Le beurre, l'argent du beurre et le sourire de la cremiere

Hello everyone,

First of all I owe an apology to my English speaking friends who've been following me... in French! The thing is that I had no doubts that my very very intelligent friends would have no difficulties whatsoever to understand everything :) You see, I am funny in French (or I'd like to think so) and relating my adventures in English sounds pretty boring. But let me try .

I am now in Zanzibar off the Tanzanian coast. I landed yesterday in Dar es Salam, capital of Tanzania, and stayed over for one night. I am still travelling with Sally and Kate, two Australian "old mates" -as they say-, whom I met in Mozambique about 10 days ago. It's been good fun travelling with them and I guess I might not have experienced half of the adventures I went through had I not been with them.

I can't say much about Zanzibar yet apart from the fact that it looks charming and that it is buzzing because of Eid El Kebir which will be celebrated tomorrow! Exciting! After Eid el Fitr in Addis, I will now enjoy one of our biggest festivals in a very traditionnal muslim society. I am actually only looking forward to eating, hehe

Well, let me tell you about the rest of my journey in Mozambique. The north is very challenging in terms of travelling and communicating. Very few are the ones who speak English, and even rarer are the public transports. So when Sally, Kate and I decided to go to Ilha de Ibo ( Ibo Island) from Pemba, we knew what to excpect (never knew how to spell that word!)  At least that 's what we thought. We actually had to sit at the back of a lorry for about 6 hours, on an extremely bumping road (no asphalte here) and with app. 20 other passengers. You basically hold on to whatever you can, may it be your neighbour's wig!! . When we made it to Kessanga, we had to wait there for another 3 hours before the tide was up so we could embark on a "boat" to Ibo Island. The tide , we learnt later, would be our worst nightmare on Ibo. And of course, before embarking, we had to walk through a very muddy path with my extremely heavy backpack and I got stuck in the mud a few times!

Anyway, here we are on Ibo Island- it's really hot, there's very limited food and when available one has to wait for app. 2 hours for it! Never mind, we're on holiday and in Africa so no rush- zen is our leitmotiv, innit!!!

the real adventure started when Kate and I decided that staying one more on Ibo without exploring the fabulous islands would be a sacrilege ( is that an english word??oops). So, here we are on wednesday the third of December at 9 am walking with two local guides (both about 15 year old) through the mangrove to get to the Archipelagos of Quirimbas ( which is a national park). The walk was about a 3-hours one, through the mangrove, in the water and the mud. Of course, I fell a few times because that's what clumsy Aida does. Call me Pierre Richard! ( french version of Mr Bean I guess ).

So, we finally got to Quirimbas island, which is beautiful. It is also known as the coconut island. Kate and I are exhausted, it is extremely hot and the walk was hard ( there are more details to that walk actually). Anyway, after a 30-minutes break in a local restaurant ( so local that we decided not to eat there), our guides tell us that we have to hurry back because a boat to Ibo Island is just about to leave. Right, so here we are, walking back towards the mangrove to catch a "boat" to cross the channel to Ibo.

The tide has started to come up. It is actually coming up very quickly. In less that 20 minutes, there is hardly any land where we can walk. The "boat" has just gone to drop some passengers on the other side of the shore... the water is now up to our waist! KAte and I are only worried for the cameras. Bref, the boat is struggling to come our way because of the current so we have to walk a bit further in the water, with our bags on the head. Besides from the fact that walking in the water was quite painful because of the under-water vegetation (mangrove is a weird thing I have to say- got a few cut on my feet), I was getting slightly worried about the "boat" when I saw it approaching. It just looked a bit... old and unstable! Anyway, this is African, system D (debrouille). Kate and I get on the boat... it sinks! Not to worry, we saw it coming so we could get out without getting wet. But our second attempt wasn't that fortunate. The boat actually capsized , WITH OUR CAMERAS!!!! ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG, merde alors. I can't really describe the feeling; all I thought was " Aida how could you have been so stupid"

I was guttered for our cameras but also worried because Quirimbas Island  was quite far and all we could see was water and mangrove ... and water!!! . We had to think quickly ! Anyway, to cut a long story short while we were arguing with our "captain" in the water, a bigger boat arrived and took us safely to Ibo Island. It took us app. another 2,5 hours to return to the Island, which was a bit scary considering that no one knew where we were, our guides were only 15 and the mangrove is pretty nerve-racking at night!

It's a mini adventure! I managed to retrieve all the pictures from my memory card but the camera is gone! Oh well, I am glad I can actually swim and that we are all safe!

Voila,  we have a proverb in French that says that one cannot have the butter, the money generated by the sales of the butter and the smile of the dairywoman! (hence the title) the english version is I believe  " you can't have the cake and eat it". Well, I guess that I cannot want to have a good thrill and capture it without taking any risks!

Does that make any sense?? as i said, my brain is fried so I may just be talking crap :)))

Besitos a todos

Comments

[Sandra]

Aidita!!!!! That last story was a whole adventure!!! Im glad your safe and best of all having all these great experiences. Pics are great!!!!!!! I really want to talk to you!!! Miss you!!!!!!!!!!

[Sock]

Aïdouchette,

Sent you an email today, then read about your adventures. Perhaps should have read first... Really amazed by what you did and glad you got back safe… I look forward to seeing you and catch up with the news.

Lots of love.

[Jeana]

Ola Aidinha

I make Duaa that happiness will be at ur door. May it knock early,stay late & leave the gift of ALLAH-peace,love,joy & good health.EID MUBARAK

My darling you look fab on the picks but let me say you r very courageous” you took picks near the crocodile” lolololololo….

The country looks amazing and the landscape is beautiful am tempted to go there one day “who knows”. I am really glad you are having a great time and looking forward to c u in March but until there, keep sending us all the pictures so that we can feel near you….
Lots of loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Miss you
Jeanita

NOTE: your mission in Mozambiqur is to cemo back to London speaking Portuguese fluently.
Beijos linda e que Deus te acompanhe

[BD]

Das hoert sich ja alles viel schlimmer an als in deinem mail. Na ja, du wirst uns das alles ausfuerhlich erzaehlen. Schoen, dass du immer noch mit den beiden australierinnen unterwegs bist. Gruess sie schoen von mir. Ich sehe, die Kommentare werden immer weniger. Normal, wenn man so lange unterwegs ist. Wir, die anderen, muessen ja arbeiten oder sonst was tun. Ich habe eine mail geschickt.
Ciao

[Dahbia]

Dearest Aida

I must say you are really brave, I'm pleased you are safe, happy and above all very positive, well done Aida. we all miss here, Eid Moubarek, I wish you all the happiness and blessings of the world!

By the way you look fab on the pics and sooooooooo coooooooooolllll

keep up the good work!

Lots of lovexxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx