Traveling Wilbury

This is a story written for those who think that travelling and working is awesome.

A week ago I woke up at 4.45 to take a quick shower, make some coffee and shake my wife out of bed. Then it was off to the airport for a long day of mainly sitting at airports.

On arrival in Maputo I checked in at the hotel to immediately fall asleep and try to catch up with sleep. Once I woke up I went to a very nice local restaurant to eat something, then repacked my suitcase and went to bed.

To wake up at 4.45 to take a quick shower and catch a taxi to the airport for a long flight to Lichinga via Nampula. There is no hotel on Earth that serve breakfast at that time and very few are hungry at that hour. Once on the plane I am served with the smallest, not even white but albino "bun" with some cheese in it. And some juice.

On arrival to Nampula transit I head straight for the bar and a beer, the most wholesome meal during this flight. I make that Laurentina Premium just to be sure. On the next leg we are served a bag of crisps and juice. Unless you want to pay for Johnnie Walker Black Label, it may not surprise you that quite a few do. The crisps are for some unknown sadistic reason always "cheese and onion". So you have a whole plane full of cheese-and-onion breath. That may explain why the Black Label makes a roaring trade.

On arrival I am invited to a lunch-dinner at the local manager's house that I happily accept. The best restaurant in Lichinga is always at someone's house. But with 2 days of 4.45 in my system  I fall dead asleep and wake up at the time the lunch is on! Good thing we are in Mozambique where few people worry over being an hour or so late.

After a really nice lunch cum dinner I go back to the guesthouse and try to do some work on my computer. No internet, this is Lichinga OK. Power blacks out at 8 pm and is not back when I wake up next morning.

Which is OK but for one thing: no water. The system relies on booster pump and no power means no pump means no water. Well I am used to this so the "Roskilde shower" of rinsing your hair and put on deo it is.

The breakfast at Benilde's guesthouse is by far the strangest I have ever experienced. It is kind of OK that the "juice" is more sugar than fruit and the instant coffee is blended with chickory. I guess. But you are served with strictly 1 "pao" a piece of white bread/bun, 1 minimal hot dog OR 1 fried egg and then chips. Sometimes there are pieces of boiled cassava, think boiled potatoes, as a bonus. End of story. There is no cheese, there is some kind of sugary jam and very bad margarine. And Aromat.

The flight to Maputo was rescheduled 5 hours and on top of that 1 hours late. I was tasked to bring a "mystery box" to Maputo, since I don't really want to face the question "what is this" and not be able to answer I asked what was in the box. Maize, in short. About 6 kg maizemeal that meant a lot of negotiating with the check-in staff.

Arrived in Maputo and checked in around 9 pm and too tired to even go eat something. Then I spent 2 days working and enjoying Maputo until it was time for another day of flights and airports. Arrived home and have basically caught up with sleep the whole day plus trying to calm down a frantic cat.

Yep, the travelling life is really cool...

Noticias from Mozambique

Mozambique as country fascinates me. It is in many ways a very challenging place and the farther you get from the capital Maputo the more challenging.

OK I have not been to Pemba or Isla Mozambique, truth to be told, but otherwise that is my experience.

Mozambiquans can be very friendly, jovial and helpful when not in uniform or holding any official position. When in uniform or holding some sort of official position they are at best lazy and uninterested, at worst rude, troublesome and intent on making whatever you want as difficult as possible. Kafka could have been the inspiration of some of the stories I have heard from residents. My own experience at the Mandimba border post some time ago is a personal classic. It took 3 attempts to finally make it cross the border.

Some habits that seem to be countrywide has fascinated me since my first visit. The easygoing café- and barlife is nice, the habit of drinking straight whiskey or gin tonic for lunch is .. strange.

This morning I witnessed a man having double scotch while waiting for the plane. At 9 am. That is not unusual, and he looks ever the part of a smart businessman. Same guy, I think, had another one during transit wait in Nampula. Hope he did not have an afternoon meeting.

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On leave at last

In some ways I am sadly unorganized. Events like Easter, Xmas and other annual holidays always seem to take me by surprise. Another side of that is that I sometimes completely fail to plan for work leave. This also has to do with working as a consultant for many years, you simply take leave when you can.

Anyhow, something happened that made me realise exactly how tired and worn down I was. With understanding from management I went on leave "immediately" and we (that is me and Mia) decided we should go for a beach holiday with the kids.

Whereto now? Would have loved to hit Dar es Salaam or Kenya Mombasa but time- and moneymatters made us decide for Mozambique. After scouting around we found a lodge near Beira, a day drive from Harare basically. Somewhat naively (more on that later) we thought we might commute to nightlife in Beira and decided to take Mia's sister Cynthia along to look after the boys in the evenings. Ha!

At the same time Mia was running to the passport office on a daily basis to get her "3-day" passport produced. It took well over a week... and we decided to have a checkup of the Isuzu before making such a long drive. Turned out to be a very good decision as the mechanic found a problem with a wheelbearing that could have meant a total breakdown somewhere along the road.

Only problem with that was that he could not fix it before the weekend and our plan was to drive on Monday, arriving in the late afternoon. Come Monday we could only plan, pack etc and then wait. By 12 Steve announces the car is ready. Now to decide whether to go or not? In the end we decide to have a go at it and by 2 pm we were on the road, crossing the border by around 5.30 pm.

Why in heaven's name we had not read the instructions from the travel agent before then is anyone's guess. "Please make sure you arrive for the ferry across the lagoon before 5 pm"....

OK now what? Already in Moz it is no point in going back so I thought we would either find a hotel in the nearest town or drive on to Beira and stay overnight there. Turns out Mia had a better idea: relatives in Mafambisi, some 40 km before Beira. Called to uncle Werner who runs a small guesthouse "can you put up 5 beds for the night". The rooms were full but they promised to find a way of hosting us. Around 10 pm (talk about optimistic) we arrived at auntie Elena's small bar/restaurant (called a "kiosk" in Mozambique for some reason). After a nice but very late dinner on fried chicken and chips we stumbled on to various bed quarters.

Following a late and slow breakfast next day we took off towards the lodge, Rio Savannah. Made a stop at Shoprite in Beira for stocking up and drove ca 40 km on a rather bad sand road. Bad as it had rained and parts were more mud than sand. Drive to Beira for nightlife, eh? Well, most importantly we made it!

Were taken by boat across the rivermouth to the basic but neat lodge, soon as we had installed ourselves it was off to the beach. Following that was 5 days of beach, swim, sunset drinks overlooking rivermouth, prawns for dinner and so on. The boys found friends in the other houses and ever so often we found they were gone or the whole crew of kids were in our house. Serious little Sean, 4 years and full of questions such as "why do you have tattoos, why does your daughter (Mia) look like she does" etc still makes me laugh. Wonderfully relaxing and I could have stayed another week though I think Mia would have had a serious case of cabin fever by then. No TV, no radio, no news, no internet.

On the home leg we again stopped over at Elena and Werner for a late, slow brunch. I don't think Mozambiquans quite understand the word "urgent". Then on home, arriving at around 8 pm.

Well, it was well needed and despite the planning glitches good fun. I appreciated meeting Mia's family and I am 100 they loved meeting us and the kids.

Next time it will not take 3 years between beach holidays... see some pictures, unorganised as they are, here.

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Reflections from Mozambique

Am sitting at Lichinga Airport waiting for the plane to arrive. As this is Linhea Area Mozambique, LAM, noone has been able to say when I should check in but all agree on one thing: do not use the time written on the ticket. So I was number 2 to check in, almost 3 hours in advance. Just to be sure. That leaves time to do some "reflective thinking".

Mozambique to me is (at least) 2 countries: Maputo and "the rest". And the farther away from Maputo you get the more difference. Look at a map and you will see that Maputo is right at the southern end of the country. It is a place full of hustle and bustle, a "real city" with wide avenues and a bristling business life night and day. Cafés. restaurants, shops etc are everywhere and there is always something going on. People are friendly, it is not difficult to strike a conversation as a stranger in a cafe or bar. I shared beers with mine-removers, football-fans and a number of others last week. On leaving Maputo I found myself standing next to a man ordering double whiskey (very popular drink in Moz, even for lunch sometimes) with Red Bull. Note this is at 7 in the morning... He told me he had not slept for 48 hours and was now on his way to Nampula. His rather upset wife was phoning all the time, small wonder if he had been partying for 48 hours. I ask what he was going to do in Nampula - "I am a financial controller for a World Bank funded organisation"... aha. He then calls another guy who turns out to be Sales Manager for MCel, one of the larger mobile phone companies. He then suddenly remembers he is in Business Class and can drink for free in the business lounge, leaves his nearly untouched drink and disappears. Characters like him seem to be everywhere in Maputo.

I arrive in Lichinga after a most painful flight, this due to a collapsing stomach - probably brought on by a meal of shrimps the day before. My "pick-up" Andreas takes me to the guesthouse where I am to stay, I go straight to bed. Later I recover enough to join him and his wife for an evening meal (a veeeery careful meal) in what is basically the one reliable restaurant in Lichinga.

On waking up the next day it is good I do not have much of an appetite for breakfast. Because it turns out to be fresh bread, coffee and margarin. Finish. There is cornflakes but no milk, it was suggested to me to mix my own using milkpowder. No thanks. There is no cheese, polony, jam etc etc.

In the evening I go for a lonely dinner at 2+1, same resto as the evening before. There is at least one more resto operating but there you never know when you will get your food and if it will be cooked or half raw or burnt. Then to bed to read. At around 8.30 power goes for half of the town and it gets pitch dark. Early bed for sure. Next morning there is understandably no hot water but otherwise breakfast has picked up a bit. There is juice, peanutbutter, jam and even some fruit to go with the bread. Milk too, but no cornflakes this time. To cut the rest short, cheese never showed up but next day cornflakes did and coffee was available. That is OK by Lichinga standards.

It is sort of the opposite of Maputo. Professionalism and hospitality are very very hard to find. If you do not know someone when you enter a restaurant, café or bar you will likely eat and drink alone. Last evening I was picked up by a friend who works for a Swedish forestry company and we had a pleasant evening updating each other on events since last time we met, over a year ago. In the dark as their generator had a problem and there is no "city power" where they live. I guess working with forestry makes you a "long-term person" as he is busy planning exactly how he wants to build his house, not far from where he is staying now. He will have a magnificient view and plans to build a log-house with a sauna etc etc. Well why not if you plan to stay in the area for years on? Will very likely be a house like no other in Lichinga as he also knows how to build - and that kind of knowledge is rare if it even exists in Lichinga.

If you think I am negative you should hear those from Maputo who come here to do whatever short term work. They refuse blank to believe anyone wants to stay here and can not wait for the return to Maputo. I sort of understand them, the attitude towards almost everything is so different. There are many stories as to why this is so, one is that this was the Siberia of Mozambique during the communist days, people were sent here for "re-education". Another talks of the forgotten part of Mozambique and I can sort of agree: if the main road to the province capital is mainly a dirt road and not even tarred then you ask if central government is serious about "development everywhere".

Whatever it is, the place is slowly improving. Compared to when I first started coming here it is way better in terms of infrastructure etc. What would be most welcome would be some sort of "change of mind" in the people. I also strongely believe some sort of Technical College or University for such trades as builders, plumbers, electricians etc would be a great improvement.

Only the future will tell. For now I join the crowd who takes every opportunity to go to Maputo ;-)

Hur dum kan man bli egentligen?

För en gångs skull är det dags att skriva på svenska på bloggen. Helt enkelt för att jag inte orkar ens i hjärnan att översätta allt jag vill ha sagt.

Ämnet har inte med mig att göra, tro det eller ej. Detta trots att kvällen igår blev ett undantag från dom där många trista hotellrumskvällarna. Jag gick och åt en mycket sen lunch och landade senare på Mundos (Globen ungefär i översättning) där jag kom i samspråk med en minröjare. Efter att ha återvänt till hotellet så gick jag till baren här och hamnade i samspråk med 3 vackra damer som av okänd anledning hade köpt en flaska Chivas Regal. Nånstans där las grunden till hur jag mår idag. Åter på Mundos fastnade jag i fotbollsnack med 2 män som lovade att ta med mig till Matola, sådär 2 mil från Maputo, för att se kvällens Champions League final. Om nu inte om vore så vore jag där.

Istället vaknade jag mest för att somna om igen hela dagen. När jag sen släpar mig ner till Mundos för finalen inser jag nåt jag egentligen vet sen VM-finalen 2002: ägarna är rugbyfanatiker. Vilket innebar att då fick vi närmast övertala dom att visa VM-finalen istället för nån jämra super14-match. Ikväll var det samma saga, ett antal vilsna fotbollsfans tvångsmatades med brottning, förlåt rugby. Det är kanske värt att komma ihåg att rugby uppstod när en mindre begåvad fotbollspelare plockade upp bollen med händerna och sprang....

I vilket fall, efter en pizza tröttnade jag och gick till en mer lokal lokal. Som visade musikvideos istället (ursäkta, RAP inte musik). Så därför sitter jag nu på hotellrummet i all ensamhet och ser matchen.

Det blev väl inte direkt nån spännande match men ett grymt snyggt avslutande mål. Den "speciellt sure" hade bättre ordning på det mesta än tyskarna, så var det bara. Vaknade sen upp med magsjuka och hur roligt är det när man måste upp 5.30 för att ta sig ut till flygplatsen och sitta på inrikesflyg hela dagen. Det var en jobbig dag som avslutades med en jobbig natt. Puh, det är som sagt inte bara glatt och glamman att vara på resande fot.