Mosamba

Last Sunday I attended the Mozambique x Kenya World Cup Qualifier. I never dreamt that I’d go to an African World Cup Qualifier, but there I was in the sold out Estadio Machava watching the Mambas  take on Kenya. It was a pretty great experience and the Mambas beat Kenya 1 x 0, keeping their World Cup dreams alive. I’m planning on putting a video together of the game, but in the meantime here is a picture.

Estadio Machava

Naamacha is famous for it’s waterfalls and the fresh, pure, water that flows from them. Last Saturday I was alone in Naamacha for the afternoon and decided to try to find one of these renowned cascatas (waterfalls).  I followed signs to  a trailhead and started wading through the bush. About an hour into getting lost and bushwacking through some of the more thickly vegetated sections I arrived at the waterfall. The only problem was that there was no water falling from the waterfalls. I guess that’s why they call it the dry season. Regardless it was a really beautiful hike.

the waterfall without water

Yesterday I stumbled upon these toys in a client’s backyard. The models  differ slightly from the pictures I posted previously. If anyone wants one of these I can try to set up a kid with an email address and a paypal account and you can help support child labor!

A day after posting my first hand account of royal African polygamy Tyler Cowen wrote an interesting blog post on serial monogomy and hypergamous women. Here

He also posted an interesting Africa fact of the day. Here

UPDATE: If you’re interested in serial monogomy, polyandry and polygamy in the USA this book by Dalton Conley is pretty good. Here

The king and his 14 wives welcome you!

This weekend I spent less than 48 hours in the Kingdom of Swaziland. Swaziland is a petite country wedged between Mozambique and South Africa and is essentially economically a South African colony, but is politically one of the longest standing absolute monarchies in the world. Before today the king had 13 wives, but apparently after the ceremony I attended he has 14. It is also said to be the country with the highest rate of people getting struck by lightning in the world. So, small country, but packed with fun, right? RIGHT! I had a jolly old time in Swaziland. Continue Reading »

This is the law that I broke

I have crossed many borders with improper stamps, expired visas, and disordered paperwork, but have always found a way around paying fees or being detained. Usually it’s my charm and a few culturally relevant jokes that get me out of these tight situations. On Saturday for the first time in my life I didn’t have such luck. Continue Reading »

The Ghost House

For the next two weeks I will be working in Namaacha, a small town that sits in the Mozambican “mountains” on the Mozambique-Swaziland border. The Hluvuku office here only has two employees that service around 700 clients. This also marks the first time in Mozambique that I will be doing a homestay. One of the Hluvuku employees, Mariana, has graciously opened the doors of her home to me. I’ve stayed in a lot of weird places before, but this place tops the list for most spookey place I’ve ever laid my head. Continue Reading »

More Mozambican voitures. Here you have a classic blown-out Maputan vehicle and a vintage Volvo. The Volvo is very Oakland Hills retro-fashionable.

It's gonna be a blow out

The car that left many an Oakland Hills family smitten in the 80s, now available in Mozambique