One of the most interesting and unexpected events of our trip was when we accidentally witnessed the trial of two gay men who had recently been arrested in Malawi on charges of gross public indecency because, in the words of the Malawian police spokesperson "homosexuality in Malawi is illegal." The atmosphere in the packed courtroom felt very similar to what one might expect at a circus freak show. When the two very pitiful looking men were escorted into the courtroom the entire audience in unison stood and oogled them with disgust, amusement, and utter fascination.
Our trip to Mozambique confirmed what we had heard while living in South Africa. The place is booming with outside investment from South Africa and abroad. There are still two bad strips along the main N1 highway going north from Maputo but in general the roads are good. The most surprising thing was the number of local tourists that were frequenting the beaches at which we stayed. Apparently Mozambique has a healthy (though of course still proportionally very small) middle-class that enjoys partying. Tofo, a legendary beach resort area, was packed with more local tourists than foreign ones on New Years Eve, many of whom sported heavily modified cars capable of blaring Beyonce out of their boots at annoyingly high decibels. As anyone who has traveled in Africa knows, local tourists are a rarity, so I was happy to see them in Mozambique despite their penchant for listening to booty music until the sun comes up (I like my booty music in smaller doses preferably between the hours of 10pm and 2am).
You tell a bit about the condition of the roads here and there. What were you traveling in on those roads? And where did you stay over night?
ReplyDeleteuncle Bob
Well we rented a car, a little Hyundai Atos (think updated Ford Fiesta)and usually stayed at backpacking hostels. The Atos did a quite a good job, we only blew out one tire and got stuck in sand just two or three times on the whole 2 week, 3000 mile journey through Mozambique and Malawi.
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