Vakantieplan! 4200 k's, plus additional driving around - around 5000 in total. Glad our 1990 Hilux just has been serviced thoroughly by Pietje!

WWS: Popa Falls (Namibia)

Camping with six boys, what more can a woman wish for? We'll try to upload a video-clip of camp-mom with her sixth boy bathing in the Popa Falls. That's where we camp with Hamish and his two sons, both accompanied by a friend. Falls is a big word for the small rapids when you've been to the Suriname jungle and the Victoria Falls, but it is a lovely spot on the banks of the Okavango River in Namibia, just across the Botswana border. Visiting the nearby game park we don't see the sable antelope, desperately wished for by Mpho & Maud, but we do visit the Big Baobab and see enough other worthwhile game.


Back at the campsite Bram & Maud finally learn how to make decent papathas thanks to Mpho's friend. The ones we made without proper lessons better be forgotten... In the end the only setback is a severe lack of grrrls, something the adolescents are by now as interested in as mom's two 50 yrrr old boys. All the poor guys get is a chameleon that insists sleeping in their tent.

the Art of Camping

If you want to learn how to camp, go camp with Afrikaners.
First of all they know how to pack a car. When they start offloading, we see with awe they really manage to take 'everything but the kitchen sink': babies, the microwave, fishing rods, grannies, the braai stand, dogs, fridge, and etcetera. Okay, our bakkie is considerably smaller than most of theirs, but still - ours looks like a mess after the first coffee break, while theirs look so organized...


Building up an Afrikaner camp is a very smooth operation. Within a wink the kraal is ready and organized, without any dispute. That's when we remember the camping trips of our youth. Entering the campsite was the signal for the first heated discussion: where to put the tent. That solved, the arguing about how to put the tent together would start. When the family was finally settled, the fun could begin: look how new arrivals bravely fight their camping gear.
Once the kraal is finished and the fridge is hooked up, it's time for the third or so beer and a bite. Where we have to make do with a peanut butter sandwich, they have their big bowls with homemade goodies. The bowls have to be emptied, because granny is already peeling the potatoes for the braai salad.


We already knew South Africans love fishing, but we were amazed by the popularity of other water-fun. So many trailers with boats, jet ski's, water ski's - you name it, they have it. After the first bite, it's time to pack the cooler and go to the shore. The only unpopular water-activity seems to be swimming. Maburu like to sit or stand in the water while sipping a beer, though.


In Xai-Xai we did have our share of fellow-swimmers, but they all looked very Mozambican or Portuguese.


Special about Xai-Xai is the continuous 'room-service', orders to be placed in Portuguese, Afrikaans or English. At the campsite and on the beach everything is brought to you: the baker-boy (recognizable by his white cap) walks by with bread; the ladies deliver fruits and veggies; the kids bring fresh coconuts; and boys and young men sell every souvenir you want, or don't want at all.


At the Xai-Xai campsite the service is even more elaborate. Every tent is 'owned' by a man who'll wash, clean, cook, and do whatever else you want.
However packed this campsite is (and all the other sites we stayed at), for us Europeans it's amazingly quiet and tranquil. No loud music, in fact, hardly any music, no shouting nor quarrelling, no stress - these Afrikaners are so relaxed! They did learn from Africa; who cares whether the braai is served at 06:00 hours on the dot or not - the food tastes just as good anytime.

Maputo

Armed with a map of the city-centre and two not-roaming cell phones we drive into greater Maputo. It's - big time big, if you're used to Gabs, and big time confusing. As Paul said, there're virtually no road signs. The atmosphere in the car is tense anyway; it's one of those moments where de hick-ups while travelling seem more important than the fun, and we're both convinced the other is extremely daft.


The traffic is like the city: big and confusing. Both remind us of Accra, the capital of Ghana. While quarrelling we drive straight to the meeting-point: restaurant Piri Piri, right in the centre of downtown Maputo. Thank whomever for our luck and the straightforward, grid-like basic design of the inner city!


Our luck holds on: there's a parking spot right in front of Piri Piri. That takes care of one staying with the car and one loitering in front of the restaurant, without any means of communication. We keep thinking of a brilliant solution to contact Paul, while hoping he'll just turn up without notification. The brilliant solution is of course very simple: just ask those men, enjoying their after-work beers, to phone Paul for us.


Knowing our host's coming in about 10 minutes, we dare to sit down and order a local beer. We don't have meticais yet, and this is definitely the wrong moment to wander around looking for an atm that will take our bankcards, or a money-changer who will convert our rands, so Paul's our walking wallet.
After Paul introduced us to two colleagues and some local snacks, we travel on. The Jenkins-estate is outside the other side of Maputo. On our way we'll drive past Costa do Sol - a restaurant at the Indian Ocean. Our South-African friend Anel told us their seafood is marvellous, so we'll have dinner there.
It's pitch-dark and rainy by now. We have to follow Paul closely. Driving on after our pit stop (the seafood is indeed mouth-watering) we understand why Paul said we would never find their roundavel unguided. Dirt roads, no signs - we lose all sense of direction.


The coming days we learn our way, driving to and around the city with the Jenkins-family. Paul shows us some of the noteworthy buildings, like the train station, designed by Eiffel. After we get ourselves Moz-sim-cards, we do all the tourist-things: shop, have a bite here and there, and visit a museum or two.


The Museum of Modern Art is preparing an exhibition of objects made out of scrap metal. We particularly like the Jesus-figure below, made out of weaponry.


Inside the museum we're not allowed to make pictures, so we can only show one sneak snapshot. Paul makes up for this by giving us a book for Christmas about Makonde carvings (intricate, symbolic wooden statues).


In the garden we can take photos, and visit the workshop.


Most of the resident artists are working on what looks to us as typically African woodcraft. We're puzzled when we see one guy busy coping Buddha's. Tourists probably won't buy those; are the Chinese moving in after all?


We were already surprised by the lack of Chinese shops; the stores Botswana and South Africa are plastered with, where you find a broad range of cheap whatevers. Being poorer Mozambique is maybe one stage behind, and the Chinese started exploring, but are not retailing yet.


A more public art form are the big murals we come across while driving around. Both the style and the subjects remind Maud of the murals in Nicaragua.
Another fascinating sight are the many formal and informal markets, where everything you might need is sold: food, tools, capulanas, furniture, and etcetera.

What We Eat

Bram likes to start his day with Morvite - a sorghum-based porridge, enriched with mineral, vitamins and loads of sugar. According to Bashi's grandfather, who like many Batswana worked in the South African mines, this is miner's food. Mine-food will make you very strong, so the big Morvite-bag travels with us everywhere.


Some people prefer the wide variety of fruits that grow in Mozambique. Mango, papaya, baby bananas, pineapple, grapes - who needs anything else? A healthy and yummy breakfast, especially if you wash it down with champagne (note the green glass).
After the first breakfast follows the second, just to taste if the leftovers from yesterdays dinner are as yummy as we remember.


Meanwhile preparations for the next dinner have to start before it gets too hot. Next to the fruits Mozambicans grow nice vegetables also. A lot of the veggies are quite similar to those the Batswana grow; pumpkin-like stuff, all sorts of leaves, tomatoes.


Despite the similarity in the basic ingredients, the resulting dishes are quite different. According to us Mozambicans have definitely more skills in preparing tasty food, so back home we'll start practising. The mixtures of leaves, ground peanuts or coconut, and yet to be discovered ingredients are especially scrumptious.


Food-wise the ocean and the rivers offer something dry Botswana doesn't have: seafood. Beforehand we only knew the famous Mozambican shrimps; you get them as a frozen luxury item in Botswana and South Africa. But there's so much more: big fish, small fish, squid, shellfish - all very appetizing.


All in one: Mozambique was great! Not only food-wise, but altogether; the people, the landscape, de ocean, the general atmosphere - certainly a place to visit again.

X-mas

Christmas is a real family-do, with us as add-ons to Jacinta's relatives. The hot, humid weather Paul promised won from the cold we experienced upon arriving. Everyone assembles under the big Marula-tree; shade is essential now!


The men and ladies of the house have been cooking something up since yesterday. While Jacinta's nephew Chico, who also lives on the Jenkins-estate, was handling the goat, his wife Jacinta (the second) busied herself with chicken and a lot of other dishes. Likewise P&J prepared a truckload of good food.


By the time the last guests have arrived, and all the dishes are served, everyone is really hungry. It's good we have a mountain of food! The cakes Jacinta's sister brought also go down nicely. Amazing: she even has kruidnootjes, a traditional Dutch sweet for Sinterklaas (December 5), bought in South Africa.


The centre of the group is Jacinta's mother Vovo, the matriarch, here with her great-granddaughter Nina.


The finale of the party is The Group Picture. When finally the group is assembled (try keeping the kids interested while waiting for those who have to do their hair or change), everyone tries to look their best at the same time. Meanwhile the photographers keep clicking; this is only one of many portraits...


Sunset comes near, so the guests need to get back home. It's an acquired art to get as many people and luggage as possible in a car. We notice once more Europeans just don't know how to use transport efficiently. Chico's nephew little Jose, our favourite Pai Natal, nicely fits on top of everyone, and off they go.

Capulanas

What to buy in Mozambique? Being into textiles we have to at least have a look at capulanas, the multifunctional pieces of cloth Mozambican women not only wear, but use for a lot of other purposes to. Carry your kid in it, use it as a towel, serviette, suitcase, or fill your treasure-trunk with them; the applications are many.


Another great Christmas-gift is the book about the history, symbolic meanings and daily use of capulanas. This particular design for instance is for the traditional healers and soothsayers.


Having a look leads to buying. Back home Bram proudly hops on the catwalk with his Frelimo-cloth.