Mozambique and back again via Thailand, with love

Ok so it’s been one of those entirely crazy years in which absolutely nothing has worked out the way I planned but the net result has been alarmingly global and somewhat astonishing. For example, I went to Malawi via Hawaii earlier this year – and snowy New York - and now I‘ve just been to Mozambique and back again via Thailand, with a bit of Jozi thrown in. There’s also been a heady back story involving love and a musician from my youth, my Darling, who is on his way to Frankfort now, from LA.

En route Ilha de Mocambique 

Sawudika I said to the doorman at the Southern Sun in Maputo a few days ago. I was back from Thailand and in Mozambique again, nine aeroplanes later, three yachts, a ferry and a whole lot of air-con minibuses. It’s a lovely Thai greeting - you hold our palms together in front of you and bow slightly, or curtsy, eyes cast down. The Mozambican doorman arched a wary eyebrow. “No lovey, said my friend Phil gently, “you’re in Maputo now, it’s bom dia (good day). 

Sawudika Bom Dia Hello

Sawudica, bom dia, ola, sawubona, hello, pingaling, kiss kiss. What a sexy mad scramble these past five weeks have been. It went like this: Darling landed in Jozi from Manchester, coming from Hawaii via Reykjavik and Wales. Then we disappeared into the heart of the Limpopo bush and saw leopards and heard lions roar and watched the full moon rise into the African skies. Then we hit Jozi, got on a plane and half a day and about eight beers later we were barrelling along past colourful mercados and dramatic inselbergs and at sunset we crossed the bridge onto the 3km-long Ilha de Moҫambique, some 2 000km from Maputo, nuzzling up to Tanzania. The whole island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, its buildings hewn from coral rock and dating back to the 8^th century. 

Ilha de Mocambique 

Vasco da Gama landed here in 1648 and we landed in Nampula quite some time after that and spent a week exploring this incredible island with its powerful history, ancient forts and brave churches, slave houses, squalid shantytown and amazing spirit and architecture. A strong sense of the past even if you don’t understand it, a trading post of people and history, happy-sad, despairing and delicious all at the same time. We met people from Spain and Sweden, Italy, Denmark, Australia, Portugal, Manchester; imbibed an amazing mix of African and Arab, Portuguese and Indian. Sea and salt and love, the sound of trumpets in high-ceilinged rooms; the thrum of the Indian Ocean. 

Indian Ocean prrrrrrrr

And then all of a sardine and a langoustine – we were outta paradise on a small yacht and then some walking plus a very long taxi back to Nampula and then onto a plane which then bumped us down on the Jozi tarmac. Then Darling got on a plane to Amsterdam and onto LA and I got on a plane and went to Hong Kong and onto Phuket, jolled around southern Thailand swimming in the very same Indian Ocean across the other side of the world with a whole lot of fabulous women. Then I got back on a plane to Phuket, onto Hong Kong and landed back in Jozi with a head full of rainforests, tropically dressed mountains, jungly islands, erotic beaches, emerald waters and and ohjafuckit a cheap tequila hangover. Godamn. 

Khao Sok National Park, Thailand

Darling in the meantime got a bit of travel in his troubadour and went unexpectedly back to Honolulu via San Francisco and Portland and Seattle, and is now tired – haha who would have thought? – and back in LA and flies off today, his time, on a three week desert rock tour across Europe -  check out 3^rd Ear Experience. I got onto another plane to Maputo, did some work stuff then got onto another plane back to Jozi and now I am in deep rural Limpopo nine hours ahead of LA trying to figure out what the hell just happened and if I’ll ever get laid again. He tells we shall meet again on Guy Fawkes Day in Jozi. He promises fireworks and I love the predictably sexy metaphor even though I am in a startled condition back on the Harare/ Pretoria time zone two hours ahead of G&T, I mean GMT. Good god, Darling.