Our day started very early this morning, which was a bit of a shame as we had been enjoying a very comfortable night. Nevertheless it would be rude to complain when we had been made such an generous offer of a lift by Hannes. By 5:45am the bikes were loaded, our bags were stowed and we were underway. With a brief stop to see the lagoons from Quissico, it took a little less than two hours to get to a small café outside Chidenguele.
We hadn't anticipated arriving quite so early, so instead of stopping in town we decided to carry on to 'Honey Pot' approx 75km away. We said a big thank you to Hannes, quickly got changed into our cycling gear and set off into a very grey morning.
The weather seems to have turned a bit and we had been treated to a night of rain. This morning the clouds remained and consequentially the temperature was considerably cooler, which is great for cycling. The sun may have been hiding, but the hills certainly weren't. Mozambique is a surprisingly hilly country. Any idea that we may have had about the coast roads being flatter have been quickly quashed. Lots of ups may mean plenty of downs, but you still have to get up the ups!
When it started to rain we began to wonder if staying in town may have been a better option. When the rain got even heavier, town really really looked like a better option; especially as our waterproofs were safely packed in the bottom of our bags! Eventually we stopped, got our wet weather gear out and carried on slightly warmer than we were before. Obviously, the rain quickly stopped afterwards, which always seems to be the case and we were soon cooking in our coats.
By then though we were getting closer to the town of Xai Xai, where we planned to stop for lunch. It may not be very Mozambican, but lunch was taken in KFC (the first one we have seen in quite a while). Good things always seem to happen in the most unusual places and today it happened outside KFC. Having just finished our food, a South African family arrived and showed some interest in our bikes. Chatting to them about our trip, we found out that they live in Maputo and received an invite to come and stay with them. These random acts of kindness seem to be happening quite a lot lately and we are obviously not complaining.
Leaving Xai Xai behind we crossed the toll bridge, where two amused attendants let us through without paying, and in rather a surreal fashion found ourselves in an area that looked entirely like the English fenland. If it wasn't for the occasional mud and reed hut, there would have been no clue that we were in Africa at all!
About 10km later and we left the fenland behind and started to climb gently. From then on it was an easy ride to 'Honey Pot' camp. We had no prior expectations of what the site would be like and when we arrived outside and it looked closed we feared the worst. First impressions have proven to be wrong and we are staying in a lovely room; the threat of rain has kept us from camping.
Heading for dinner at the restaurant we had a surprise meeting with Hannes. It turns out that he is staying here as well. We won't be getting another lift tomorrow morning though, as he is heading in the opposite direction. He has promised to look for us on the road as he heads back towards Maputo though!
Last night was very exciting as it was the final of South African Idol. One and a half hours of waiting for 10 seconds of results. Who won you may ask? Well we don't know either, as the satellite went wrong just as we were about to find out! Hannes making a phone call to his wife didn't give us a definitive answer either as she hadn't been watching. We think Dave won (who wasn't as good as Mark). Obviously this will mean nothing to anyone who didn't see it, but just know that it was a very frustrating end to the evening!
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