I won’t even start to describe what 19 people plus wet gear for 19 people shoved onto a truck smells like but trust me on this one, it is NOT GOOD. As we headed out of the park the rains and wind continued. We stopped on a bridge where the guides pointed out what used to be a trickling brook underneath was now a raging river. What we didn’t know was that we were in a cyclone and that had just started evacuating the park because of severe flooding. Probably best we got the info when we did because I have to say learning it any earlier would not have improved the situation as it was.
When we made our next stop for “munchies and crunchies”, the American girls came out with nothing but cleaning supplies. If we were going to live on that bus and sleep in that tent, the group was going to be introduced to the magic of Febreeze. We sprayed every square inch of that bus and wiped down every surface we could. I carried the Febreeze with me like a gun in a holster ready to pull it out when the situation called for it.
We crossed the border from South Africa into Mozambique later that day (not the most relaxing border crossing I have ever done). The drive through the capital of Maputo was equally stressful with the natives waving their fingers at our truck in disapproval. When we got to the campground in Mozambique the sun was shining and we were able to upgrade. Upgrade is an overstatement here but the takeaway message is we did not have to sleep in the wet tent. Pretty much everyone on the trip upgraded as well and we all set up the tents to dry out in the sun. Everything everyone owned on the trip became draped across the campground. I’m sure the owners were thrilled to have us. We then headed down to the beach where Kerry dipped into the Indian Ocean for the first time.
We headed into town to do some shopping (town also being an overstatement for the 12 vendors on a roadside). But we all picked up a few things and headed back to the site to hang out as a group. Our guides hired some locals to cook us a fish and shrimp dinner at the campfire (The orange vests they were wearing gave the impression these locals were the same we saw doing post cyclone road repairs earlier that day). But the shrimp was delicious (by camping in Africa standards) and by far this was the best meal of the trip so far.
The truck didn’t fit into the campground so it sat outside the campground and was just an empty shell. We started referring to it as the plane from Lost. During their first days stranded on the island they would run in and out of it only to get supplies and we envisioned coming back to it being infested by a pack of warthogs. If you haven’t seen Lost, just trust me on this reference.
Damage from the cyclone
View of campground from the beach
