Nuarro - Getting Into The African Vibe!

Nuarro, an ‘Eco’ diving resort up the coast from Coral Lodge, was our next destination. 

We were dropped off by boat from Coral Lodge at Ilha de Mocambique, where we had our first African scam experience.  The photographer for our wedding was holding our photos hostage!  Supported by an old expat who had obviously smelled the opportunity for a scam and inserted himself into the situation; the photographer was now asking for significantly more than the $50 she had agreed to. We left her to haggle with one of the guys from the lodge and decided to walk around Ilia de Mocambique to soak up the atmosphere.

In the little time we had to visit the island, we were impressed by the contradiction between the historic importance of the city – clearly visible in the 17^th century architecture and buildings, and the current deterioration as the city falls from grace.  Despite numerous attempts to convert parts of the city into a tourist location, this small island, only 3km long and 200-500m wide, is home to some 18,000 locals, many of whom live in the ruins of the past.  The beaches around the island are covered with the effluence of this population and it is sad to see the meat of what was, at one time, one of the most important cities in east Africa erode away leaving only a skeleton of her past greatness.

 

After a brief walk, we returned to find that the price had grown to $400!  After a heated exchange we left without the photos!  

Needless to say, the 4 hour drive from Ilia de Mocambique to Nuarro did not start off with us in a good mood!

The drive took us from paved roads to the dirt tracks, which form much of northern Mozambique’s travel network.  We passed through villages clustered around the roadway, with our driver constantly honking to let villagers carrying their goods down the roads know we were coming – allowing them to dive into the bushes!

 

Upon arriving at Nuarro, the stress of our morning encounter was forgotten as we were greeted with more beautiful beach views and the prospect of some wonderful diving.

Joining us at Nuarro were Glynn, John and Nick – three gentlemen with years of travelling experience.  Another friend of theirs, Richard, was on his way – and together with these four we shared the Nuarro experience over the next week.

And what an experience it was – upon arrival we were informed that the normal manager was on holiday.  As was the normal dive master.  And the replacement manager had just come down with malaria.  So … the entire resort appeared to be in the hands of a pair of 20 year old South Africans.

While our first impression made us nervous, Aaron and Kerrie actually excelled at managing the lodge.  The second night we were at Nuarro, the power failed and, while we had intermittent light from a backup generator for the next few nights, it was insufficient to power the compressor.

Needless to say, a dive resort without diving begins to tire quickly.  We suggested to Aaron and Kerrie that they send the dive tanks to Nacala, a port town about two hours away, to be filled.  They jumped on the idea, only to find that once the tanks were taken away, they failed to come back for two days!

While we did do several dives, we also spent a lot of time walking the beach, reading (and making friends with a stray kitten that had been adopted by a charity worker living by the lodge), watching the fishermen prepare their nets and haul in their catches and seeing a number of dhows being constructed and repaired. We also took advantage of the lodge’s dhow and had two wonderful sunset cruises with our new friends!

  

We spent one morning going to the local weekend market.  Glynn borrowed one of the local’s motorbikes to go to the market – which Mike rode home (no brakes on sand roads was interesting!).  The market was a bustle of activity – Mike decided not to take photos of the kids to start, having learnt from past experience he would be swarmed if he did.  Kerrie, on the other hand, started snapping away from the moment we arrived and was soon followed by a pack of 20-30 kids for the entire morning!

We also took a morning to go to the local lighthouse, which provided stunning views of the sandbanks and village below.

The diving we were able to do was surprisingly good – the coral life was superb and there was wonderful visibility (15m+).  Kerrie and Aaron were wonderful hosts, and despite their young age we all agreed they had the makings of fantastic resort managers in their future.

After 7 restful days, we left Nuarro as we had arrived, with a long 4 hour drive to Nampula for our flight down the coast.  And also like our arrival, our departure was afflicted by the adventure of being in Africa.  Upon arriving at the airport, we learnt that the airline had cancelled our flight, so we ended up having a three day journey, staying in two of Mozambiques least attractive cities (Nampula and Beira) before finally getting to Vilankulos!

PS - the lodge ended up paying 1600% more than originally agreed to the photographer to get our wedding photos (some of which appeared in our wedding post), who then sent us a thank you email for being able to participate in our wonderful day.

Bairro de Cabaceira Pequena

On our final afternoon at Coral Lodge 15.41 we took a trip to the neighboring village – Bairro de Cabaceira Pequena.

On the path to the village we came across a local manufacturing process: the creation of coral paste.  The process, an environmentalists nightmare, involves harvesting coral from the seabed, then reducing it through repetitive exposures to heat achieved through giant pyres of coral. 

After the coral is sufficiently reduced by fire, it forms a fine paste that is used for many purposes – from the painting of the exterior of homes to the sealant for caulking the joints in the local dhows.

 

We were told by Alex (the proprietress at Coral Lodge) that the practice is technically illegal, but that despite everyone knowing about the production site there is no enforcement.  This goes a long way to explaining the quality of the reefs.

Cabaceira Pequena is a small fishing village with two dirt paths running in parallel for a few kilometers along an isthmus of land between Mossuril Bay and a tidal lagoon.  It lies opposite Ilha de Mocambique, and despite its miniscule size apparently has quite a long history.

 

According to Alex, prior to their arrival the village had no real economy.  When constructing the lodge, locals were employed for labor and around 50 are now employed in various roles at the lodge.  In addition to the changed employment landscape, the village also now has electricity as the power for the lodge was run through the village.

Apparently, the shift from the more traditional economy has been pronounced –with both positive and negative consequences.  On the positive side, there has been an increase in education and women’s rights.  On the negative side has been an increase in pollution (the garbage from being able to afford packaged goods) and increased violence against women.  As you can see, the last of the good and bad are too sides of the same coin: with women employed at the lodge, they began to become the bread earners and were no longer subject to the constraints of the males providing for the family. 

Alex related a sad tale of how one of the maids at the lodge had come to work badly beaten one day.  Apparently, having become the main bread-earner in the family, the maid began denying her husband’s sexual advances.    After a few weeks of this, he took out his angst in a violent and barbaric fashion – of course with no repercussion. 

The village itself has also begun to change.  There are now two shops – both selling limited goods – rice, beans and of course, the ubiquitous Coca-Cola - the first and only advertising in the entire village!

Walking through the village, surrounded by children hoping to have their picture taken, and hearing about the changes the village was undergoing put into perspective how impactful tourism can be – largely positive but also with some negative repercussions.

One of the main reasons we had wanted to go to the village was to see the hospital that had just been built.  The leader of the village, who coordinated the villagers for our ceremony as well as being the lead drummer, had provided Alex with a list of things that the village wanted – one of which was to have power connected to the hospital.  We decided to provide a donation to thank the village for their efforts that made our wedding so wonderful by paying to connect the electricity to the hospital and provide some basic supplies.

Walking back from the village as the sun was setting, I saw one of the most picturesque moments of the trip so far.  An old dhow, with a sail made from rice bags hand sewn to each other, glowed in various hues as it slowly sailed towards the village and setting sun.  Despite the fact this dhow had just dropped off wood for the coral harvesting operation, I love the photo (at the top of this post) and think it captures the essence of these villager’s lives.  Simple, traditional methods supported by any modern goods they have available.