19 January 2011

17 January 2011

We left Chidenguele after two days in the rain on route to Tofo , we decided to dodge huge thunder storms as we had enough of constantly being wet.  So we traveled about 235km in fairly cool conditions and very wet roads but no rain.  We stopped in one village to buy some bread and were charged Mt40 for a small roll (about R10) Larry was determined that they had over charged us and after roping in some locals they all agreed that we had been robbed and we should have only paid Mt4, Larry went back into the shop and managed to get his money back!!  One very shame faced shop owner!!  When we arrived in Tofu the only accommodation where we could park the bikes right next the chalet was Norden’s , very rough but a fantastic site and right next to the back packers.  Not too much noise and good cheap food at Fatimas.  Larry, Ralph and Johan went snorkeling off the beach at a reef about 100m off shore, nothing living there anymore,  the locals have stripped it bare.

 The next day we left for Morrungulu, a fantastic camp site where we have been before.  We spent two nights there so that Johan could do the Discover Scuba course at the resort and early this morning the three men went off to scuba, while I lay around the camp.  We had to ride 13km on a fairly hard sand road to get there and I managed that without falling off, there and back to the main road.  We’re getting better with sand each day but I still don’t like it!  Spending two nights like that makes it easy to get some washing done and generally a good rest day.  The water was about 29 degrees so we had a swim very regularly.  Unfortunately the visibility was not great for the dive, only about 12m but not too bad.  We left there at about 11am with very high temperatures and even higher humidity so as we put on our riding gear it was like getting into a sauna and for most of the way we had a dry trip to Vilanculos.  We are planning on spending three nights here as we would like to do a dhow trip to the islands and then Ralph and Johan leave us and start the return trip home via Botswana so that Ralph can visit WinandiJ.

S

The bikes are behaving well, except that Johan has no more rear brake linings – even after sending the bike in for a service 2 weeks before leaving!

Will get back here, to try to post pics!

L

19 January 2011

We have spend two nights so far at Aguia Negra , a very comfy lodge on the northern side of Vilanculos.  Yesterday we went on a dhow trip to Magaruque island which was extremely pleasant.  The trip back to the mainland was interesting when we sailed into a thunder storm.  Having a few days to relax and generally just catch up is really great.  Ralph and Johan head back south tomorrow morning at about 4.30 and Larry and I head north.  Hopefully our first stop will be Chimoio and then hopefully the following day into Malawi.  Both of these days will be long days on the bikes but very few places to stay in between.  The distances are huge and we don’t always get as far as we would like to but I think our pace will pick up a bit as the villages get further apart and we don’t have to keep slowing down.