoAndOvernightingInJBurg?authkey=Gv1sRgCMresvfD3fLPMw

LEAVING MAPUTO

September 7, 2008 3:04 PM

MOZAMBICAN WOMAN ARE DRESSED FESTIVELY IN WHITE FITTED JACKETS AND SKIRTS WITH BIG FLUFFY HATS ON THEIR WAY TO THE CELEBRATION OF THEIR COUNTRY’S INDEPENDENCE FROM PORTUGAL

DRIVING BACK THROUGH KRUGER

2008

Regretfully we head out of the Game Reserve and drive into the Kruger Park, where we will go south towards the highway at the Malelane Gate, instead of going across to the Crocodile Bridge Gate, which was our point of entry. We are driving fast (there is a 50km speed limit) with very few stops for pictures. We have the border crossing to worry about and do not want to drive on the Mozambican highway in the dark. Still, we see a splendid herd of zebras - one of the few animals we did not see at Idube -and also a large black bird, which looks like a vulture, but is a Southern Ground Hornbill. The area has been very flat, but now we begin to see some rocky hills (reminiscent of the Lion King scenarios). We stop briefly for a snack at a campsite and notice the care with which South Africans treat their water supply and garbage disposal. The toilets are invariably clean and there are many educational signs about what happens to the animals when you throw garbage in the park. On we go, cross a river on our way out of the park and next are thundering along a highway, still driving on the left, Victor at the wheel. We are surrounded by green fields and irrigation systems are everywhere. Before reaching the border we stop at a supermarket to get a couple of necessities and use the ATM machine. The parking lot has a vaguely threatening atmosphere with many poor looking children and young men standing idly around or asking for change - we do not leave the car unattended for an instant - whereas the supermarket is absolutely clean with a kid driving around on a floor cleaning machine in the middle of the customers. The border itself is a chaotic nightmare. Upon exiting South Africa and entering Mozambique you have to go through twin processes of leaving the car (we have an open canvas-covered back on the pick-up truck, which is stressful, because our luggage is beneath it), registering your vehicle in one line and then joining another long line to get your passport stamped - in Oswaldo’s and my case also to buy an entry visa to Mozambique. Armed police is everywhere, as are an assailing host of ‘helpers’, who make you feel, if possible, more lost and confused. In our case things are even more messed up, because apparently we missed the exit procedure when we left Mozambique and went straight to the entry one in the South African border office. Eventually all is sorted out with money changing hands and we are free to continue our journey north towards Maputo. The countryside is now much poorer and drier, with pathetic straw dwellings, flat roofs held in place with big stones. The road is very good, but we are uneasy about the many goats grazing there and unexpectedly crossing the road. Car insurance in Mozambique is about the most unfair we have ever come across. You have a $900 deductible for anything that happens to the car, and accidents involving things (such as animals or trees), driving while drunk, or speeding imply a deductible of $30,000, as is the case if your car is stolen - even if you are held up at gunpoint!

Driving into Maputo from the south you catch a beautiful view of a Manhattan-like skyline and soon we whizz through the bustling streets towards our hotel. We are all very tired - Victor even gives up on working out - and eventually decide just to have dinner at the hotel - which turns out to be both expensive and bad - and also sad, because it is our last night with Victor. We pack and go to bed early - we will have breakfast together tomorrow and drive the car to the airport.

https://picasaweb.google.com/108088723826036223432/TheDriveBackThroughKrugerParkToMaputo?authkey

RETURNING TO MAPUTO

September 6, 2008 9:00 PM

WE’RE OF COURSE QUITE BLAS´E BY NOW - HAVING SEEN SO MUCH - BUT A HERD OF ZEBRAS CAN STILL CATCH OUR ATTENTION