moz beaches

strangest train sign i've seen though we then did cross tracks...
We started out on a Sunday…short day to start just to the south part of the lake…nice place to camp and we thought we’d get to swim but were then told that a hippo was camping out about 20 yards off shore…so no swimming…but we slept and enjoyed thinking that we were off on our adventure…good thing because the next day was a long one…made it through the border without any problems and then found 495 km of dirt road waiting for us (from Mandimba to Nampula)…made it just as it was getting dark. The next morning up to Pemba where we heard “all the tourists go”. But we didn’t feel that we found them. Stayed at a place just across the road from the ocean (Russell’s place) which was pretty but the next day we found a place we liked on the bay side (Pemba Bush Camp)…so we moved and spent three nights getting rested…really, we slept, swam,
ate and repeated… found some mud to play in
and went on a sunset sailing cruise. The next beach we went for was Nacala where we spent Christmas (Libelula). 100 steps above the ocean it had great views and a pool at the top of the steps which was very good after climbing up from the salt water. And then on to Ilha de Mocambique (another place where “all the tourists go”). There were a few more here but I don’t know where “all” of us were…Ilha was the Portuguese capital and the architecture was there to prove it…though much abandoned and in disrepair it was beautiful and had great atmosphere. Enjoyed wandering the town and relaxing by the pool as the beaches there look pretty but aren’t the nicest for swimming. Loved being so close to the beach and getting all the seafood! Next stop was Quelimane but we didn’t know much and it wasn’t much really…so one night and then the cross back toward Zimbabwe…we stayed at Casa Msika just in Mozambique and were expecting a quiet night even though it was new year’s eve…set up the tent and went to the restaurant/bar because we were too tired to want to cook ourselves. And we met a group from SA and Zim who had just done some serious kayaking in moz and were headed home. They were a fun group and when they heard we were headed across they asked about our plans…and they weren’t impressed…after 10 minutes we had a list of places we needed to see and phone numbers incase…it was a night of stories and laughs…and though we didn’t make it to midnight we had a great new year’s eve. We were also asked to take one of the guys and his kayak into zim because one of their cars wasn’t going…so we met up the next morning but I guess we took too long because they had already gotten everything tied up and sorted…but we saw them again at the crossing…