Heading towards the ocean
Dated 1 August
Location: Tofo, Mozambique
Tofo is chilly – for a beach. There are some pretty good hot moments but these are few and far in between. It gets quite windy but it is still warm enough not to put on a sweater for most parts of the day. And warm enough to swim in the sea for a bit. It feels like hanging about a tropical beach during monsoon season.
Days are languid. Typing up these couple of thousand words are happening slowly but at least it’s happening. Days are filled with strolls and getting bits of work done and the occasional dip in the sea. I also get a bit of reading done and thinking about my post-mba step now that 2012 is nearer on this side of the internship.
The sea shore is beautiful here. The seabed is extremely shallow and the tide recedes all the way out. It looks almost like a desert with all that sand out. The hostel has a beautiful terrace the looks upon the entire beach. It is low season now and there is hardly anyone about. The beaches are empty and so are the roads, cafes and restaurants. We are just here with probably 20 other tourists and we stop and chat each time we run into one another.
Today, 6 of the Emzingo crew will be hitting us up here on the beach. This is when the activities will start. The diving, the snorkeling, the BBQ cookouts from the catch of the day (I am however more inclined to believe in the forces of capitalism working in our favour for fish rather than our super fishermen-like fish-catching reflexes). There will be lots of laughs and I look forward to seeing the guys again.
Dates: 12 August
Location: Vilanculos, Mozambique
Days at Tofo melted into each other, one sunny day into the next. It was full of long walks, an occasional swim, a couple of dives and even a pathetic attempt at surfing. More of the emzingo crew came around and it was quite a pretty reunion. Even one of us, Michelle, got engaged right by the beach. So there was celebration and cheap champagne for everyone.
I turn into a darker shade of brown as the days go by. And I spend lots of time thinking about what I want once 2012 rolls around. I think about what kind of everyday life I see myself leading, what would excite me, where I see myself growing towards. The answers come, slowly and I am glad that I have this time to think, to reflect and to figure out the next steps.
Michelle, Luis, Maggie and I head to Vilanculos from Tofo. A journey that took us 9 hours and a lot of haggling. I turn aggressive and trite and morph into a creature that hates-all-humankind. I assume the worse from people and I flight over a couple of euros in the course of taking the various transportation in our 9 hour journey up the coast which consist of 3 minibuses, a ferry and a taxi. It cost us 8 euros each and yet I fight for the prices for the sake of fighting I guess. I even fight for a proper seat. Its a real battle out there. Its like being in India all over again.
But here I am, in Vilanculos (or Vafanculos as Luis or Luigi calls it) and its all peace and serenity again. Alls well in the world.
