First day in Mozambique

LAM (Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique) have got a small aircraft with the back of the left propeller support slightly burnt. Can't see the right one, so I cannot tell in what kind of state it is. But maybe that's just how it's supposed to be.

I don't know what kind of craft it was, I was about to take off in. I was sitting in seat 14A which is located under the left wing. The craft is not even half full. As expected, the crew speaks mostly Portuguese, but the captain always says his messages in English after having said them in Portuguese. Although the English version mostly was way shorter than the Portuguese one.

Landing in Inhambane (pronounced Iñamban) was a new experience to me, as i received parts of aircraft on my head. Actually it was just the cover of a neon light. But still...

We left the aircraft on the tarmac of the airfield, which was parts of the Aeroclube de Inhambane, and were directed to the customs office. Confident of having done the right thing in going to the consulate in Geneva to get a 90 days visa for which I paid CHF 130, i strolled into the office to present my passport. I just had to fill in one more little form before going through customs. But then, at the desk, the officer told me I couldn't go in, that there was a problem with the date. I didn't understand as he brandished my passport under my nose saying « don't you see ? » to me. But then a lady from some tourism department who was on the same plane, tried to help me sort it out. She couldn't get anything done, so she left me her number on a piece of paper, and i gave her mine. She was going to call her director who was maybe able to help me. I never could thank her, as the paper went to a customs officer, and I forgot to retrieve it. So in short, the customs officers told me I had falsified my visa and that I could not get into the country like this. There actually was some marks left where one of the dates was written. So I had to buy a new one. Fortunately by then Ana Alecia, my CouchSurfing host, got there and helped me translate what they wanted. I didn't have any Meticais yet (the local currency), so I wanted to pay in USD. They would rather take Meticais, they told us, because the price wouldn't change, as the dollar's price vacillates. That's how Ana Alecia ended up paying for my entry visa to Mozambique. Obviously I paid her back later that same day. They told me I could go to Maxixe (pronounced Maschische), which is a 20 minutes boat ride across the bay, to go sort out my visa problems, and get reimbursed for the first visa.

After all the visa hassle at the airfield, we finally got into town. The drive was very short, but filled my with memories from my Madagascar trip, which was closest in terms of how it was. There were people in wooden huts and stalls selling stuff along the road to the airfield. Once in town, the feeling left and was replaced by the feeling of new discovery. A short drive through town showed me one of the main roads with most of the banks and mobile phone operators.

After having settled in, I went out to check out if I could get some money out of my bank card. I happily discovered that Barclay's Bank accepts my Maestro card, and that BCI accepts my Visa card. My wallet full of 500 Meticai banknotes, I went to check out two phone operators. Megan, Ana Alecia's highschool friend who currently lives here, told me that Movitel is a new operator, and that they offer a good service. Their customer service was much better than Vodacom's.

In the evening around 6pm, I went out for a walk. I started going down to the waterfront, and walking in direction of the fancy place. I was thinking about trying out the local beer in some bar, but definitely not at the fancy place, as this would have fancy prices too. Although this place should be nice for a sundowner, I was told. But the sun was already down anyway. Passing a group of guys hanging out on the walkway, we exchanged greetings. As I came near, the one closest to me shifted out of my way in order for me not to have to leave the walkway. I walked into a second group of guys who were having a nice time drinking some beer. Again, one of them went out of my way, we exchanged greetings, and one said something to me. As I didn't think it was directed to me I just went my way. As they called again, I turned back, then asked to repeat because I did not understand. They offered me to share their drink with me. So it was I was to try Tipo Tinto, which is Rhum with Sparletta Sparberry juice (some kind of strawberry juice).

So I met Tassmir, Grimer, Ruben, John and Zeca. We connected on Facebook and later exchanged numbers to keep in touch. I spent some time with them until the Rhum was all gone. They then decided to go buy some alcohol somewhere, and invited me to join them. I climbed into Zeca's pickup and we slowly drove off to town center. Behind the gas station there should be a guy selling some cheap alcohol, but he was closed. So we went off to another place, which was a small bar in the rua opposite Barclay's rua. The guys wanted to buy the bottle of Rhum, but the lady at the bar wouldn't let us having it whole. So we chose to drink Manica beer, which is the local beer around here.

Later John and Zeca left by car, and I left with Grimer, Ruben and Tassmir by foot.

Tassmir stayed in contact with me, and the next day we took the ferry to Maxixe. But that's another story.