Some journeys are long, dusty, hot and bone shaking. A legitimate candidate for the 2009 Oscar in this category happily goes to the journey from Nampula to Angoche. Various encounters along the road will include:

• Escapee goats, furtively running across the road trailing a long piece of rope which had been tied up to something (I think the prisoner chewed through the rope that was holding it captive)
• Skinny cows lurching towards the car looking for an as yet unfound piece of better green grass, pursued by a small boy throwing sticks to deviate their course back to the safe and narrow
• Guinea fowl who like London buses seem to travel in pairs and scuttle along with admirable speed yet are unable to reach take-off velocity
• Numerous people at the many points where rivers cross under the road through small culverts. They are washing either clothes which are then spread out on bushes and rocks to dry, or rinsing themselves with unashamed nudity (it’s wrong to stare at such a person – but it’s amusing to note that us humans come in a very wide variety of shapes, some of which defy description)
• Rickety bicycles always without brakes but always with wild legs and eyes as they swerve to avoid our Landrover which appears in a large plume of dust blaring a warning horn at errant cyclists
• 125cc motorcycles which travel at maximum speed and follow a trajectory not based upon any normal road sense, making overtaking somewhat of an art form
• All sorts of stuff for sale which are proffered as close to passing vehicles as is humanly possible.  This includes enormous bags of charcoal, floor mats made from palm leaves, a limited assortment of fruit and vegetables stacked in little pyramids and of course the occasional very large prawn/ shrimp or lobster (you make up your mind what they are as I’m not entirely sure) suspended by the tail. They start off a rather unappetising grey colour but when cooked display a flamboyant pink hue.
• Last but not least – the chapas! Typically an old Japanese lorry with a broken windscreen, failing suspension and a crowd of passengers that combine images of the game Twister, a strange centipede with legs poking out everywhere and an extremely disorganised lost luggage store. The driver grimly holds onto the steering wheel, obviously not entirely convinced if his input is making any difference to the direction of travel. These vehicles lurch at us at breakneck speed and necessitate some agility on our part to ensure we are not on a direct collision course.

And now some photos:

"We’d like to be able to read!"

“Prayers going up – answers coming down”

Ian Not Nil and Landrover