Quirimbas Archipelago
Trip Start
Sep 02, 2009
1
73
125
Trip End
Dec 16, 2010
Ibo, Quirimbas Archipelago, Mozambique
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
I've just returned from a few days in the Quirimbas archipelago which was yet another little adventure. Having set off from Pemba around 4 in the morning, the chapa journey I thought was going to be 4 hours was actually 7 hours and has to go down as the most ridiculous journey of the trip so far! I've no idea how we got everything on to such a small vehicle but at one point we had about a tonne of farm produce, 2 matresses, over 30 people and of course the token chicken. Every time someone wanted to get off we would stop, all get off, spend ages trying to find their bags of maize etc before reloading, all squeezing on board again Tetris style and setting off about 20 minutes later. Now I've been pretty patient on these kind of journies but when we did offload and then stop 10 metres down the road to let someone else board and go through the whole saga of getting off and loading up again I'd be lying if I said I wasn't starting to get a bit frustrated at the complete lack of thought going in to the whole process - and all of this after 2 hours kip the previous night..
So having finally made it to Tandanhangue I then boarded a dhow boat for the final 90 minutes to Ibo island. I was expecting a mini paradise with turquoise waters and pristine beaches so when I arrived and got my bearings it was a bit of a shock to come accross somewhere that seemed to have been stuck in a time warp with next to no facilities and with almost every building in a state of decay.
However having spent 3 nights there and meeting up with an English trio the following morning who were the only other backpackers on the island it soon became clear that this slightly surreal atmosphere and complete lack of tourists and life gave the place a completely unique character and charm that was hard not to fall for. Had I not met the English guys I would have got pretty bored there but we landed up spending the whole time together and having a highly entertaining time.
After spending the first day getting our bearings we headed over to another island the following day which involved walking for 2 hours through the mangroves and huge ocean plains while the tide was out. Our guide Mohammed Julio let us stay with his family at their house which was really cool. We were hoping for some nice beaches as they weren't particularly good in Ibo so it was a bit of a let down when we realised the locals all used the beach as their toilet so despite the comedy signs advising people not to unload on the beach, they clearly were - nice!
Anyway, after a minor incident with the local police trying to get their money´s worth from the only tourists on the island we headed out to our new regular restaurant for another 60 pence meal and quite a few drinks for a highly entertaining evening.
We spent our final night in Ibo before returning to Pemba today with another comedy chapa ride where I spent part of the journey on the roof with the 2 money collectors. Its fair to say I loved the archipelago in the end and am so glad I had the chance to see it in the current state before it potentially gets developed and more tourists start visiting as its sure to lose some of the charm it currently has..
Tomorrow I am heading to Ilha do Mocambique before going further south to see more of this fascinating country. Its pretty tough travelling here at times with a lot of long uncomfortable journey's but I'm really enjoying it and finding it quite different to the other African countries I have been to.
So until the next time, obrigado amigos!
x
