Always read the signs going into a town!We've been doing this trip with the mostly accurate Lonely Planet guide. So when we arrived in Vilankulos (as with most places we went) we had a vague idea of where we might stay. But when we finally made to this spot it didn't take long for Nicola and I to look at each other and say 'we can't stay here tonight'. A typhoon ripped this town apart in 2007 and no one seems to have had the resources or will to re-build. It looked as though the typhoon happened last month. The local boys were drinking in the campground bar at 1pm in the afternoon, the beach was crowded with hawkers, and after the solitude of Morrungulo it was too much; we turned around and drove out of town.
But we had to sleep somewhere that night, so after deciphering the hand painted signs at the edge of town we steered the truck onto a gravel road looking for a safe place. The road became a track; the track became a path; the path turned to sand; eventually I was shifting into 4x4 low ratio. Just when we thought that we were completly lost, we rolled into an oasis of green grass, shady trees and a massive crystal-clear swimming pool! More importantly, it gets the clean bathroom "thumbs up" from the kids, traumatized by some of the pee stops recently. No one spoke until we had plunged in that wonderful pool. We've decided that we're sort of done with the beach thing and will rest here a few days, getting some supplies and optimistically.... meat.... for a major 500 km push northward and inland to the Gorongosa Game Park.
Paste this link for pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/116486261622853021292/SATrip2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCLL_gbqGtdC63wE#
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