Quite a few people in Mozambique have told us the axiom – "Europe has the clocks; Africa has the time." We know that to be true. Nothing ever happens quickly, especially in a beach community. I don’t have a sense of time since we left Maputo – the time of day and what day of the week has been lost on me. Time is simpler – we eat when we are hungry, nap when we are sleepy. Terreq, who runs Beach Village, was an IT professional in his former life doing some pretty amazing things in South Africa like helping to create a database and protocol for child abuse cases. He left that behind five years ago to help start this place, and loves it. While I know I could stay here for awhile, I am not sure if I could live here.
It’s tempting though. Our time in Mozambique keeps getting better as we travel up the coast. We thought the fish, fruit, and beaches in Tofo were amazing until we arrived in Vilanculos. We knew about the beaches here from our trip twelve years ago – Vilanculos was our Mozambique destination back then and holds a special place in our hearts. The soft white sand is of the confectioner’s sugar quality that I love to sink my toes into. The warm water is shallow and at low tide we can walk out for a couple of kilometers. While Tofo had a low key tourist scene, Vilanculos only boasts a local fishing industry. Not to say that there aren’t tourists here. Au contraire. With the Bazaruto Archipelago sitting out on the horizon, this is a high end destination. Twice a day we hear helicopters flying overhead bringing people from the airport out to the islands. But we have not seen anyone in town and the coastline is large enough that we can walk for quite a while, and never see another traveler. There are of course a few more affordable places like the one we are staying in, but because Vilanculos is not easily accessed with public transport, it’s off the beaten backpacker path. Sometimes having a car has been a burden on our journey, but we are glad to have it to come to places like this.
Nothing makes me feel more like a kid than skipping along the beach and collecting shells. When I washed and set down the shells from this morning, two of them walked away, which was a very funny sight.
The low and high tides are really something to see. At one point, it looks like there is a huge desert out about a kilometer and stretching to the horizon, and then in a matter of hours our entire beach is covered.
The fish has been amazing, and because we are the only ones staying at the Beach Village, the chef is happy to please us. We have been feasting on grilled kingfish, crab, prawns, oysters, and calamari, and each day around noon he walks down the beach to select the catch of the day. The fish market on the beach was something to see – about ten dhows come in to unload their catches. There are women with huge buckets on their heads who sort them out. Some of the fish is cleaned there, while some of it goes to the market in town. It was a beautiful bounty to behold.
We also had the traditional local dish – matapas – for lunch yesterday. The leaves of the cassava plant are cooked down with coconut milk and crushed peanuts and served over rice. It was kind of like a pesto in its richness, and was simply delicious.
Our host Terreq took us into town yesterday and we shopped for pao (bread), cashews, fruit, and local rum at the main Mercado. It was one of the best markets I have been to, with its intricate maze of stalls and alleys. Russ found another pair of shorts and I bought meters of fabric. We also tagged along on his errands and probably saw more of the town than we would normally on our own.
Everything here is made of local materials, which includes an unbelievable amount of mahogany. I have the same mixed feelings I did when I saw the teak forests in Thailand. This is not eco-friendly timber that is shipped all over the world at top prices, or is it ok to be used locally because they do not need to import it? Hmmm…
At the end of the day yesterday, we took a walk down the solitary Baobab Beach. All the fishermen had gone home and the beach was deserted. The sky was under lit an eerie yellow in the east and pinks, purples, and reds settled in the western sky. The sand was scattered with shells of all different shapes and sizes. It was magical.
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