Home » Mozambique » Day 3. Tue 19th April Nampula

We need an early start, so we are up at first light for a quick breakfast and strike camp. We haven't really seen where we are, but when we get up we find we have a magnificent view. The inselbergs rising out of the plain are a feature of the landscape in this area.
The locals have got wind of us and start coming around to see what is going on. They don't seem bothered that we have camped in their church, but stand around and watch us packing up the vehicle. One or two of them even give a hand.

Day 3. Tue 19th April Nampula

DaveMidgley
2005-10-22 18:13:55

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We need an early start, so we are up at first light for a quick breakfast and strike camp. We haven't really seen where we are, but when we get up we find we have a magnificent view. The inselbergs rising out of the plain are a feature of the landscape in this area.

The locals have got wind of us and start coming around to see what is going on. They don't seem bothered that we have camped in their church, but stand around and watch us packing up the vehicle. One or two of them even give a hand.
All goes well for an hour or two, then there is a nasty noise from the suspension - the nearside front shock absorber has given out. This is not too tragic, although it does slow us down a bit. However, a little later a bolt on the trailer's suspension goes too. This is serious, and we all form a search party and, leaving Ken at the vehicle, set off in a line across the road walking back the way we have come to try and find the bolt. We get about half a mile back when a young local lad cycles up clutching the missing bolt. How he knew we had lost it is a mystery. Unfortunately, while the bolt is undamaged, the nut is missing - obviously it has not sheared but rattled loose. We now need to find the nut. Mark and I search on for another half mile or so, and also try to recruit the locals into the search, although we are never quite sure if they understand what we are looking for. Mozambique was a Portuguese colony, so, unlike Malawi and most of the other African countries I have visited, very few people speak any English. Mark has a smattering of Portuguese, which comes in very handy on a number of occasions, but is not quite up to this situation. The local school is just coming out as well, and pretty soon we have accumulated a pretty substantial crowd.

Eventually we give up and return to the Disco. Ken has managed to stop a passing car who has very kindly taken a nut and bolt off their spare tyre. It's not quite the right size, but will serve as a running repair until we get to somewhere where we can get a new one.

We have lost an hour, and must now reduce our speed, which wasn't very high anyway on the pitted unpaved road. We are now averaging about 20mph.
We stop off at Rebaue, a bustling market town, for a drink. I want to buy a fresh coconut, but we decide that it will be too messy in the car.

About 1 Ken decides to remove the broken shock absorber completely as it is rattling around and doing no good, so we stop and quickly make sandwiches for lunch while he disappears under the Disco's bonnet, watched by the usual crowd of inquisitive locals. According to the itinerary we should be in Pemba today, but at the rate we are going we'll be lucky to get as far as Nampula.

In the end we make it to Nampula and stop for the night. The Brandt guide book recommends the Hotel Tropicana, which is a bit outside the budget, but we decide we could do with a bit of luxury, so Ken agrees to the extra expense. All of us, and our baggage, and the Disco, are thick with red dust from the unmade road, and we are very glad of a shower and a good meal. We eat on the terrace, accompanied by a guy who manages to simultaneously play an organ and a trumpet, very loudly and somewhat out of tune.