There is not much to keep the travellist in Cuamba, it is mainly a transport hub. i sort out my “Bribe” money at Standard Bank (the last Standard Bank before Lake Niassa. I overnight here and head out to Lichingwa early next morning. Arriving in to this dusty town by 2pm i check out the espresso and food at the excellent Pastileria and Pandera Maria which also do good pizzas.
Up and out at 6.30am for the chapa to Metagula. Whilst only a 2 hour 20 minute journey, it takes over two hours to fill up with passengers, so whilst pulling into Metagula before 12pm there is no connection to Cobue leaving before 3pm, my penultimate destination in Mozambique.
Cobue, according to Lonely Planet Africa “sees a small but steady stream of adventure travellers”, but arriving into the groovy Khango Baech (sic) Lodge at 8pm, there is only a European couple from the German Embassy in Maputo on a two week vacation. They are very sweet and feed me bread rolls and real cheddar cheese.
the picturesque Cobue - now the Ilala fails to dock here it may well fall by the wayside.
the somewhat haunting ruined church at CobueNext morning the delightful and helpful Vincent from the backpackers accompanies me to the immigration officer next to the Vodacom Tower. The office is dark – there is no electricity here in town, and i am pleased to note a large box labelled “Tips Box” on one of the shelves. The large fat faced middle-age guy with gappy teeth seems jovial enough. I fill out a departure card and pass him my passport. He sees the “30 day only” like lightening and his whole face glows with delight.
“Something is wrong” he announces proudly, and turns to his calendar, counts off 17 days and multiplies on his handy calculator. He says he can help me: rather than charge me US$100 he will charge me “only Mtc1500 per day” (about US$40). However i still owe him more than Mtc25000! I say Mbane must have made a mistake and maybe he can check with them. “Impossible” he snaps with all the infallibility of the Pope. I explain i am a humble lowly student who has just a few Meticas to my name. He asks me how much i have and i count out Mtc4000 (sensibly having stowed some Mtc8000 in my hut).
“Mtc 4000 can help me to help you. Give to me.”
I then explain i need money to pay for my room, and boat to Malawi. We haggle for some 15 minutes and finally agree on Mtc2500 total. It helps me a lot, but he clearly must be a very rich man. He stamps my passport and i am suddenly legitimised again.
Walking with The Beast on the beach at sunset, i hear a rabble behind me. Some 40 odd kids (aged between 4 and 14) are chasing me. It is like some bizarre Steven King novel. They want a photo-shoot, the light is good and their village picturesque. Like most of the shoots there is mayhem, boys regularly wanting to show you kung fu moves and stray hands wandering into frame. Nonetheless some fair results are gleaned and provides for a rich afternoon entertainment for both them and myself.
Cobue has no electricity and no MCEL cell signal although Vodacom works occasionally.
Good job with the "overdue" fine. Just goes to say anything is possible in Africa.
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