On the 11th of November a group of us, Mzungus went for a day trip to the Ruvuma river it was a great opportunity to see another part of Mtwara, perhaps see some animals and get to see the Northern side of Mozambique. We started off early in the morning or at least intended to only for African timing to once again play a role. In total there was eight of us who made the journey and we had hired the driver for the day and paid the petrol also.
We eventually set off around eight in the morning collecting the others as we made our way slowly out of Mtwara urban. We all had taken some food with us so a small picnic would be taken once we reach the river bank. The weather was very hot even for so early in the morning, and sun tan lotion was constantly being applied throughout the day in order to avoid getting burnt but the strong sun.
We opened the top of the land rover so as to allow as much air to get in as possible and also to be able to stand up and take pictures as we went along and saw various interesting things. Once the seating and standing arrangements had been arranged we made our way for the river and passed many happy screaming children along the way all wanting a wave from the Mzungus.
After some time we arrived at the border control office and none of us had taken our passports with us as we were not leaving the country only going down to the see the border. After our driver did some talking and also Maaike (a volunteer doctor) we were aloud to pass through without any problems. As we were leaving the area a local man came and asked us if we would like to rent a boat for some time and go out on the river, I was unaware of this option so it sounded like a good idea, although I had some reservations as Hippos can be quite aggressive and the river also contains crocodiles. Once we arrived at the bank we had a small picnic while we negotiated a price with the man for the use of the boat and a driver. Although they were eager to get a good price we eventually came to an agreement in which all where satisfied.
The boat was ready and we set off unsure of what to expect but it didn't take long until we say a bloat of hippos together in the lake about nine of them just bathing and relaxing in the water. We kept our distance so as not to disturb them. We made our way to the peninsula and had a small walk around on some very hot sand. Once back on the boat we made our way slowly back where we started. We went closer this time to the hippos which they didn't like and quickly went under the water only for one to appear quite close to the boat. The locals where not keen to see their boat turned over so we made a quick escape to keep our distance after some time the hippos reappeared together when we where further away.
Once on land again we took a small walk along the river bank to see the houses, although the weather at this stage was very hot so most of us took shelter in the shade and had some food and drank plenty of water. It also gave us some time to enjoy the sites and the strange feeling that we where standing in Tanzania but looking across into Mozambique. After everyone had returned from the walk we made our way slowly back to Mtwara, although we decided on the way back to have a quick stop in Mikindani.
In mikindani we all had a cold drink and relaxed on the upper terrace enjoying the site and the shade from the sun. After some time we decided to spend more time here and ordered some food. While waiting for it to be prepared some people took a walk to the old boma while others stayed in Ten Degrees enjoying the cold drinks.
Once the food arrived we all ate quietly as we were quite tired from the heat of the sun and hungry so the chips and deep fried calamari was just what the doctor ordered. After we had allowed the food to settle we then made our way back again to Mtwara. It was then we realised that our attempts of avoiding getting sun burnt was to no avail as most of our faces and other parts of our body where quite red.
It was an enjoyable day and we were all very tired once the evening had arrived. Thankfully we had electricity when we arrived back to the house so a cold shower felt great after the days heat.
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