Beira

Getting There

The Express bus leaves at 06:00 from Maputo and arrives in Beira at about 21:30 the same day. The normal bus leaves when it fills up and arrives sometime the following day. I opted for the express. However, upon arrival at the bus station (a polluted, muddy, open dirt lot choked with beaten busses, vendors, and passengers) at 05:00, I discovered that my huge bike box wouldn't fit into the luggage bay of the express bus. They offered to send it separately with the normal bus for my retrieval the following day, but I decided to stay with the box for security purposes, and climbed aboard for the 36-hour experience.

The bus maximized passenger capacity by squeezing five seats per row instead of the standard four, and doing away with such options as reclination and arm rests. I was fortunate in being early enough to choose a window seat, and having a thin woman and her very well-behaved, adorable little daughter as neighbors.

The sun shone through my window all day and made for fitful sleep, but I had only slept 1 1/2 hours the night before, so throughout the day's journey I drifted in and out of cramped, sweat-soaked consciousness, occasionally jarred to life by class-v road rapids or awoken by vendors with fruit, cashews, water, and Fanta at the many stops. Around midnight, we stopped at what could be likened to a truck stop for the night. There was a small, family-run restaurant and bar selling dinner and drinks, complete with a toilet area out in the back; for #1 (menor in Portuguese), they featured a partially-walled grassy area, and for #2 (maior), a hole in the ground surrounded by a woven wall of reeds with a dirty blue tarp for a door. Some people slept on reed mats in front of the bar, while I napped inside the sultry bus.

A few hours later, while still dark, we left the truck stop. For several hours we passed wild forest and wetlands, then the suburbs of round adobe huts with grass roofs, until arriving in the city shortly after midday.

Past and Present

I read that Beira was a beach vacation hotspot during the colonial times, but one would never guess nowadays. The colonialists fled the country in the mid 70's, and whatever holiday charm this city once possessed has since vanished. Some "luxury" hotels remain, but are now like ransacked memories of wealth, dilapidated and inhabited by squatters. We visited a friend in her 11th floor apartment of a building with an elevator that has long been dead (in pic, with central electronics market). The climb up the smelly, dank and sometimes unlit staircase took us past vandalized walls, wires exposed from stolen elevator buttons, miscellaneous rubbish, puddles of water and pee, cockroaches, and a rodent (no biggie - I share my hotel room with a mouse). Our friend, a Hungarian expat, told us it's one of the nicer apartment buildings in the city.

Although visually ugly, Beira isn't all bad. There are several lively outdoor markets that sell just about anything one would want to buy, full of friendly people and smiling faces. In one extensive market we've been to frequently, I've bought a bicycle bell, blanket, mosquito net, loose screws, bread, and fresh prawns, which we had prepared in a nearby restaurant.

Nightlife is decent, with several small bars/discos sprinkled throughout the city featuring the same one or two playlists, cheap beer, and good times. Police are the bad side of the nightlife, and have stopped us three times to hassle us for ID and find an excuse for a bribe. The worst, outrageously drunk with an open bottle of cheap 43% gin in hand, hassled us for 20 minutes and showered us with threats. Like a flip of a coin, he suddenly became our best friend when Mario invited him to some beer. He spoke glowingly of Germany (due to his drunkenness, he failed to realize I came from another country, despite having been shown my passport), gave us gin, repeatedly hugged us, and invited us for dinner in his house. Luckily, the nearest bar was closed, so we managed to shake him without the beer bribe.

Overall, my 10 days here have been enjoyable. Beira has been my first real introduction to African culture and has prepared me for the next leg. Like any place, it has its pros and cons, but if I focus primarily on the pros, I'll have a good time anywhere I stay. Tomorrow we cycle toward Malawi and will be about eight days in the bush. Later!

Travel Mate

We will be cycling together for an unknown but no doubt lengthy amount of time, so for those of you who are curious, let me introduce you to my travel mate.
Mario cycled away from his home and 7-year career in Germany almost two years ago. When we met in Rio de Janeiro last year during carnival (early February), he had already cycled through eastern Europe, Asia, and New Zealand with his friend Torsten. Just 6 days cycling with him and Torsten through the Pantanal in western Brazil was enough to convince me that it is the best way to travel. It gets you away from the tourist hordes and affords a level of interaction with the people and land not available to travelers of other means. Hence my decision to catch up with Mario here in Africa and share his experiences. Now, already 6 months into his Africa traversal, he will lend his experience to me as we set off together from Beira, Mozambique on the next stage of this journey.
Take a look at Mario's website - http://www.abgefahren2004.de/ - it's far better than this generic blog, although only in German, so you'll have to poke around a bit for pictures and route maps, etc.

At the Start Line

The Beginning of the Beginning

Three bus rides totaling 50 hours and three overnighters; one 11 hour overnight flight; two days spent in airport and bus station; two nights in Maputo; finally ready to start my trip! After a surprisingly fruitful 2 1/2- month stay in Argentina that ended with the long-awaited and little-expected insurance payout, I packed my bike box and booked the next flight to Johannesburg. A day spent napping, idling, and reading in Joburg's Park Station was all I needed to get on the next bus to Maputo, Mozambique. After two days of resting my damaged bottom and settling into the African scene, I hopped on a 36-hour bus to Beira, the start line. Hauling the 80lb box through three countries and myriad public and private transport (taxis, dollies, porter's head) was an experience I hope never to have to repeat, but the thoroughly beaten box sits safely in my hotel room in Beira, awaiting unpacking and disposal.

Civil War and Cashews

Mozambique ended a decade of civil war just 14 years ago, and has since risen from the bottom ranks of Africa's (and of course, the world's) poorest countries, to, from what I can gather, one of Africa's not-quite-poorest countries (still world's poorest). At any rate, the country has gone through significant economic growth since the end of the civil war, averaging 8%. Perhaps because of the rapid recovery (relative term), general costs have seemed to me surprisingly high for the country's level of development, compared with countries in South America. While development seems to languish around the level of Bolivia, prices are on par with Brazil. Mozambique's currency is the metacal, and the current exchange rate is 1usd=28,000mts. Below is a table to give a general idea of prices.

budget accommodation.................................. 200,000mts/7usd
500ml beer....................................................... 25,000mts/.90usd
36 hour, 1200km bus ride.............................. 700,000mts/25usd
set lunch (meat stew and a pile of rice)......... 55,000mts/2usd

At about 0.10usd for a bunch of six, and sold wherever there are people, bananas are a cheap and plentiful food source. Cashews, however, have been my most pleasing culinary discovery. They, too, can be found in abundance, and 2lb/1kg of cashews for 1.40usd just can't be beat! I had my first-ever cashew breakfast on the bus ride from Maputo to Beira - 1lb of nuts.

Almost the beginning

Woo-hoo! Finally in Africa! Maputo definetely looks like it came out of a civil war not too terribly long ago, but it's not too bad. The real journey to begin soon, which will trigger the real writing. So, I've gotta go now and get to the ATM before the bandits hit the streets.