We make a quick coffee at six. All about to take a canoe ride. We take the river that passes in front of the camp and we are sailing to Lake Malombe, Very close to Lake Malawi. Let's see the aquatic life, Birds in Las Cañas waiting for fishing some fish, Boats with fishermen, The hypos that occasionally go out and raise the small round ears to capture what happens to them. Suddenly, A water splash betrays some waterbucks fleeing our presence running through the water. At the bottom, A huge herd of elephants has approached the lake to drink. Let's go back to the camp, A group of black geese flies. His flutter looks like the noise of a fan stating the fire. Arrived, We had breakfast and take the road to go to Cape McClear, The Malawi Lake, Also known as Lake Stars.
His flutter looks like the noise of a fan stating the fire
We arrive at the shore of the lake, In the Eagle’s Nest camp. We set up the stores and let's eat at the bar. Before us, one of the largest lakes in Africa extends. Sun light is reflected in water, A few ducks are bordering the shore. In the background you can hear the screaming of the children of the neighboring town that are soaked in the water, Playing while the fishermen's boats arrive at the small port of the town next to the camp.
We have been waiting for a long time. Before the Lodge bar we have a small beach in the Lake with two islands in the background. The sun goes down until stroking the top of the island on the horizon. The sky staining orange tones to disappear. Immediately after the water is flooded with bluish reflexes. Darkness is turning off the little sunlight that remains. While we have a glass of fresh white wine, Small lights appear on the lake horizon. They are the small lights that fishermen carry in the boats while they fish at night. The small scattered lights become a mantle of small points of light. This is the reason why Livingston baptized this lake as Lake Stars.
Wednesday 20
I was tied on the sand on the shore of the lake. I feel the noise of the small swell that creates the current of the lake. The immense surface of bluish water of the lake opens before me, only broken by the cloudy silhouettes of two small islands off the coast and a catamaran with the name Mama Afrika painted on a side of its roof waiting for tourists who want to walk on it through the lake. A small bird, A black and white fisherman flings. The loneliness of the moment, The inner peace that invades me, The internal reflection of these days, They make me realize that I'm happy.
The internal reflection of these days, They make me realize that I'm happy
Today we have sailed along the lake with a boat of a local people. They have taken us to the islands in front of the LOGDE. We have made snorkel. I had never done in a lake. It is a strange sensation, Fresh water makes everything different. Fish are also different. They prepare the food on the beach. They turn on a fire to cook rice, potatoes and fish. The fact of being local those who have organized it gives even more value because in these facts a small development slide and opportunities for these people are pointed out.
We contemplate the sunset from the Lodge. The sky is dying of colors that are reflected in the water. It is obscuring. Lying down, Leo and drink a glass of wine while in the background Songs from Manolo García sound that we sing from the iPhone. Sounds They will come days, A song that makes me go back many years of my life. Dame kisses and petting sincere the mercenary …. It is dark. We are all around a table, In the light of a candle with your feet in the sand, ending the last drops of wine that are waiting for dinner time. How many emotions …
Thursday 21
Today is road day. We leave Lake Malawi to return to Mozambique. Now I have a feeling that the trip is running out. We go to the border. It is a small border that we spend without problems. Now three hours of track are waiting for us until you get to Cuamba. The journey becomes a bit heavy. We arrive in Cuamba and we have some problems with accommodation. We are at the Vision Hotel 2000, the best in town, But the worst of the trip by far. This is deep Africa and it shows in everything, roads, The houses, Hotels, People, … We eat at the only city restaurant, We wait more than an hour to eat a grilled fish, But we have nothing more to do.
Friday 22
We leave early to take the local train that has to take us from Couba to Nampula. According to all guides is a highlight Mozambique. The train leaves at six, punctual. We realize that it is not the train we had seen and they tell us that it has had a breakdown and have changed it for another. The train is new and clean, But it has small windows and the best thing about the journey is to see the local life that is generated around the stations when the train stops. It is one of the few railroads that the Portuguese built and that still work. Everything else is in disuse, as most infrastructure and constructions of the colonial era.
In the first stop we see the multitude of people who meet around the third, where the premises travel. Men, Women and children with Capazos, Bags and baskets offer their products: Cold drinks, panes, tomatoes, fruits, peanuts… The train little by little, You should not go from 50km per hour. The stops are happening and always the same show. People with wicker trays selling bananas, Jewish, Carrots… We buy some coca-collars and bananas and eat some cookies and something else, The food remains of the camping days. We arrive at Nampula after 10 hours on this train. Experience has not been bad, But maybe it's a bit too long. Now three hours of road await us to Ilha Mozambique, The last stop of this trip.
Men, Women and children with Capazos, Bags and baskets offer their products
It is done at night and we still have a while to arrive. Finally we arrive at the coast. Ilha Mozambique is an island that is linked to the continent with a three -kilometer catwalk. A lamppost line is seen that will enter the sea, It is the bridge, narrow. In the background the lights that profile the island's silhouette are divided. We arrive at the Guesthouse patio two quintalinhos, A small accommodation in one of the Portuguese colonial houses, restored and charming decorated. Let's have dinner and sleep.
Saturday 23
We get up without hurry, We have breakfast and prepare to tour the island. Ilha Mozambique is the first port that the Portuguese established in East Africa and until the 19th century, capital. The long and narrow island is full of colonial buildings of the eighteenth century, half demolished, that give it a decadent air. Despite being UNESCO heritage, There is a lot of restoration work to do. We hope that little by little work will be done and recovered its splendor without becoming an excessively tourist place such as Zanzíbar or some other island of the Indian.
Some voices come out and we decided to enter
We walk on the island, stopping photos, Looking half -collapsed houses, entering a soyirs store or having a beer next to the sea. The little number of tourists in this place seems to lie. Let's eat in the hidden dial hotel, Some salads to share and a spotted do mare, A delicious seafood skewer. We continue walking along the island. We stop at the Church gives our Senhora da Saúde. The only church on the island that is restored. Some voices come out and we decided to enter. There is a small group of men and women who are singing. They are preparing the songs for tomorrow's Mass. The sound of their voices and the environment makes it a special moment.
We have long for dinner. This time, one of the typical dishes of the island lobster grilled In Dona Sara Barraca, A local restaurant, Made of reeds where the lobsters cook in front of you. We finish the day at the hotel, Drinking the patio and valuing the best moments of the trip.
Sunday 24
We get up early despite being Sunday, We want to go to the Mass that the boys of yesterday told us to hear them sing, But it is closed. We should understand badly, We enter the building in front, It is the hospital. In his time it was a reference hospital from all over Africa oriental. Now only suggests his former splendor with pavilions with staircases, sources, Interior places, … If an intensive restoration program does not start soon in a few years there will be no building standing on the island.
In a few years there will be no building standing on the island
When we leave the hospital we see movement in front of the church, We see some of yesterday's singing boys. They tell us that the Mass begins at nine. We hope. Mass is an evangelist. Several groups have come from nearby places. They make presentations and each group sings a song. We also. The best thing is the group that has come from Nampula, They are many and sing several songs with choreography. It is a vision that we still lacked in Mozambique.
Let's visit the museum and strength and stop to eat in a beach hut. We approach the church of San Antonio, The last thing we needed to see from the island. It is a strength church in a projection of the coast, A small white building, low, surrounded by palm trees in the least monumental area of the island where the premises live. We return to the hotel surrounded by children who leave a madrasa and ask that we take pictures.
The sun begins to put. The sky is dyed orange and the sun hides behind the clouds beyond the profile that the coast of the continent draws. I observe the stage from a privileged place, The hotel terrace, Before the great mosque of the island, Seeing how the marine breeze curls the water in the form of small waves and the dhows, The traditional boats of local fishermen balance to the rhythm of the wind. The screaming of children who play on the beach surrounded by abandoned boats full of brackish has just drawed this final postcard.
The sincere emotion and tenderness of the moment will last in the memory
We end the day taking Amarula the patio of the guesthouse, making trips of the trip and saying goodbye, To a certain extent of Jeremias, driver, and Javier. I don't know what to call him, guide, journalist, author, … friend. This final moment is, certainly, One of the best moments on trip. The sincere emotion and tenderness of the moment will last in the memory.
The trip ends. In a few hours the long return begins, Nampula, Johannesburg, Istanbul and Barcelona. Good moments lived these weeks and the feeling of having lived a different Africa come to mind, The feeling of having found an internal peace that he needed and the feeling of moving towards a desired happiness.
Monday 25
The call to the prayer of the mosque next to the hotel wakes me like every day at dawn. The nervousness of the return trip makes me difficult to sleep. I get up before the alarm sounds. The bags are already ready to be loaded in the car. A light breakfast and we leave Mozambique Ilha Camino de Nampula. We cross the bridge that joins the island with the continent. The Portuguese built this catwalk in the years 70, Before leaving the country. This time it is day and we can see the crystalline waters of the Indian. We leave behind a magical place, Combination of the decadent opulence of colonial constructions and the vitality of the current daily life of the local inhabitants. We also leave behind a country, One more trip, One more summer, … A new experience that accumulates in the personal experiences of each.
We arrive at Nampula airport, A small airport that has few flights. There is no plane on the track. Time passes. No one. It's time to leave and there is still no plane. We go up to the terrace. It is one of those airport that still have an open terrace. It reminds me when I was little and we were going to the Barcelona airport some Sunday to see airplanes with my parents. In the distance you see a powerful light, A focus that is approaching. As it approaches, It takes shape. It is a plane, Our plane, One of these little ones with few seats. Finally we leave an hour of delay, Just to take the connection in Johannesburg. How we carry the flights in different tickets, We have to collect luggage, pass passport control and bill again. Time is fair. We ask to let us go and everything goes well. We can even buy the last souvenirs at Johannesburg airport. We spent the night on the plane and arrive at Istanbul from dawn.
Tuesday 26
InLet's be practically at the starting point, Istanbul airport. A good morning cappuccino before embarking. It is. From the plane window they begin to see silhouettes that I recognize, Montserrat, The cool, The Olympic port … We land in Barcelona, Now it only remains to get home, undo the suitcases, Put washing machines and share this experience with nearby people.
The satisfaction of having discovered another corner of this world that fascinates me
I am happy. I started this trip with many unknowns. I didn't know what my relationship with certain people in the group would be like. I did not know how I would feel on this first trip after the year I have had … Fortunately I can say that I have found myself very comfortable, I have been able to have pending conversations, I have had time for myself, To also be able to make an inner trip and see the clearest things. I return with a feeling that I needed with tranquility and internal balance. I hope it lasts. And I also return with the satisfaction of having discovered another corner of this world that fascinates me. And above all, having seen with other eyes a different Africa, With their glories and their miseries, by the hand of Javier Brandoli, A passionate of this land, that he has managed to convey that feeling and that he has had the generosity of sharing this cut of his life with us.
