We arrived in Londo by boat at the end of our two-week trip up the Mozambique Channel. For context, Londo is a remote peninsula on the opposite side of the bay entrance as Pemba. It is basically a remote island. The nearest road is about 150km away, so it is only accessible by sea or by following footpaths. There is a village with about 50 people, a few private properties which have mostly been abandoned, and not a single shop.
The lodge we stayed at was being managed by our friends. It was their boat that we helped motor up from South Africa. We have always loved the rustic, off-the-grid lifestyle, so we weren’t put off by the fact that there was no hot water or electricity. It was also extremely hot and humid when we first arrived at the start of April, and with the lodge being right along the waters edge, it was impossible to not have daily dips in the sea to cool down anyway.
We went there hoping to help-out around the lodge, and learn the ropes of the hospitality industry. Keags was also excited to get involved in the boat transfer business which our friends were busy starting. Things didn’t quite work out as we thought they would, but we stayed positive and still made the most of our time in Londo.
There was a small beach across the peninsula, on the sea-side of Londo, which we fell inlove with. It was known as "the white beach." We would spend hours walking up and down the beach, collecting shells, exploring the coral rock pools and caves, and watching the local fisherman fish in their handmade wooden canoes. The beach was about 2km from the lodge. We started running to the beach and back at sunset, and would often wake up early and walk to the beach with tea and coffee for sunrise. It became our “happy place." Near the end of our stay, we started seeing turtle tracks and nests on the beach early in the mornings.
Keags (and sometimes me too) spent hours cutting down wood, stripping, carving and sanding it to build pieces of furniture for the staff and the lodge, as well as a custom walking stick for me. I spent hours journaling, doing yoga, trying to bake and making jewellery. We also did all of our own washing and cleaning. We both looked forward to cooking exciting new meals and perfected the art of making our own bread.
We started off our stay by sharing grocery costs and eating meals with our friends, but after a while we set up our room as a self-catering unit, which worked out better for all of us.
We would take the boat across the bay to Pemba to do any shopping we needed. We did the odd small grocery shop at Shoprite, yet after a month of being in Londo, we also started “living off the land” by collecting fruits and sea-food to get more nutrition and vitamins than any store-bought items could give you. Although our diet was rice based, you can read about all the amazing things we collected and cooked on a post coming soon.
The insurgent attacks in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique have been happening over the past three years, yet have spiked this year. We were aware of the attacks moving closer to where we were, and kept up to date with word from the locals. Our friends helped evacuate the village and took the people across the bay to Pemba. We packed one bag to leave on the boat, and kept a "getaway" bag with us all the time which had some water, a change of clothes, headlamps, our passports and our money inside.
During the period when the insurgents were as close as 6-8km from us, we spent the days waiting for any updates, watching for fires, listening for shots being fired, and basically the nights were just very long. There were constantly helicopters flying back and fourth over us. We had some tough discussions about our best options if we had to run, what we should do if someone was left behind, which way was safest to go and what caves could we hide in, what to do about the animals, wether we were safer sleeping on the boat or on land, and so many more. It was terrible to think that for thousands of people, these conversations are normal. We were privileged enough to have a boat as a means of evacuating if we needed it.
Looking back at those conversations and the days that went so slowly, I was really calm. I am normally an emotional person, yet in that situation we realised what was most valuable to us, and that was each-other. None of our possessions mattered nearly as much.
Life in Londo was difficult at times, yet we “re-fell” inlove with nature, animals, the ocean and each-other. We realised just how little we actually need to be happy, and became stronger mentally, physically and emotionally during our stay there.
Wow, what an amazing experience you two are having.. Keep blogging, love reading it... Specially the bit about re-falling in love 💞