One of the best perks of being a volunteer in Mozambique is getting to explore this beautiful country. I’ve visited some absolutely gorgeous beaches (I’ve previously posted pictures from Bilene, the beach near me) and thanks to a recent Peace Corps conference, I’ve seen some of Maputo as well.
- Zavala, Inhambane: 3 volunteers and I went to a barbecue held by a group of Japanese volunteers and some Mozambicans on a remote beach. It took about 20 minutes through sand paths in the back of a pickup truck with a couple charcoal stoves and several live chickens to get there, but we nearly had the beach to ourselves as we ate grilled chicken and mussels.
- Vilankulos, Inhambane: This town is a big tourist destination, but a few volunteers and I visited a fantastic secluded beach lined with some of the tallest palm trees I’ve ever seen. One afternoon we went horseback riding on the beach and passed by an archeological site from the time of Arab traders. We stopped for a Mozambican lunch in a small town, and our guide told us about her experience as a white Zimbabwean who fled to Mozambique, and then on the return, we rode on a hill overlooking the beach.
- Maputo: I still haven’t gotten to see much of the capital city, but so far I’ve been very pleasantly surprised. A group of us visited the fish market for lunch; you choose your seafood in the market and bring it to one of the vendors, who then cook it to order. It’s definitely a tourist spot, with lots of souvenirs and counterfeit sunglasses being hawked, but it’s a great experience. The constantly replenished buckets of beer certainly help. I split grilled rock fish and prawns, and everything was fantastic. If you visit me, I will most certainly bring you here, as well as the craft market. The latter consists of dozens of vendors in a small park selling everything from artwork to capulana (printed African fabric) hand bags to jewelry made from coconuts.
So come visit!
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