What happened before we reached Pemba in northern Mozambique 10 days ago is a very tiring border crossing and voyage - so I'm going to skip right to the interesting parts and say it all started with the boat ride...
As soon as we left Pemba bay we found ourselves surrounded by whales, jumping erect out of the water all around us before showing us their huge tails on their way to the depth of the Indian ocean. We sailed pleasantly for the whole day and as the sun started sinking we stopped near one of the smaller islands in the Quirimbas Archipelago, in which, to our captains surprise we discovered a small village near some ruins of an old Arab building. We took a canoe from the boat to the village, in such a remote place you can imagine how many tourist they see (non) and we were quite a sensation, including a baby who started crying when he saw Martin, the blond German who was travelling with us... After cheering for a team in the village soccer field we went back to the boat where we spent the night. Next day we reached Ibo...
Ibo, the main island in the archipelago, used to be a central point of commerce before and during Portuguese occupation, until some 50 years ago it was deserted in favor of Pemba on the mainland. What is left is a deserted city, with streets of crumbling houses from different styles and periods, surrounded by local villages and starting to awaken to a new era. There are two guest houses on the island, a fancy lodge and one (french) restaurant. There is no bank, or store, or power (besides private generators). It is absolutely magical. We travelled the city, visiting the old Portuguese fort, Chinese and Arab buildings all in different stages of devastation. Some are nothing more than a few walls that remained standing, some have a roof and some are restored, like the lovely guest house we stayed in - Miti Miwiri. We also travelled to the island surrounding Ibo, to find amazing white sand beaches rimmed by lines of coconut trees overlooking turquoise water, including an amazing spot at a sand bank which is only revealed in low tide, creating an island that is nothing but a deserted beach with nothing but us, a few seagulls and the vasts of the beautiful indian ocean.
For our last night on Ibo we went for dinner in the delicious french restaurant, we walked in the complete dark between the ruins as we saw some figures approaching calling out "Muzungu, Muzungu!" (which means white person). The next moment we were surrounded by four small children, clinging to our arms and legs and laughing from the top of their lungs. On our way back we got completely lost in the dark, only to be found by the local ship captain who took us to one of the near by islands. In short, after one week on the island, we were already part of the family, and we were very sorry to leave this amazing place.
