Bazaruto Archipelago, mangoes, and more fish...

Hi everyone! I’m back in Maputo after a few hours, having left (a bit reluctantly, once again) Vilankulo and the sea of the Bazaruto Archipelago, which is truly stunning: turquoise, green, and bright blue.
At low tide the water is very shallow and strips of sand appear here and there. The islands themselves are not particularly special, quite bare actually, but they have some paradise-like white beaches. The water is warm.
I went snorkeling and it was full of different kinds of fish. The water wasn’t very clear because of algae, so their colors didn’t really shine.
The most fun part was running into huge schools of tiny silver fish. Tiny but countless, they formed a kind of wall that opened as I swam through it. They somehow managed to move away just in time, except for a few light contacts with my hands.
There were also some much larger fish, over half a meter long, kind of colorful groupers.
But enough talk about fish...

Let’s talk about mangoes instead, which are my favorite fruit.
The first mango I bought in Tofo cost 10 meticais (or whatever they’re called, the Mozambican currency), about 30 euro cents. Then at the same stall I got two for the same price. And little by little, bargaining away, I realized the price drop has no limits: in Vilankulo I was buying 10 mangoes for 10 meticais, basically 3 cents each!!

I spent the last few days in Vilankulo mostly with a German man I met at the hostel in Tofo, in the previously mentioned circular shared room, which in the following days became empty, so it basically turned into a private room, with the added bonus of electricity (which the small bungalows didn’t have). Then this guy showed up.
In the evening he didn’t say a word, but the next morning I ran into him just as I woke up (very early for me, around 10), and he was coming back very energetic from the sea. He started throwing out every possible cliché about Italians, in English but with a strong German accent: “Ah ah Italians always sleeping... ah ah Italians very lazy... and now what do you do? Day is already over!”. And similar things, but in the end he was actually a very nice person.
For the record, around 9:30 pm he switched off and went to bed, only to be back in action in the morning when I woke up.
So, before leaving Tofo, I followed his advice and went to a place in Vilankulo called “Complexo Alemão”, where he was supposed to arrive the next day. It was run by another German guy who also liked throwing the usual nonsense about Italians (“ah ah Italians eat spaghetti... ah ah Italians very cunning...”). He wasn’t as friendly though.

Brief sports interlude: Germany – Italy 0–2

Another surreal thing about this “Complexo Alemão” was the night guard. One night the electricity went out, as often happens in Mozambique, and I saw this strange guy with a bow and arrows. At first I thought maybe he was a seller or something, but no… he was actually the night guard. Armed with bow and arrows! We were in safe hands.

One day I had a small cut on my nose because I was standing in the back of a van I had hitched a lift in, and meanwhile enjoying the view — BAM! — an overhanging branch hit me in the face. I bled quite a bit and now I have a small scar, but it should disappear soon.

And finally, a word about Mozambicans. They are very welcoming and friendly people. Sometimes they get annoyed when you take photos, and sometimes they ask for money afterward, but more as a joke. It’s worth noting that, despite the poverty, nobody really begs on the streets.
In general, they are great people, facing more or less the same problems we have: unemployment or low wages, corruption in power, etc.
I really can’t believe the level of alarmism and hysteria I’ve read about traveling in Mozambique on some websites. Some of them talk about armed gangs roaming the streets, robberies everywhere, and the impossibility of traveling without a tour operator: an obvious exaggeration.

Anyway, I’ve written way too much, enough now. Next stop: Swaziland! You might say: what the hell is that? I had never heard of it either… but let’s go and see.

P.S. Hi Ania!! How is going there? I miss all you also! Filippo just wrote me the story of the police!! Incredible, FUCK THE POLICE, always!

About the photos: unfortunately this internet-cafe' monitor has completely messed-up colors, so I chose them a bit randomly… next time I’ll add better ones.