Beaches, Elephants, and Three Countries all in One Weekend!

This is Monday morning, about 5:30 as I write. I will be leaving Maputo in about 3 hours and traveling to the western part of Mozambique near the town of Chicualacuala and north of the Limpopo Reserve. It is also close to the Zimbabwe and South African borders. I’m expecting to be there about a week. I hate to leave Maputo, with its beautiful beaches, but I am also excited about being near all the wildlife. Our team of volunteers is splitting up…with one group traveling far north to Beira and the other group to Xai-Xai, a coastal town about 200 km north of Maputo.

On Saturday I worked at two different locations in Maputo setting up sound systems, projectors, and plastic canvas screens for more health seminars.

Taken at the Maputo Elephant Reserve.

After finishing up around 2 in the afternoon, I went with two others down to the Maputo Elephant Reserve and rode an elephant! It was a little scary, because if you fell off it was a long way down to the ground. But our elephant was quite gentle and obeyed every command his trainer gave. I was never in doubt….well that might be stretching the truth just a bit! LOL!

Sunday was a free day and several of us left early in the morning for a long walk down the beach. It was a very interesting stroll as we stopped and talked with locals and a few tourists who were here for scuba diving. We also learned that this is where the movie “Blood Diamond” was filmed. We returned back to the hotel in the afternoon.  

After lunch a few of us then took a ride with one of our drivers into the Kingdom of Swaziland. Swaziland is a small country squeezed in between South Africa and Mozambique and is a relatively short distance from Maputo.

In Swaziland.

For the most part, this tiny country is peaceful and safe to travel in. One of the most startling facts about Swaziland, though, is that 4 out of every 10 people in this country have AIDS!  On a brighter note, they also have a lot of wildlife. On our short drive inside the border we had an encounter with a mother elephant and her young one who were right alongside the road.

Our turn-around point was at the South African border, although we did cross into South Africa to make a quick stop at a gas station. The border back into Mozambique closed at 6:00 PM so we weren’t able to stay too long in Swaziland, but at least I was able to add another country to my list of African countries I have visited.

There’s so much more to write about, but I do have to get ready and grab some breakfast before we leave.

Border patrol into Swaziland.

***UPDATE***

Well, as I've previously mentioned, schedules change on a whim (it seems) around here! Now I will be staying on in Maputo for at least another week and will be traveling down to Ponta do Ouro every day this week. Ponta do Ouro is south of here, right on the South African border. I am tentively scheduled to go to Vilankulo sometime next week, which is another coastal city approximately 700 km north of Maputo.

July 30...

It's a little after 1 in the morning here. Yesterday (Tuesday) was a long day. Drove south near Ponta do Ouro early in the morning and worked at three locations.  Arrived back at Maputo at 9:00 PM. I did take about a two lunch break and visited diver's paradise at the beach in Ponta. Ate some scrumptious seafood for lunch (they have some of the best in the world around here) and then returned to work.  I'll be going back in about 6 hours.

Just heard something about an earthquake in SoCal, so I hope it wasn't too major. Doesn't sound like it was, but hope everyone is okay who lives in that area.