I’m currently hanging out in the common room at Waterford Kamhlaba, after three weeks of intense travel and amazing fun. I arrived at school a tad early, but the administration has been super kind to us because we had some visa problems.
But before I talk about being back at school, lemme tell you a bit about Mozambique. We took two busses from Cape Town to Maputo, for a total travel time of 32.5 hours (we covered over a thousand miles… look at it on a map, it’s crazy). It was surprising to discover how incredibly exhausting it is to sit on a bus and do nothing for so long… needless to say, we were totaled when we got to Maputo, and went directly to the backpackers for some shuteye. We spent a few days in Maputo and met up with Betti and Martha (friends from school) – Betti, or IB3 from Ethiopia, ended up coming to Tofo with us.
So Tofo. The backpackers in Maputo offered transportation to their partner branch in Tofo, so at four in the morning we woke up and snagged the bus… another twelve hours on a bus. Ugh.
But man, it was so worth it. You all know the stereotypical image of paradise? Warm beaches, palm trees, hammocks where you can sleep or read as a calm breeze drifts off the ocean… all that good stuff? Yeah, that’s Tofo. In fact, Praia do Tofo actually doesn’t have much to it other than eating and chilling by the beach. SO our chief concern while in Tofo was just that – chilling out max and relaxing all cool. I spent most of my time reading, swimming in the ocean, listening to music, and of course, sleeping. I know it’s super lazy, but we figured we’d regret it during Term 2 if we didn’t relax during break as much as possible.
During one of our nights in the backpackers in Tofo, a guy came up to us and asked us if he could sit and eat with us – he didn’t know anybody around, so he just approached us. Turned out this guy (Balthazar, from Holland) had been doing a tour of Southern Africa for the last several months… on his bicycle. He’d been through Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Swaziland, and he was now sitting with us in Mozambique, telling us about his travels. He said that touring Southern Africa by bike was really cool because when you’re on a bike, you have to stop for water, food, and pit stops at nearly every town… so you see a lot of really cool stuff, see a lot of the people and customs that you don’t get in a big city like Cape Town or Maputo.
In any case, we chatted with him for hours about everything under the sun – politics, music, travel, food... by the end of the night, we had made a friend that we would hang out with for the rest of our stay in Tofo. He wasn’t staying in our backpackers (as a bike traveler, he’d invented an ingenious hammock-tent that would allow him to string himself up in a tree and sleep almost anywhere, including the side of the road, for free), but we had meals with him nearly every day, and he was a really cool guy to chat with. Just goes to show, you meet really interesting people when you stay in backpackers. I think everyone in our travel group would agree that it was a pleasure to meet Balthazar, and we wish him the best on his travels.
So yeah, there’ not too much else to say about Tofo, other than the fact that it was gorgeous and totally chill. Other than a day where we all rented surfboards (WOW I was bad), out time was spent playing card games, reading by the beach, talking, watching movies…. Typical chill stuff.
Unfortunately, we were forced to leave Mozambique a week early because of visa issues. Jenny applied for a thirty day visa, but the document stamped in her passport only allowed for ten days. We talked to a ton of people about extending the visa – people at school, people on both sides of the border, even a representative at Jenny’s embassy in Maputo. Nobody was able to help us out… bureaucrats. So basically, we had to choose where to go that wasn’t Mozambique – considering this, it made the most sense for us to go back to school and ask if they would let us back into our dorms. It was a close call, but Mr. King was ever so gracious, and let us back to school. So, after another ten billion hours on a bus, we got back to school in Swaziland.
And it’s actually been really nice being back. There are a few other students in hostel (some students have exams this week), but for the most part, it’s been quiet. Zayd and Tahmeed (Bangladeshi travel companions from earlier in the trip) encountered similar problems to ours, so they’ve been back at hostel as well – it’s cool, cause it means that I have some climbing buddies that I can hang out with at school.
This also means that I had my birthday back in Swaziland, at school. Let me tell you guys… I have the best friends. At around 9 in the morning on my birthday, Jenny and Sebastian paraded into my room with a poster, gifts, cake, banana pancakes, and chocolates. I was serenaded both in English and in Norwegian :)
Anyways, the whole day was awesome. We relaxed for a while in the afternoon, but eventually we all hopped into a car and went to the movie theater (can’t remember the last time I did that) to see Gnomeo and Juliet (they didn’t offer a lot at the theater, but it was actually kind of cute). Then we went out for dinner in town to celebrate not only my birthday, but the IB2s finishing half of their exams. Yay! It really was a fantastic way to transition into “adulthood” (inverted commas cause I still feel like a kid :)
And, that being said, I think that some thank yous are in order for this past month –
- To Sebastian and Jenny, for being the best travel companions I could ask for. Seriously fantastic friends.
- To Mr. King, for so kindly letting us come back to hostel early.
- To Roger and Marlene, who sent a letter and a package full of goodies.
- To Nora Campbell, one of my best friends from home, for the letter. You have no idea how big I smiled when I saw it.
- To Grandma and Papa for the birthday card and gift
- To all of the IBs who have been in hostel with me in the past week, and have helped to make the last week of term break a success
- To all the folks who wrote on my wall for my birthday, you have no idea how much I’m itching to see you guys… it will be here before we know it.
School starts in two days… now, it’s my turn to be jealous of everyone at home, as summer vacation is just around the corner. Two very important groups of people are graduating in the next couple weeks – first and foremost, all the folks at CDO. I’m so proud of everyone, and wish to death I could be there with you all. Have an awesome graduation and grad night (win some cool prizes, kay?)
The other group I mention would be the IB2s at all the other UWCs. While this may seem obscure, it’s strange to think that I COULD be one of those people - the people who were in my interview group for UWC are now a few days from graduation and an International Baccalaureate degree… it’s a weird thing to think, but I can’t help but thinking this, right now, is what’s right (how incredibly corny is that). The events of the last year and a half have been a struggle at times, but I wouldn’t trade them for anything (also corny).
I feel so mushy after writing all that. What I’m trying to say is… congrats, guys :)
Love you all to death, see you soon.
Eli
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