Home » Mozambique » South African Adventure 1999, Part 10: Mozambique -- symbolising the best and worst of Africa

After a game drive in the park, we crossed the border to Mozambique and drove to the capital Maputo. The country immediately seemed very different from Swaziland with the climate being much more tropical and the living conditions apparently much worse. This resulted in people being very aggressive in their efforts to sell us things and despite us being very careful, there was an incident where a group of people tried to steal from us. However, Mozambique was also a place where we experienced extreme generosity, and in retrospect I think our short visit was the most interesting experience on the whole trip.

South African Adventure 1999, Part 10: Mozambique -- symbolising the best and worst of Africa

Jan Arild Teland
2006-05-08 20:33:32

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expected to stay very long at the home of Gunnar's friend, so we were quite surprised when he announced that he and his family would prepare something for us to eat. Eat now!? Was the guy nuts? We were all quite puzzled, as we had just eaten dinner 30 minutes ago, something which he should have been aware of, considering that he had been eating together with us!

It was quite a large meal we'd eaten at Mundo's, so none of us were the least bit hungry. Well, we figured it was probably just a light snack they were preparing, so we all just had to eat a little bit, to make sure Gunnar's friend was not offended in any way.

We were shown into a small concrete building with holes in the walls, in which there was a table in the middle with chairs around. Apart from that, there was nothing on the floor, no decorations on the walls or anything else like that. Gunnar explained that this was his friend's "best dining room" and that we were very honoured to be invited in here, as it was only used for special occasions.

Before any food arrived we all had to wash our hands. A woman walked around to each of us with a bucket of hot water so that we could wash them. A towel was then passed around for drying our hands. This "ceremony" made it all seem like something really special. We were quite honoured that they were doing everything to please us and make us feel comfortable. After all, except for Gunnar, we were total strangers to them.

Then the woman brought us the food, and to be honest we didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She brought in a large plate with chicken, a large plate of french fries, a large plate of fish, newly baked bread, a large bowl of salad and various fruits. How in the world would be able to eat all of this!? We had just eaten 30 minutes ago and weren't the least bit hungry! May Tina was still not feeling 100% after the "diorrhea" business, and even the thought of eating ...