Well I am about 450km into Mozambique and I really don’t know what to make of it yet. I crossed the border at Vila de Nova through the most spectacular forest path. After stocking up in Nsanje in Malawi, I was redirected to a tiny little path through the forest and banana trees for about 40km before reaching the Mozambique border.

Crossing the border was a spectacularly enjoyable experience, no cues, no touts, nobody desperately trying to change money, no bargaining, no heated debates when they try to fleece you, no spending hours waiting for officials to clear you. I just arrived, had my passport stamped, cycled the 6km through no mans land, had my passport stamped again, changed my money with a guy who gave me the exchange rate I asked for first time and then proceeded to cycle the 50km along the sand track down to Vila de Sena. Most of the journey was spent with the local fisherman, who were all on their way down to the river to do a good days fishing. When I finally reached the mighty Zambezi River I found that the bridge for vehicles was closed for repairs and the only way of crossing was along the railway line. So following the line of locals I hauled my bike up onto the railway track and crossed the 2km bridge into Vila de Sena.

From there life became considerably less interesting as I tried to get to grips with Portuguese and the new currency (The Meticais). At first glance their currency confused me as they operate 2 separate decimal values for the same currency!!! 1000m is 25 cents (US) and $40!!! Its not so bad when you get the hang of it and you know what all the coins and notes are, but it is confusing when you start. Amazingly Portuguese is a relatively simple language to understand, I can understand quite a lot of what people are saying but I am really struggling to answer.

Once I reached Caia the dirt track ended and I was thankfully back on tarmac. Mozambique must have an incredibly low population density, as 99% of the country is simply forest! All the way through my journey, I have cycled through small villages, towns or even just stalls on the side of the roads selling food, every couple of kilometers. However, since coming into Mozambique I have pretty much just seen forest! I can cycle for a whole day and only come across 2 tiny little villages, neither of them equipped to sell anything at all. This complete absence of all contact is one of the reasons I can’t quite make my mind up about this country. The other reason is something more subtle. Although on the surface this is definitely an African country with many of the same trends, it also has a very peculiar lack of African intensity. Firstly the customary negotiation that is normally so heated and intense is almost non existent. They give one price, you give another and they usually settle for that… Life is still painfully slow but not even nearly on the same scale as any of the other countries. The people are all friendly but there is a distinct reduction in the ‘Mzungu’ shrieks that normally echo in the air long after you have cycled past people.

Anyway, I am sorry this is a short post but tiredness has overwhelmed me and I have to be up early in the morning. Will right again as soon as I can.