Ana

In between jobs I’ve decided to go back to Ilha de Moçambique which was relaxing over Christmas. Northern Mozambique and southern Malawi have been affected in recent days by Tropical Storm Ana so I wasn’t sure if the island would be visitable, but I got the green light eventually.

The journey from Nampula city to Ilha on the coast was peppered with police being difficult. Migração (migration) officers are already being installed at all sorts of road checkpoints, which is part of a general creep of control related to the President being in the latter half of his term.

At points on this road my documentation was examined and I was quizzed on my movements and motivations. I reluctantly accept it when it’s someone from migration, but when it’s regular police they are acting outside of their mandate and being a nuisance. Mozambique has grand ambitions to attract more international tourists but exposing them to this on the route to one of the country’s best known destinations isn’t the way to do it.

Ilha de Moçambique today has a post-storm Ana grey and depressed vibe. A far cry from the Christmas week I spent here, which was bright and blue. Also, a hell of a lot of flies, although I’m not sure why this is.

I checked into the same guesthouse I spent Christmas at, and enjoyed the advertising in the reception area for suites charmosas (lovely rooms). I went for a walk on Ilha and mostly remember the relaxed vibe and frenetic activity of groups of blue waxbills.