j + j travelblog

Mozambique

Today we bussed it to Mozambique via Swaziland, a country which managed to retain its independence even though it lies within South Africa. It beat our previous record for shortest stay for a visa (the 2 hours it took to traverse!).

Mozambique is an interesting country...we thought that our trip to Brazil in Feb/Mar would be our last opportunity to brush up our Portuguese for some time but as Moz was a former colony, many elements (including the language) live on.

So far our exploration has been limited to Maputo, the capital of Moz. It's an interesting city...one can still see the vestiges of colonial influence but it's very run down in some spots. It really appears to be a country on the cusp of first and third world but it seems like it's been teetering on the edge for a number of years.

Moz lacks the recent and unfortunate history SA does, so by comparison it seems a bit more friendly overall. It's also about 10 degrees warmer, which the wife particularly enjoys :-).

After we get our visa for Tanzania (our next destination) we're going to head to Tofu, one of Moz's many chill beaches. We're stoked!