Mama Maria Invades Mozambique! pt2

A person can't get the full Angoche experience until she explores the Angoche islands, so I asked Mussa, one of our good friends to give my mom a tour of Metubane, one of the islands closest to the city. Mussa is my age, super smart, continually happy, in love with his culture, and has a huge wealth of knowledge about the history of Mozambique and Angoche. He always talkes about how incredible the island populations used to be. Mussa was born on one of the islands, but came to Angoche to study in a better school.



We set out in a sail boat early in the morning to arrive before the heat. We were joined by my lovely site-mate, Margarida (aka Margaret) and some other PCVs, Greg and Stew, who were visiting our oh-so-irresistable site.



This is senhor Mecussete, our captain navigating through the mangrove. Yes, that's a red pajama outfit and pink stocking hat. And he's not even joking around folks. He couldn't figure out why my mom was giggling and wanting pictures of him.



Arriving on the islands is like stepping into magical place stuck somewhere back in time. The islands are super primitive, incredibly quiet (except for when the kids go nuts because white people showed up), and even slower-paced than Angoche (if that's possible).

We were definitely the most interesting thing going on, so we collected quite a following. Since it was Sunday, no one was studying. These kids are lucky enough to have a nice primary school. My roomie Alex was involved in the rehabilitation process after Cyclone Chokwe flattened the islands.


One of the many things I love and appreciate about Margarida, she also cannot resist a good climbing tree.



And there's Mama Maria having a lil chat (or more realistically awkward stare-down) with some local women. She was, after all, the guest of honor which makes her ambassador for the visit.



Mussa and the shehe (i think i spelled that correctly), or the religious/traditional leader of Metubane.

And back to the boat. This time, since the tide was out, we did a little more walking than sailing.

See ya later aligator.