Back in Maputo - chat with Jaime

The cool season is upon us--have been enjoying the mild weather back here in Maputo for the past week and a half. This morning, one of my last in the city, I was going to capture some video of the tree-lined streets and the nice sea views we get on the way to the office, but ended up spending most of the time chatting up Jaime, one of the TechnoServe drivers. A good thing, though, because Jaime's had a really fascinating life in Mozambique. This clip definitely doesn't do justice, but still I think some interesting bits to check out:



As you hopefully could make out, Jaime has seen a lot of change in his country. Originally from Xai Xai, in the Gaza province just north of Maputo...Jaime was a young man during colonial times, he fought in the Revolution, he lived through the years of civil war, and since he's found work in South Africa--and thankfully for TechnoServe--in Maputo as well where he's been now for 8 years. When I asked him if it's relatively stable in the country nowadays...you could tell he was thinking "well, yeah maybe to outsiders...but on the other hand there's still some tension under the surface and you never know when things could break down"...which I guess can appreciate better now having lived here a couple months. Still, it's fair to say Mozambique has made a lot of progress on political stability, especially when you compare to some of its neighbors like Zimbabwe where things are really pretty troubling right now.

Inhambane

Took a road trip a couple provinces to the north of Maputo to Inhambane. Partly on work--I checked out a couple lodges there, and my co-workers toured some coconut factories--but a good part of the time was spent in a really nice beach town called Tofo. Maybe the biggest backpacker destination in Mozambique.

Below-left the southern end of of Tofo's pristine beach. It was off this beach that I went on a little marine safari and got to swim over whale sharks, which are normally rare but were fairly plentiful in these waters. Seeing one is a major box to tick off for serious divers. Below-right, my co-workers and I with two of the managers at our hotel. The one in the middle, Helio, is also a somewhat well known music artist in Mozambique specializing in African/hip-hop fusioney kind of stuff, with a lot of looped vocal percussion. His website: http://crazyafrican.com/.

On the way home from Inhambane, we stopped in another coastal town called Xai Xai where we stumbled upon some festivities celebrating Mozambique's Dia de Trabalhadores (Labor Day). To the left some of the dancers, to the right, me not blending in with the crowd:

Below also a rough clip of one of the dance routines. If you watch closely, the smallest kid who is initially to the left in the blue shorts and white headband was a riot. Biggest crowd pleaser by far: