It's been a while.......

So many people have been asking me when I'll be updating my blog - well, here I go again....thanks for the push I needed everyone!

My last blog was created just before I left for 10 days back home in Hillcrest - let's just say it was awesome to see everyone and to be able to have a choice of 25 different lettuce packs in Woolies - my purse was continually being pulled out of my bag as fast as John Wayne draws his gun!!
I just have to say how proud I am of my gorgous kids,John and Amy, for looking after the dogs and house (in that particular order!) so incredibly well!

Took me a little while to settle back down again upon my return to Beira. Now I'm fully entrenched and settled again. I feel as though I'm on one long sabatical - awesome!

Can you believe it - Mozambique does not officially recognise Easter as a public holiday - so whilst hearing about all our friends and family enjoying all the public holidays - we carried on as normal. However, Easter eggs were being sold in Shoprite - albeit broken ones - mmm strange that!

We decided that now was the time to visit Gorongosa National Park. We left on a Friday morning - it is only about a distance of 200kms but the roads are soooo bad that it took us 3 1/2 hours to get there! I thought I had honestly seen the worst potholes in the Northern Province of SA - but this road takes the cake! Appart from that it's a very interesting drive.

Gorongosa is like no other game reserve I've been to. It has a very sad history - the civil war between 1984 and 1994 took its toll on the park - Chitenga camp, the main camp was used as the Renamo headquarters. For the next nine years the park was the scene of fierce battles. The park was officially closed and abandoned for nine years. Hand-to-hand fighting and aerial bombings destroyed roads and buildings, thousands of mammals were shot for food. The good news is that in 2004 an american based foundation took on the rehabilitation of the park and its animals.

The park is slowly returning to normal. Thanks to, Gregg Carr a philanthropist from the US who injected a large sum of money to be able to restore the park and its animals.

I must say the diversity of bush, forrests and floodplains are awesome! Incredible birdwatching! Accomodation could be jacked up a bit - but hey, we went to experience the bush not the accomodation!
National geographic has produced an amazing film called "Lost Eden Gorongosa"  - watch it if you can!

All in all an awesome place to experience - all the more reason to visit us in Beira! Come on you guys - we have loads of space in our house!










I attempted a small painting of the baobab tree - not quite finished yet...

These are some rough sketches I did of a resident warthog family in the camp - I was sitting on the ground - one wartie obviousley thought I was threatnening him and made a run at me!!

Rather difficult to sketch - they don't keep still for one second!!

The best news! WE NOW HAVE OUR DOUBLE SURFSKI HERE!! Neehaa!

Russell from our canoe club drove it from Durban to Maputo, then Kevin, who was on his way to Malawi took over and brought all the way to our doorstep in Beira. So, so kind of him as he drove many kilometres on a dreadful road out of his way to get it here! BIG THANKYOU TO RUSSELL AND KEVIN!

 So we've been doing lots of surfskiing and have found a few buoys to ski out to. What fun! I will include some photo's next time - with my waterproof camera nogal!

I have been painting up a storm and am considering an exhibition later on in the year, when I have more.

Here are the latest completed ones:

I am currently working on this one as you can tell by the sketched in figures on the right. lastly I will pull it all together by painting in the nets that are being pulled out of the boat...








It will be our 28th Wedding Anniversary this Saturday which we will be celebrating at Victoria Falls. This has been on our bucket list for years! Will update with more pics soon!

Adeus amigos!

Pesca!

This is the story of how I got to name my post Pesca this week......last Sunday morning the sea was calm and seemed to be cleaner than usual - so I took the single surfski out and was paddling fairly close to the shoreline, I was really enjoying my paddle and shouted the odd 'bom dia' (good morning) to various fishermen who were catching shrimps with their nets. Just as I was thinking how incredibly friendly everyone is here I heard someone shouting, I looked around and immediately waved back and greeted, but the shouting became more urgent and louder - he wasn't just being friendly, it looked to me as though he was pointing beyond me, out to sea, and he was shouting 'Pesca! Pesca!' I immediately presumed he was warning me about a shark or something worse (is there anything worse?!). I quickly turned the ski around almost losing my balance and headed back the way I came at a very fast pace!
Well, I looked the word Pesca up in the dictionary when I got home - it meant fishing! Unbeknown to me, I was paddling right over the poor mans fishing nets! Next time I'll make sure that I don't paddle so close to shore...but I learnt a new word!

I went to check on my french friend, Pauline's, dog 'Socrates'. She lives in a house outside the complex and has gone to Paris for ten days - I offered to check in on her dog and cat and give them some love while she's gone. He's a very playful golden labrador, and only understands French. Adorable! I took some photo's to email to her.....








Some of the Gals - what a view!





Monday morning I joined a pilates class. It takes place on an open deck above a restaurant - with an awesome view of the sea. No charge at all - just a fun group of ladies who love their exercise. I thoroughly enjoyed it...and saw a school of dolphins swimming past.

The gym - on the top floor!

I finally finished my dhow painting and love it so much I've decided to paint a series - each one is so different. Here is my finished painting as promised.....

Here is a photo of the drawing group I go to. Beatrice is the artist who runs it from her house - she and her husband are missionaries from Brazil - they are very dedicated to teaching teenagers all kinds of life skills - drawing being one of them. She was quite happy for a few of us older 'teenagers' to join in. She is an awesome artist and has heaps of compassion and patience! There are some very talented artists in the group. What an incredibly generous couple.

I love weekends - everyone is so chilled and the beach comes alive with the local people - who love to spend time at the beach. Amazingly, no one gets drunk and rowdy and there are no taxis pumping out loud music.

We spend quite a lot of time just walking along the beach - yesterday we came across a beach wedding - we sat and watched a while....how beautiful are the colours!

I just couldn't resisit taking a pic of these gorgous bridemaids. How awesome is that orange against the blue sea -  sigh!










And of course the dhows are my absolute favourite! I can't resisit just putting a few pics in my blog...

I am learning to find my way around town quite nicely and was very chuffed to buy 8 tomatoes, 3 brinjals, 2 garlics qnd 4 onions from the local market for MZM50 - which is R11! I was even given an extra tomato for free - how special is that. So no more buying vegies at Shoprite for me! I've also found a local bakery where a french bread is MZM3 - which is 66cents and really yummy!

So - there is still loads of exploring to do. In the meantime, however, we have booked our tickets back to Durban on Wednesday. Johan will be there until Saturday, I will stay until the following week - yay real lettuce and Woolies! Really looking forward to spending time with family, friends and my dogs! I've only been away for a month and yet it feels like a year!

Adeus until next time!

Reality bites.....

Boa tarde (good afternoon)

As the heading suggests and also as people had warned me - week 2 was challenging to put it politely!

The intitial excitement of new surroundings, people and lifestyle suddenly turned into me missing  home, friends, family, Woolworths and other luxuries that I thought I could do without!

To make matters worse Johan went away to Maputo on business  for three nights. So I was feeling very sorry for myself - even though I have made many friends, who have been very kind to me.  It could also have had something to do with the Japanese disaster - we are all so vulnerable! 



Anyway, I managed to find my own way to Shoprite and got incredibly excited when I spotted fresh lettuce - yay! I almost rugby tackled it I was so excited - I haven't had a salad for over a week - anyway, I got the precious lettuce home, gently washed it and packed away very carefully in the fridge so as not to bruise it etc. I made myself a salad for supper - wonderful! However, the next day I found the precious remaining lettuce frozen solid in the fridge! I couldn't believe it! The fridge was set at its coolest temperature - so everything was freezing. Ho-hum I'll just have to wait until lettuce appears again - who knows when that will be. How we take things for granted.

However, I have a back-up plan - sprouts.....



Alpha-Alpha sprouts happily growing!





I'm trying to sprout Spring-onion seeds?








I know sprouts aren't really a replacement for lettuce but hey, at least they are fresh.
Anyway, I find it quite a satisfying past-time. 

I was stopped (as did my heart, almost) by the cops after dropping Johan at the airport - she asked me for my license which I proudly gave her and then she wanted a "booka" I thought that meant passport/ID, which I didn't have. Keeping in mind that I've been hearing all kinds of horror stories about being chucked in jail for the smallest offence - eventually, after many hand signals I realised she wanted a book for the car - which luckily I found in the glove compartment. Phew what a relief.

I've forced myself to do a fair amount of driving around town - not really knowing where I'm going and most of the time just driving round and round the round-a-bouts until I recognise something, which I usually don't!

Town is like a rabbit warren of narrow lanes which seem to go nowhere.

I was invited to a birthday tea here in the complex and couldn't go empty handed so someone explained how to get to the only flower shop in Beira. I got there - but what should have taken me 15minutes took an hour, to make matters worse there are NO shop signs. I was looking for a blue shop on a corner - well, hello, there are loads of blue shops and loads of corners....I was so happy to find flowers even though I paid the equivalent of R50 for 3 very sad yellow roses and a bit of greenery.



The Grand Hotel then....



On my way back from art today I took some photo's of the "Grand Hotel" - which was grand back in its day. It was opened in 1954 and was billed "The pride of Africa" - the last event it held was a New years Eve party in 1980/81. Now its 'home' to hundreds of homeless people.





The Grand Hotel now.....

There are the most amazing buildings in Beira - it must have been the most glorius city back then!







An example of the old, the new and the restoration -  right next to one another

They are trying hard to restore what was - but it's going to take time...

This is for my arty friends .......I'm in love with the dhows as I think I have mentioned before  - I'm busy working on a painting it has a long way to go, hopefully, by the next blog I'll be able to show the finished product......

While at drawing class this morning I did a drawing too......

I have made an 'arty' friend here by the name of Jo. We've decided that we are going to look for a dhow carver to make some miniture dhows for tourists ..could be a another source of income for them. Watch this space.



Adeus until next time.......

'Laugh as much as you breathe and love as long as you live'







Makes you think.........

MY THOUGHTS ARE WITH THE PEOPLE OF JAPAN........




Hope



Unbelievable images cars and ships being tossed about like toys. Mother Nature is obviously very very angry. Tens of thousand of people missing. My heart goes out to people who have lost loved ones........





What a week....

Johan and I decided that we need to learn Portuguese. We joined a group at our friends house last night but they were already on their 4th lesson and they've all been living here for years, so we felt a bit out of it - my favourite word so far is "adeus" pronounced - a-day-oosh - "Goodbye".
Cecily gave us a CD set "Learning to speak Portuguese" - so we'll learn step by step together at home rather. Its been quite a challenge communicating with the maid and gardener. I'm glued to my dictionary most of the time and even when I find the word - pronouncing it is another story! For example an R is pronounced airy and an H is pronounced aghaar.

'Loopy' the Black Great Dane and the runaway Chicken

Yes, well this is quite a story! I joined Denize and her massive great dane 'Loopy' for a walk on Wednesday morning. I was a bit nervous as he is as large as a shetland pony and seemed to be quite a handful on a leash. There are also a number of stray dogs generally walking the streets. The stray dogs benignly watched us walk by except for the odd one that had to be fought off with much yelling and waving of arms.



'Loopy' the Great Dane



To get away from Loopy!!



We were probably talking too much, and not focusing on the task at hand - there were chickens in the road, at this point Loopy pulled away from Denize with such a force she thought she'd broken two fingers - he locked onto a poor unsuspecting chicken



and chased it, I tried really hard to stop him but to no avail! Well, let's just say the chicken died a horrible death. The owner was watching ffrom his balcony and a shouting match ensued  - in Portuguese. I gathered that Denize was very angry with the fact that he lets his chickens run around in the street. He wanted compensation for the loss of his chicken he then sent his gardener to follow us home. We were very worried that the purpose of following us was to find out where the dog lived so that it could be poisoned at a later stage! Certain portuguese words were flung about by Denize, the gardener eventually turned back. We decided that probably the best thing to do would be to compenste the owner by taking him some money, which we duly did - he wasn't at all satisfied with that so Denize bought  him a live chicken. He seemed happy with that.....

I felt as though I was on some weird movie set!

I ended up having to drive her to the 24hour clinic in town - a bit hectic for me, as this was my first experience of driving in Beira - which is in itself an experience. Man these people don't know how to drive, what with more water filled potholes than road and no rules.
Anyway after x-rays it was established that she had dislocated two fingers. Whilst sitting in the waiting room waiting for Denize I met Rachel who gave me the cell number of an artist by the name of Beatrice. I called her and will meet her tomorrow.

 

<>



Johan and I have been for long afternoon walks on Macuti Beach, which is in front of our complex. We've come across an old lighthouse and strangely enough, a shipwreck right next to it. Apparantly the shipwreck was actually moved there to act as a barrier.

There is a cafe on the beach - a nice spot to walk to, have a beer or a coffee and walk back home again. Everywhere you go the coffee is amazing and I've even taken to drinking expresso (John will be happy!)

 

Beach cafe



I just love the fishing dhows - the fisherman are amazing in the way they control them on the sea.

I met Beatrice an artist who is a missionary working with teenagers. She holds drawing classes in her home and invited me to come and join in on Friday mornings.

Johan went away on a business trip North of Beira yesterday, and will be back on Saturday afternoon.  Eeeek! I will have to just get out there on these awful roads in our massive 4x4 automatic vehicle (I'm used to a tiny corsa lite ok!). Check the picture of the main road which takes you into town



Here's another example

Friday morning and I'm on a mission today - first of all I'm going to Club Nautica for an expresso and to find out if we can keep our surfski there - when it comes next week. This club is the local place to buy amazing breads, they also serve a good plate of food and of course great expresso! It's also probably the safest place to launch our surfski from hence the request to keep it there - obviousley at a fee. But its relatively cheap approx. R100 per month.

Then I went on to search for Beatrices house - she did show me on a map - but, there are no street names - well after driving around through massive pools of water, past loads of chickens and stray dogs (shame some of them are really sad looking) I eventually found it. I had a great morning drawing and met enthusiastic local teenagers eager to learn how to draw. I met Jo, a nurse, originally from Zim and previously lived in the Nagle Dam reserve - her husband was the manager there. She ended up showing me around town - where to buy fresh vegetables and fish. It's amazing how friendly and helpful people are here.

Here are some photos I took on the way to Beatrice this morning.



Old college building



Cathedral in the centre of Beira







Old empty shells of buildings all over the place



 Some really interesting buildings here - difficult to take photos though - not really allowed.

Adeus until next time!................

Update on Beira!

I have just had a very interesting weekend - my first in Beira, Mozambique.

A little bit of background for those who don't know ......my husband (Johan) and I (Kim) have been living in Durban, South Africa for the past 16 years. Then out of the blue, my husband was offered a job in Beira -  we decided to give it a go! We left our kids (not kids anymore!) aged 20 and 24 to look after our house and dogs, I gave up my job, art classes etc.etc. to go on a journey of exploration....

Johan arived a month ago, I arrived two days ago.

Just driving from the airport was an education - rice paddy fields on either side of the road, demarcated by wooden fences. Mozambiqe women up to their knees in water working the fields - how uncomfortable must that be - not to mention all the water snakes and bugs!

I just love the bright colourful fabrics hanging on washing lines and worn by the women - I can't wait to go to the market!

We live in a really comfortable complex in an area called Macuti which is about 10 mins out of town.
Unfortunately we have been told that we will have to move out of the one we are currently in as it is due to be upgraded - so will have to move into another one temporarily. But they all look basically the same...



The front of our house







View from the front - the sea is just past the trees














View from the back



View from the back towards a really nice pool & tennis court

 We have a gardner and are able to change the garden if we want - so, yep I will be planting a small vegie patch as lettuce and spinach are basically unavailable. I have started growing my own sprouts on the window sill! I have to have something green to eat dam it!

We met a lovely couple on Saturday Dion is SA and Denise is Brazilian. They live in a house within walking distance of our complex and the best part is that she loves animals - they have 4 beautiful dogs and 2 gorgous cats! I am already missing my dogs terribly - so at least I have some animals available to visit and hug when I get really desperate.

Dion and Denise very kindly offered to take us on a trip yesterday to Savane Beach which is about 30km North East of Beira but the road is so bad it takes an hour to get there. The scenery is flat and marshy with many remains of old farm houses once occupied by the portuguese.
Once there you have to take a boat trip across the lagoon to the beach. What a beautiful unspoilt beach! Full of shells and collectables. The sea there is a lot cleaner so we were able to swim.


We had lunch in a local restaurant on the beach which has very basic accomodation and camping facilities - what an amazing place in the middle of nowhere, one could easily stay there for a few nights.

 I thought I would be brave and ordered crab curry - BIG mistake. There was no ways I could eat any of it - so I ended up with a bowl of coconut rice - mmm delicious! Photo of said crabs to follow!

I didn't have my camera but asked Dion to take photo's - I will post them later for you to see! Hectic!

We decided to go for a "Dosh M" (the local beer) at a bar/restaurant on the beach yesterday afternoon. As you can see from the photo's the sea is not as turquoise blue as one would expect as Beira sits on the estuary of the Pungoe river. So there are strong currents which churns up the sand.

This morning I joined Denise for a walk - not easy to walk here as the roads are so bad - there are massive pools of water everywhere, the tar is all broken up, the pavements are sand but hey the people are really friendly and everyone greets you with a smile and  'bom dia' (good morning) - so its all good, so far!