Trip Report #10 (24-26 July 2009): Road to Chuande (via Metangula)… on to Cobue

After a not so memorable breakfast the next morning we headed out for Chuande, just north of Metangula.  The road there was excellent and we even found cell phone reception (something to do with the local politician having a house there). 

 

 

Anyway, after the previous day’s horror drive we were very happy to do a short distance (132 km) on good tar road.  After driving through some beautiful but hilly countryside you are suddenly confronted with this vista (Metangula in bottom right hand corner).

If I did not know it, I would never have believed I was looking at a lake.  It is difficult to explain how I felt whilst looking at this.  The lake at this point is in excess of 60km wide.

Stopping briefly in the larger Metangula, we wasted no time heading for Chuande (8 Km north).

Adri driving on the connecting road.  Chuande beach in the background

 

 

We found the “Beach Hotel” with some difficulty as there are no road signs, but here we are having our first beer.

 

 

 

 

Our appointed spot was right on the water…

 

 

 

Hennie and Nerina Joins us!

At this point Hennie and Nerina caught up with us and we were all looking forward to staying at this sight for two nights to give them a chance to relax after their long drive from SA.

Campsite just after Hennie and Nerina settled in (on the right)

 

 

Night of the singing dead:

That night we were kept up by the locals who, in preparation for their independence party the following day, made lots of noise by means of a music box.  This was right next to us.  I managed to sneak into the power room behind us and perform a “disconnection”.  This plan backfired as they simply started singing!  The same one liner over and over again.  It was a long night and none of slept properly.

Morning of the walking dead:

The next morning the site was infested by midges.  It was horrible.

Mari-Louise trying to catch up on her sleep after night of hell, whilst being tortured by the midges.

At some point we could not take the pain any longer and when Adri suggested that we head north a day early to Cobue, nobody argued. We realised, as many more people arrived, that the previous night was just the preparation party which the women organised to to food prep etc.

Thing was that Mari-Louise and I had unpacked our whole bus and had to make a huge effort to get everything in within an hour.  We managed it though.

As we left the hotel grounds Mari-Louise and I had a slow getaway taking some wrong turns etc.  As we got to the crossing we were faced with two roads:  the first to the south via Metangula the other north directly towards Cobue.

We looked for Adri and Hennie but could neither see them or raise them on the two way radio.  In the rush we realised we never communicated with them on the exact route and they did not realise we were not behind them.

At this point we consulted the GPS which duly showed us the road north, the direct road which does not go via Metangula.  What we did not realise at that point is that this road was not on Adri’s map so they opted to take the southern loop via Metangula.

Anyway, so north we went in a hurry to catch up with them.  By the time we figured out what happened their was no point in going back.  Of course we should have stayed exactly where we lost them, but hindsight…

Meantime they drove back and forth trying not to panic.  Then Hennie switched on the Tracks4Adfrica map on his GPS and for the first time realised that the north bound road exists.  They figured out that we must have taken this road and followed us about an hour behind.

The road to Cobue:

This stretch of road is truly beautiful, but requires a 4X4.

 

View down the pass to Metangula.  Very steep and requires low range.

 

 

 

 

Cobue is an historic Portugese settlement as is evident by the remains of this church in the centre of the little town.

We soon met up with a man called "James Bond” (no lies), who took us down the the little harbour where he was joint owner in the beach front chalets, which were basically reed huts built directly onto the sand.

Mari-Louise and I proceeded to wait, in the hope that Adri and co will soon follow. 

 

The sunset was just about done when the rest arrived and the confusion was decoded.

We decided to stay in Cobue for two nights, since our plans in Chuande did not work out.  Adri and Anita camped right between the two chalets which the rest of us inhabited.

After some deliberation we decided to spend the next day on the neighbouring island of Likoma, which is actually Malawian territory.  Another border crossing in the offing…

We chartered a boat ride for the next day.

26 July 2009:

We got up after a long night.  Somebody’s baby could not stop crying and nobody slept well.

Here we are ambling down to our chartered dow for the trip across the lake (5.5 km).

 

 

 

View of our camp spot from the dow as we leave.

The trip across was windless and the poor operator had to row us across.  We gave a lady with a sick baby a lift across to go see the doctor (mystery solved).

Arriving on the other side we got of at the local fish drying plant.

The local dry the Kapenta fish which is a stock food in these parts.

 

 

Mari-Louise  taking a rest against a Baobab, after a motion sickness plagued trip.

 

 

 

Carl-Hein waiting for Adri and Anita to catch up before taking in the walk into town.

 

 

It took as a while to realise that we were dropped short of the main town centre by some 5km.   We had to walk all the way in to have our passports stamped.

After establishing that the little blue and white building on the top of the hill is in fact the police office and not immigration, we headed back down the hill and accidently bumped into the immigration officer on his way to lunch.

 

At this point we were all starving and frankly so was the immigration officer.  After some deliberation he gave us the little cards to fill out and sent us off to a place called the “Hunger Clinic” where he would personally come and stamp our passports.  Of course we would repay his kindness and helpfulness by offering him a beer.

The way to the Hunger Clinic:

The way to the Hunger clinic was strewn with interesting little shops which made one realise you are far from home.

On Lokoma Island battery charging and barberry is apparently a linked industry.

The wWay to the Hunger Clinic

 

 

Anita having lunch with immigration officer in background, hard at work.  (Note beer on table)

 

 

 

The way back to the boat.  Women with now healthy baby showing the way.

Luckily the trip back was graced with wind which quartered the travelling time.

That night we ate pasta because Julies (the manager) forgot to source fish for us.

ciao Carl-Hein