More Adventures
Never a dull moment! We left Western Swaziland on Thursday morning to visit the Hlane Game Reserve along the eastern boarder. We hired a Swazi guide to drive in our little car with us, and in a matter of a couple of hours, we spotted lions, elephant, rhino, and cheetah!
After an uneventful boarder crossing and a couple of hours drive, we arrived in Maputo, Mozambique. That's where the "fun" began! Beleive it or not, we chose to visit Mozambique on the very weekend when they are changing thier currency. The Mozambiquan "Meticash" has become so devalued that we paid 1.2 million meticash for supper last night...thus the change in currency. This wouldn't be a big deal, except that all bank machines stopped issuing money on Thursday, and will not work again until tomorrow...maybe! So, with NO cash in our pockets, we spent over 6 hours yesterday trying more than a dozen banks to see if they would give us a cash advance on our Mastercard. No luck.
So, after a night in a nasty little guesthouse that we couldn't pay for (because they don't take credit cards), and even a visit to the Canadian embassy for help, we did what any stressed and weary North American tourists would do... we checked into the Holiday Inn and handed them our credit card. The place we stayed the first night generously took our email address and is trusting us to send them payment later!
In general, Maputo is crowded and incredibly dirty, but the people are lovely. Yesterday a massive downpour caused a total blockage of all the drains (because of the tons of garbage in the streets) and resulted in flooding of the city streets. We literally waded in calf-deep water and floating garbage! But, we do feel safe and are now comfortably settled at what seems to be the nicest hotel in the city. As much as we want to "experience Mozambique", we are done with high adventure for a few days and are not too sad to be stuck here (right on a beautiful beach and away from the nasty city) until we're able to access some money. Dan is enjoying the world cup on the big screen (the people here are going nuts over Portugal's win an hour ago!), the kids are thrilled with the pool and the beach, and I'm pathetically thankful for clean sheets and a comfy beach chair!
Cathy
After an uneventful boarder crossing and a couple of hours drive, we arrived in Maputo, Mozambique. That's where the "fun" began! Beleive it or not, we chose to visit Mozambique on the very weekend when they are changing thier currency. The Mozambiquan "Meticash" has become so devalued that we paid 1.2 million meticash for supper last night...thus the change in currency. This wouldn't be a big deal, except that all bank machines stopped issuing money on Thursday, and will not work again until tomorrow...maybe! So, with NO cash in our pockets, we spent over 6 hours yesterday trying more than a dozen banks to see if they would give us a cash advance on our Mastercard. No luck.
So, after a night in a nasty little guesthouse that we couldn't pay for (because they don't take credit cards), and even a visit to the Canadian embassy for help, we did what any stressed and weary North American tourists would do... we checked into the Holiday Inn and handed them our credit card. The place we stayed the first night generously took our email address and is trusting us to send them payment later!
In general, Maputo is crowded and incredibly dirty, but the people are lovely. Yesterday a massive downpour caused a total blockage of all the drains (because of the tons of garbage in the streets) and resulted in flooding of the city streets. We literally waded in calf-deep water and floating garbage! But, we do feel safe and are now comfortably settled at what seems to be the nicest hotel in the city. As much as we want to "experience Mozambique", we are done with high adventure for a few days and are not too sad to be stuck here (right on a beautiful beach and away from the nasty city) until we're able to access some money. Dan is enjoying the world cup on the big screen (the people here are going nuts over Portugal's win an hour ago!), the kids are thrilled with the pool and the beach, and I'm pathetically thankful for clean sheets and a comfy beach chair!
Cathy
posted by Stay Well at
12:38 p.m.
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