Weekend in paradise

I was fortunate to spend a couple of days in Pemba, Mozambique. Over the weekend I managed to capture a few pictures with my iPhone....

Pemba Boats

Your view to the right....

When you are approaching Pemba in Mozambique from the south and you are sitting on the right hand side of the plane, this this is basically what you see before landing.....

XT 600 through Africa?

For the past three mornings while having breakfast at Russel's in Pemba, I been checking these bikes out hoping to get a chance to speak to the guys who it belong to. I have not seen them, because it seems they party late and sleep late. I assume they are guys and not a girl and a guy because they don't share a tent. This morning one of the tents was open, but no-one around looking like a biker that is crossing Africa on an XT 600.

From the number plates I assume that they are Swizz. Whether they are going down or up in Africa I cannot tell, but I can only make an assumption there as well. What I do know is that they are in no hurry because they have been there for 3 days already. If someone knows them, please tell them I wanted to ask them about their trip so far....

Restaurant 556

The more visits I do to Pemba, the more surprised I am with the amount of South Africans living here. On this trip I met Cor who owns the Restaurant 556. He's been living here for many years and he makes sure that the South Africans that do come here do not get homesick. His restaurant specializes in South African cuisine, and if you don't know what that is just think anything MEAT.

I loved the menu, definitely more than what I loved the furniture and decorations. Fortunately I pay for the service and food and not for the looks. In Africa that is a bonus if it's good. A friend suggested I go for the "Beef 556" with peppercorn sauce. I did just that and added beer for starters along with some really good chilli bites (the biltong kind). All the meat on his menu comes from South Africa, so I was not worried about bush meat and/or possible road kill landing up on my plate.

The place is a bit pricey, but it definitely caters for the upmarket people with no fuss over fancy serviettes and fine china. The typical South African meat loving type of guys. Apparently the view from the restaurant is also good, but I didn't even see that; I think we were seated at the wrong side of the restaurant, at the bar area. 

The Beef 556 is a piece of rump steak filled with cheese and mushrooms, done as per your request. My buddy ordered lamp chops. Cor added an extra chop just because he felt the ones he had was a bit small. Both meals were well prepared. Will definitely go there again.....

What you see and what you get...

Choosing the best angle for your pictures

I posted a couple of photos on Facebook which I took in Pemba. The response from the few who commented was all in the line of "wow" and "you lucky fish". When we see beautiful pictures we all want to be there, plan our next holiday there, or wish we could permanently live there. We see pictures of tropical islands and wonder what we must do to sell everything and move to "PARADISE".  But where or what is Paradise?

Yes, the beaches in Pemba are extraordinary. It is beautiful and the pictures I took really give it the impression of a tropical paradise. But it is because of the angle I took the pictures from. Had I turned my camera a few degrees down I probably would've captured a few broken bottles or plastic bags on the sand;  a few degrees south and I would've included dilapidated houses and poor people who have no reason to believe that they find themselves in paradise right now.

I live in Cape Town which is considered by many to be a very beautiful place. Some might even call it paradise. Not everyone living in Cape Town necessarily see it as a beautiful place. Once you live in one of these post card picture places one thing you cannot escape from is reality. The reality of having to work to earn a living, or the reality of noisy neighbours, or what South Africans have to deal with at the moment, a government which is busy throwing the beauty of the country to the dogs. All of a sudden the pretty pictures of Cape Town don't seem to be so pretty anymore just because we see it from a "different angle".

So from which angle do you take your pictures? Where and what is your paradise? Is is it a dream on a post card, or is it a place in your heart? You can live in the most beautiful place, but is it really paradise? What makes a place "paradise"? Definitely not a beautiful beach alone. It is the way you see life, the people you care about, your contentment with who you are, where you happen to find yourself in life and the appreciation you have for your possessions, or the lack thereof. Once you have that then you can play around with your camera and only focus on the beauty around you. Then it become as simple as the angle you choose before you press the button....

Snorkeling at Pemba

It's been a while now that I have written anything on my blog. It is not that I have been busy or that nothing is happening in my life, it is just that I somehow don't want to spend time in front of a laptop if I can be outside. Each time I want to come sit down and write something, I find something better to do...usually outdoors as the summer we've had this year is just brilliant. The summer has been quite hot and the wind has also been good for kitesurfing. I've posted some pics of my recent trip to Pemba on facebook, but not all the people that read my blog is on facebook and they have asked me to put the pictures on my blog.

If you ever are fortunate enough to travel to Pemba, a small town in the northern province of Mozambique called Pabo Delgado, you will find that there are quite a few things you can do. There are also coral reefs (Quirimbas Archipelago), so scuba diving and snorkeling is quite popular. For more information on Pemba just Google it and you will see how beautiful this part of Mozambique is. I am not going to re-write what's written on the Internet, I just want to show the pictures of my snorkeling trip I had.

On my last trip to Mozambique I had the opportunity to take a boat and go snorkeling on one of the many coral reefs not far from Pemba. We left from a place called the Bush Camp on a wooden dhow boat called Eve. I was glad that we took that one, because when we arrived it was laying next to another fancy deep she fishing boat which looked like it was for wealthy foreigners and I was not in the mood for looking rich. Eve belongs to a South African who has been taking people for diving cruises in Mozambique for some time now.

Pemba, Mozambique

If you are ever fortunate enough to visit Pemba in the northern parts of Mozambique, make sure you stay for longer than what I did. You might also have to check the weather, but even with the warm tropical thunderstorms the place has a magic feel to it. The town is very small and surprizingly well-kept. As a matter of fact, one of my first observations in Mozambique on  previous trips was that people seem to have a lot of pride in their homes and surroundings. Here it is the same. All the little houses have very nice fences all made with local wood and reeds and the streets are surprisingly free from rubbish. The people are very friendly and all seems to be able to understand a fair amount of English. With not many people able to afford motor cars the streets look like a Karoo town on a Sunday.

I guess the main attraction of Pemba is the warm ocean with tropical reefs and crystal clear water. Any scuba diver's dream. The hotel where I was staying was doing boat trips to nearby islands for snorkeling and scuba diving at very reasonable prices. For me unfortunately I had to snorkel opposite the hotel as I had no time for leisure boat trips, I was there for work and less play. I did however take some time to walk on the beach and check out the water. I will definitely come back and explore a bit more.

I took some pictures with my little point-and-shoot, but it was overcast with not much sun and raining most of the time. I am sure with a better camera, better weather and more time one would be able to capture more of the beauty of this place than what I could this time. Here are some pictures to give an idea of this tropical paradise. I hope to visit this place again soon. I will be more prepared this time for all the nice things it has to offer....

I stayed at the Pemba Beach Hotel and Spa which has a very colonial atmosphere. It is the biggest hotel in Pemba and probably the nicest as well. Like in many African countries north of South Africa seafood is cheap compared to other meat and needless to say I made sure that I had a good helping. Oh, and I didn't miss my opportunity for a nice breakfast either.

The Pemba Beach Hotel

Breakfast - Bacon and Eggs

Lunch - Calamari and Chips

Dinner - King Prawns and Chips

Or you can do "Red Fish" and Chips. Lobster was not available at time of request, but apparently just as good.

And what would all the above be without the taste of a local beer, "Dois Em"?

Bom Apetite!