Carl was travelling north to Tete Province to visit PC Volunteers and I decided to join for part of the trip, to see another part of this vast country but primarily because I was interested in two of its better known landmarks: the Cahora Bassa Dam and the Gorongosa Game Reserve. The trip was somewhat touch and go until the last minute as there had been several incidents of the minority political (and armed) party stopping vehicles on essentially the one and only road to Gorongosa, including shooting at a large bus and killing three civilians. We got permission to go, the perceived threat diminished and it was ultimately decided that the bandits were either disgruntled rogues or, for the conspiracy theorists, members of the majority (and armed) party looking to discredit their rivals. It was a several hour flight up to Tete City and lots of driving. This is a "dam" big country.
We traveled from Tete City, a hot dirty overgrown town that serves as a base for foreign mining interests and offers little else to a PC site near the Malawi border where the volunteers took us walking on the trails into Malawi. We then headed south towards the dam with an overnight stay at one of the highest altitude points of the country also close to the border and another PC site. We went from sweating to wearing everything we had brought within twenty-four hours.
A special permit is required to visit the facility and there is only one tour a day. Our group (one mini-busload) included several nationalities. The dam supplies all the power for Mozambique and most of the power for South Africa as well as other southern African countries.
The architecture is quite impressive: it is built into canyon of the Zambezi River. It has nine gates, only one of which was open while we there.
The town, Songo, in which the dam is located is also interesting. It gives the impression of being a planned community with wide, paved streets; open spaces; and some stunning mosaics and statues. It was also by far the cleanest place we have seen in Moz.
After the dam tour we headed to several other PC sites, landing in the city of Chimoio, the fifth largest in Mozambique and the capital of Manica Province (not to be confused with Manica Beer) near the Zimbabwe border. A volunteer with Vietnamese heritage cooked us a wonderful meal and it was a nice respite. Both the lights and the hot water worked in the hotel.
It was interesting to see another - and prettier -
part of the country, an area influenced asmuch if not more by its proximity to Malawi
and Zimbabwe as it is to Maputo. It is also
known for its baobob trees.
My final part of the journey was a trip to Gorongosa Park; a long drive on a horrible, minimally tarred, potholed dominated road. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorongosa_National_Park
It is a huge reserve that served as the base for the RENAMO party during the revolution. Unfortunately, almost all of the wild animals were killed for food during that time and this once prominent tourist destination now has very little game. What it does have is the support of an American businessman who has made revival of the park his mission and is providing financial backing and business expertise. On the plus side because the area had been neglected for so long it is rich in flora, birds, insects, etc. Liked the birds and plants; not "wild" about the insects. When we arrived I was wearing flip-flops and my feed were overrun by ants. While we were there an expedition of scientists were preparing for a 30 day blitz to record all plants and animals, including an ant specialist and a bat specialist. Really, the ant guy was into it and very excited about digging in the dirt. The bat woman climbed into spaces that could easily have served as sets for horror movies. While it seems unlikely that this park can be resuscitated as a major game park, it does have serious potential as a scientific site for biodiversity studies. It has a unique beauty and high hopes.
Ciao, ciao.
