Holiday Update (12/17/00)

Many of you have sent me concerned emails because it has been so long since I posted an entry. Please don't worry--I'm fine. Connections to the Internet outside of South Africa are rare, expensive, intermittent, and SLOW.

There is so much to write. It is unfortunate that I don't have a laptop, but I honestly don't think it would have survived the trip.

So here's the quick update.

Dec. 5 We leave Durban and head to Mozambique. The boys like to sleep in, they tell me they had enough of getting up early when they were in the army.

So we head out at 11am. The problem is, the sun comes up at 5am and goes down at 6pm -- so we've lost half the day.

We get as far as Swaziland when the sun is starting to set. The Swaziland border crossing was relatively easy, and we are still on good roads.

Since their tent sleeps two, we agree that I will get a room at a backpacker and they will camp out. I stayed at Nisela Safari Game Park where I slept in typical hut on the floor. Adam and Dotan asked some locals if they could camp in their yard, and were invited to stay in the house.

At Nisela, I spent a couple hours talking to the guard, Valpani. He told me that he earns 400 rand a month. He went on tell me that in order to get a wife he must pay the bride's family 17 cows (cows cost 1000 rand).

His brother saved for several years, then paid for his wife. Six weeks later she was hit by a car and killed. No refund. This is the harsh reality of African life.

I think the African wives are worth their price and more because they apparently do much of the work. Everywhere you see women carrying huge containers of water balanced on their heads or bundles of sticks or packages, and on their back is a baby, and in each hand a sack of food. It is amazing how strong these women are and how hard they work.

Dec. 6 -- We are up early for once and head to Mozambique. The border crossing was relatively painless and as soon as we entered Mozambique the scenery changed. It was lush bush and rolling hills, and totally unpopulated and untouched.

The day was blistering hot and humid. We rode into Maputo, but it was dirty and did not have a friendly feel, so we pushed on and at dusk arrived at Xai-Xai.

Again we agreed to split up and re-unite in the morning. To make a long story short, we wound up staying together on a beach -- the three of us cramped into their small 2-man tent. As Dotan said, it was "cozy".

The mosquitoes had a banquet and I was the main course (and apparently a diversion as Adam and Dotan slept unmolested). When I got up, my right hand was very swollen from all the bites I got.

We awoke to a Mozambiquen policeman insisting that we "pay a fine" for sleeping on the beach. It was now my turn to earn my keep as Adam pushed me out of the tent. Somehow, I wore him down, and we got out of there without opening our wallets.

I'm being kicked out of here in 15 minutes so I'll have to make this really brief.

From Xai-Xai, we went to Inhambane, a nice coastal community. The roads were deteriorating, and there is nothing but lush countryside. From Inhambane, we made it to Vilanculos. By now my Portguese was improving. Really nice beaches and marine life in this part of Mozambique.

Then from Vilanculos to Mafanbisse (just outside of Beira) where we stayed on a Sugar Planation (Thank you Mike Haines)

From there we headed through the Gorongosa region on the longest stretch of bad road I have ever encountered. We rode across two bridges that had 2 feet of water pouring over them--when I road my bike across, I could feel it being pushed sideways and steam was pouring off the engine.

We were nearly out of gas in an isolated area in the middle of malaria region.

Finally found gas at a road construction camp and spend the night there. (Thank you Corne du Toit). They just happened to be having a Christmas party that night and invited us -- what luck!

The next day we had a bit of a run-in which is too long to explain here. Let me just say, we headed to Malawi!

More terrible roads. Spent the night on a schoolground after Adam obtained the permission of two local chiefs! We had an audience of about 50 children and young adults watching everything we did -- cook, put up the tent, brush our teeth. They stood about 3 feet away and talked in their native tongue and giggled a lot :-)

Everyone finally went to bed. The next morning the show started again. I felt like I was in a zoo--travelling motorcyclists on display :-)

Dec. 15 We finally hit good roads and ride into Blantyre, Malawi. It is a small city with friendly people and, to my surprise, an Internet cafe!

We got situated at Doogle's Backpackers and then explored the city. That night, I engaged in one my favorite avocations, DJing. Whereas Adam has every spare part he could need for the motorcycles, I travel with 25 CDs I burned with a variety of music. This story will require a separate journal entry when I have more time.

Adam and Dotan wanted to head to Pemba, Mozambique which is at the northern end, where they have some close friends from Israel. I have injured my shoulder and decided to pass on the return to Mozambique -- the sandy and rough roads had taken their toll and I wanted to take it easy and explore Malawi a bit.

So we agreed to go our ways and reunite in Blantyre on Thursday, Dec. 22.

So that's it. It's Sunday, Dec. 17. I'm heading to northern Malawi tomorrow morning and praying that we are all united on Thursday.

From there, the plan is to go to Zambia and then Victoria Falls. (Zimbabwe has fuel shortage right now.)

We wish you all a warm holiday season and a Happy New Year!

I'll try to keep you posted more frequently.