#4 - Drakensberg and Mozambique
WE TRAVEL, INITIALLY, TO LOSE OURSELVES; AND WE TRAVEL, NEXT, TO FIND OURSELVES. WE TRAVEL TO OPEN OUR HEARTS AND EARS AND LEARN MORE ABOUT THE WORLD THAN OUR NEWSPAPERS WILL ACCOMMODATE. WE TRAVEL TO BEARING WHAT LITTLE WE CAN, IN OUR IGNORANCE AND KNOWLEDGE, TO THOSE PARTS OF THE GLOBE WHOSE RICHES ARE DIFFERENTLY DISPERSED. AND WE TRAVEL IN ESSENCE TO BE YOUNG FOOLS AGAIN – TO SLOW TIME DOWN AND GET TAKEN IN, AND FALL IN LOVE ONCE MORE.
-- Pico Iyer – Why We Travel
“The world is our oyster!” I cried out defiantly.
I stood on the ivory-white sandbar that contrasted majestically with the azure water of the Indian Ocean. Rebecca, her Irish boyfriend Julian and my French scuba-diving buddy, Erwan were busy with our fisherman-captain scouring the outcrop of sand for oysters. We arrived in Vilankulo the night before from Tofo after a bumpy 350-kilometer drive while thatched-huts flew by, Erwan expertly dodged potholes at 80 km/hr and Paul Simon blared through the Mazda’s factory speakers. We had woken with the sunrise and after a heated 30 minutes, negotiated in broken Portuguese with 2 local fishermen to sail us the 15 km across the bay to the breath-taking Bazaruto Archipelago. A national park protected by the World Wildlife Federation, the 5 islands that lie 10-25 km off the coast offer pristine coral reefs, abundant bird and marine life, and white sandy beaches that would keep even the most avid seashell collector busy for hours.
Setting sail for Benguera Island in a turquoise and white dhow, we brought with us only enough gear and food to camp underneath the stars for a night. After sailing into the light headwind for an hour, our fishermen-became-buddies (after the exchange of numerous cigarettes by Erwan) asked if we wanted to stop at a sandbar ahead. Not fully understanding their thick Mozambican-Portuguese, I said sure thinking it was for nothing more than a photo opp. We were soon to find out the real reason we slid up to the temporary island was to collect that afternoon’s lunch. After 10 minutes and gathering enough oysters to run us a $250 bill at a classy Manhattan restaurant (while wondering if the WWF police would spontaneously emerge and carry us off) we boarded the rickety wooden boat and set off to our destination. Upon arriving on Benguera, we cooked up the fresh oysters with garlic, onions, tomatoes and olive oil over dried driftwood. While we did not find any pearls, we were fully content with the unexpected makeshift meal! For the next 2 days, we swam in the warm waters, snorkelled around the reefs and lounged out on the dunes fully enjoying our last days of travelling together.
I had been in Mozambique for about 10 days having left South Africa after 5 days of great hiking in the famous Drakensberg Mountains (Dragon Mountains). The Drakensberg is a mountain range that stretches 300 km from northern South Africa and tapers out in the southern part of the country near the town of Kokstad. Southern Africa’s highest peak, Thabana Ntlenyana (3482 m, 11,400 ft), is part of the range and located in the neighbouring country of Lesotho. The mountain range is not as much a ‘traditional’ mountain range with pointy peaks but rather a long series of plateaus composed of 2 parts; the low and the high Berg. The low Berg is a series of gently rolling hills consisting of dried grassland and scrub brush that shoot dramatically 1000 –1,500 meters skyward to form the sheer cliffs of the high Berg. Upon arrival, the area brought to memory the mesas found in the American Southwest.
With 2 days to explore the central part of range, I based myself out of Inkosana Lodge located near Monk’s Cowl State Forest. On my first day, I was introduced to the range by exploring the base of Cathkin’s Peak and Champagne Castle. The following day, 2 Italians (Simoneta and Louredana) invited me to join them hike in the Giant’s Castle area. Arriving late in the morning, we set off on a gradually rising ridgeline past caves famous for their San rock-art which is believed to be thousands of years old. After 2 ½ hours and having climbed roughly 1250 meters vertical, we reached our goal of the Giant’s Castle overnight hut and stood like tiny ants against the awesome cliffs of the plateau that shot up another 1000m to the mountain’s summit. The mountain is aptly named because the sheer cliffs at the top 1/3 of the plateau give the illusion that they are the walls of a massive fortress. Just as we reached our destination, with only 2 hours of daylight left, we got a taste of what the Drakensberg winter can be like. In less then 5 minutes the sky changed from partly cloudy to dark grey. Menacing-looking clouds blew westward from Lesotho. With them, came 20-knot winds and a heavy downpour. With nowhere to go but down, we broke out our rain gear and briskly half-hiked, half-jogged 9km back to the car arriving in the nick of time, just as the heavens unleashed its fury and the pelting rain turned into a torrential downpour that lasted through the night.
As I emerged from my tent the next morning, I was surprised to see a beautiful blue sky and a coating of snow in the uppermost reaches of the mountains. Saying goodbye to my hiking buddies, I was off to Royal Natal National Park, in the northern part of the mountain range. Named after the British Royal family that visited the park during the first ½ of the 20th century, it is home to the most breathtaking part of the Drakensberg: the Amphitheatre. The Amphitheatre is a gigantic horseshoe-shaped plateau rising to an altitude of 3200m.
With 3 days to explore the area, I hiked with some other travellers from Israel (Alita), Ireland (Podge) and the UK (Jason). Limited by transportation, we decided to take a tour on our 2nd day in the area and along with 7 other travellers from France and Catalunya crammed into a 4x4 (adequate to seat 6) on a 2-hour bumpy ride up to the Sentinel. The last 45 minutes were hair-raising as the driver took us along a narrow, windy, 1-lane dirt road with cliffs falling 250m away at either side. After reaching the entrance gate, we battled 25-30 knot gusts of frigid air leftover from the previous day’s winter storm and hiked to a ledge providing us with a view of the inside the rim of the Amphitheatre. The magnitude and rock formations of the Amphitheatre reminded me of Arizona’s natural wonder - The Grand Canyon. It was an absolutely stunning view as the cliffs fell away over 1000 meters beneath your feet. On our push for the summit, we scrambled up The Gully, a steep skree-covered ravine with 20% grade. From the top of the Amphitheatre, you could look out over the windy flat plain of the U-shaped mesa. We wolfed down lunch and our legs enjoyed walking along the flat top of the Amphitheatre to Tugela Falls that, with a drop of 850m, is the second- highest waterfall in the world. Only Angel Falls in Venezuela boasts a longer freefall.
Having climbed to the top of the Amphitheatre, Alita, Jason, Podge and I decided to get a different perspective and hike along its base the next day. After walking along a slightly inclined path for 8 km, we had a leisurely lunch alongside a crystal clear river, and entered into a gorge, formed by the falls. In parts, the gorge narrowed to 3 meters across with its smoothed out walls jutting 15 m skyward creating a perfectly carved out cavern. I felt like I was in a gigantic natural waterslide as the Amphitheatre’s peaks towered overhead like a European Cathedral.
I left the Drakensberg and my hiking companions the next day and headed to Johannesburg. Considered one of the most dangerous cities in the world, I stayed a little more than 12 hours before catching a bus to Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. As the bus crossed through the border at Moamba, the differences between the countries became apparent immediately. Mozambique’s transport infrastructure was vastly inferior, poverty levels were significantly higher and their buildings were in a serious need of repair. However, the racism and social tension felt in South Africa was absent. I liked it immediately.
Having adopted communism from the Soviet Union, the country was a Cold War battleground. Although Mozambique gave up communism years ago, it still holds on to its past as one notes walking along Avenidas Mao Tse Tung and Karl Marx or Rua Ho Chi Min. For much of the 1980’s and early 90’s Mozambique was one of the 5 poorest countries in the world. Two decades of Lenin economics followed by 17 years of civil war were mostly to blame. Nevertheless, today it is experiencing some of the greatest growth in all of Africa and the Mozambicans are fiercely proud of their country’s success.
After 2 days of exploring the dusty streets of Maputo, filled with warm people and beautiful women, I set off on an 8-hour bus ride along the coast to Inhabane, one of the oldest towns in the country. From Inhabane, I jumped in the back of a beat up pickup truck and bounced along a 15km dusty road to Tofo, a tiny seaside village along the stunning Indian Ocean. The wide beaches with their silky soft sand stretched as far as the eye could see. Better yet, the low number of man-made distractions outside of the local fishermen’s golden-brown bamboo huts made this one of the most unspoiled beaches I have ever seen. The warm waves rolled in gently making it ideal to body board or one could opt to hang out in the 10m dunes that hugged the coastline and soak up the sun. Taking an instant liking to Tofo, I set up my tent at Fatima’s Nest where I would spend the next 7 days.
During the next week, I took a 4-day PADI Open Water Scuba course. I chose Tofo Scuba (www.tofoscuba.com), a professionally run dive shop with excellent instructors who also happen to be some of the funniest and greatest group of people. John and Nikki, the co-owners of the shop were responsible for discovering almost every reef in Tofo. There was also a 6’ 4” Belgian, named Jean Claude whose shoulder-length hair made him look like the 80’s rocker Eddie Van Halen. There was the Liverpoolian Ben whose constant wise cracks and witty sense of humor made him a blast to dive with. There was also Ben’s lovely wife Vivienne from Scotland who I am still trying to figure out what she is doing with Ben. Lastly, there was Indy, a quite Spaniard who, like me, fell in love with Tofo, stayed for a month, and decided to get certified to become a Dive Master.
In my course were an Irish/Belgian couple from Malawi and Erwan, who after a year working in Joburg decided to travel through Mozambique before heading home to Brittany. During the first 2 days in Tofo, the winds would not subside as it blew a perfect 20-25 knots making me long of my kiteboarding quiver. Fortunately, the weather improved and by the 3rd day the swell died down, the visibility improved and we began diving twice a day. What Tofo lacked in vibrant colors seen in the Caribbean, it made up for it in marine life. We spotted clownfish, morays, grouper, scorpion fish, lion fish, puffer fish and moorish idols. We were also given a taste of the bigger guys such as a 1 meter sea turtle, octopus, blue-spotted stingrays and a whip tailed stingray whose tail alone was 2 meters in length! While heading back and forth to the reefs, we were greeted by dolphins, humpback whales (one that surprised us by surfacing 20m from the boat) and even the rarely seen whale shark. The world’s largest fish, whale sharks can reach 12 meters in length and are believed to be the culprit for swallowing Jonah in the Old Testament. Each time we spot them, we would quickly slide into the water and snorkel alongside it until it swam out of eyesight.
It wasn’t until I began my Advanced Open Water course and reached the deeper depths that I got a taste for the bigger marine life found in the warm Indian waters off of Mozambique’s coast. One dive in particular stands out. We were diving to 30 meters at Manta Reef, which would become, in the words of Jean Claude, an instructor of 7 years (5 in the Red Sea), his best dive ever. He wasn’t just saying it for a marketing pitch. You could see it in his eyes. He had the look of a 6 year old at the Magic Kingdom after seeing Mickey for the first time.
On this dive, we swam alongside Manta Rays the size of Volkswagen Beetles, Potato Bass ½ my body length, Guitar Sharks, Kingfish, Moray Eels and Devil Rays. However, what made this dive so amazing was halfway through; a 2-¾ meter shark swam by our group. Having only gotten a glimpse of it from the gills back, I was not sure what type of shark it was nevertheless I followed Jean Claude and swam after it. It wasn’t until we were back on the Zodiac racing back to shore did I find out that we had been chasing a Great White! Unlike in Gansbaii, there was no cage separating me from the shark, only 4m of water! People dive their whole lives dreaming to swim alongside Great Whites and here I was, on my 5th dive and blessed with spotting Jaws!!!
Without trying to cram 5 weeks of action-packed adventure into this entry, I have decided to hold off and will be writing about my adventures in Zimbabwe, Botswana and Zambia in my next posting. Stay tuned to read about walking alongside and playing with the king of the jungle, exploring Botswana’s famed Okavango Delta in a mokoro (dugout canoe) and being placed in one of the roughest human washing machines on the planet - white water rafting and river boarding down the famed Zambezi.
A MAN WALKS DOWN THE STREET
IT’S A STREET IN A STRANGE WORLD
MAYBE IT’S THE THIRD WORLD
MAYBE IT’S HIS FIRST TIME AROUND
HE DOESN’T SPEAK THE LANGUAGE
HE HOLDS NO CURRENCY
HE IS A FOREIGN MAN
HE IS SURROUNDED BY SOUND
THE SOUND
CATTLE IN THE MARKETPLACE
SCATTERINGS AND ORPHANAGES
HE LOOKS AROUND, AROUND
HE SEES ANGELS IN THE ARCHITECTURE
SPINNING IN INFINITY
HE SAYS AMEN! HALLELUJAH!
-- Paul Simon, Graceland
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