We started reaching out to whoever we could, to try and find somewhere further south than Londo, Pemba for us to make our way to. The idea was to start moving towards the South African border, slowly but surely. Our main problem is that we are both currently unemployed, and at this point had already been in Mozambique for 2 and a half months, unexpectedly due to the border closures, living off of our savings. We made contact with a family in Nacala who invited us to work for our stay at their lodge, you can read more about this amazing opportunity in a post coming soon!
So, once we decided to make the move down to Nacala from Pemba, we had to figure out how we were going to get there. The family in Nacala put us in touch with a friend of theirs who was kind enough to take our two crates in the back of his bakkie for us. We tried to find the most affordable, yet safe option possible, and after deciding to take a small risk and have a new experience, we decided to take the Nagi bus from Pemba to Nacala.
We chatted to locals and were assured that we would be safe, our luggage would be fine, and that our main concern should be that the busses drive very fast. Our other concern was that we were travelling through Mozambique, on a crowded bus, during the COVID19 pandemic while Mozambique was under the State of Emergency.
The day before our bus trip, we said our goodbyes and left Londo on the same boat we arrived on 2 and a half months earlier. We did a small grocery shop for “padkos” (road-trip snacks) and had a local in Pemba go buy our bus tickets for us because there is a huge price difference for locals and tourists.
We spent that night at Pieters Place in Pemba. Pieter himself is the epitome of a beach-bum, he has spent his life diving, teaching others to dive, running his B ‘n B, and has amazing stories to tell! Pieters Place is so worth visiting, even just for a meal if you are passing through! His B ‘n B is built around a HUGE baobab with a circumference of 16m, it even has a mini treehouse inside it! His rooms are simple, yet with all the best and necessary amenities. The B ‘n B has a bar, as well as a chill-area, a pool for diving lessons, and outdoor tables where you can eat under the stars and magnificent baobab.
We were eating our delicious dinner, and bush-babies were coming down on to the wall right by us to get the banana pieces Pieter leaves out for them in the evenings.
At 3:30am the next morning, we were up, had our two BIG bags packed and waiting for our motorbike lift to the bus. It was still dark outside and due to the curfew in place in Pemba, no cars were allowed on the roads between sunset and sunrise. Our local friend who had helped organise the bus tickets showed up and took Keagan on the back of his motorbike, with our one big bag and walking stick to the “bus stop," which was just an unmarked spot on the side of the road. He then came and picked me and our other bag up.
I felt like there should've been cameras filming us riding along the pothole-filled sand roads, It was such an exhilarating moment, like a scene out of some rebellious music video! It was such a thrilling start to a day that was about to get more crazy than we ever would’ve expected.
The bus ride was only going to be 4-5hours, with the odd stop and toilet breaks… or so we thought. You can read all about it in a post coming soon.
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