Xai-Xai, the Mozambican Town So Nice, They Named it Twice...

Back road out to one of UDEBA's larger projects in the Gaza interior.

The next morning, one of the UDEBA directors, Januario, picked us up and drove us about 60km out to a large school compound that was being built in the town of Mandjacaza. The back road was a bit of an adventure and I was happy to not be the one driving through muck and mud this time around...


Giant beetle (Anthia Burchelli, from the Carabidae [ground beetle] family according to Duma) wandering around the bush.

After that rather formal visit -- we met the councillor of the town, a happy man who told us that he had once been to Edmonton and Guelph on a Municipal Representatives' tour -- Januario took us to a smaller village where the UDEBA school had helped propel the area's education ranking from last to first... the principal told us that UDEBA "was like God" in the area for all of the good work that they had done... This same man was also the curator/warden for a new community-owned park that was being established to protect indigenous and endemic flora. They are planning on developing it as another way of creating income in the area but also for academic and ecological reasons.


So this is where cashews come from! Just the knobby bit on a succulent fruit...

Our day wasn't that long this time around and Januario dropped us back at the beach after helping us figure out the bus times for our planned trip up to Vilanculo the next day... We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out on the beach and having a nice meal down the way at a local place that was significantly cheaper than the hotel and expressly did NOT offer us any "half cooked chicken." ; )

Oh! and I have to mention learning about cashews -- we met the elder of the town with the park on our way out of the area and he ran to a nearby tree (he was a very spry oldster!) and got us a bunch of cashew fruit. Januario told us how to eat them and so we tried them back at the hotel. The peeled fruit is very fibrous but incredibly succulent and when you suck on it, you get a massive amount of juice. It's hard to describe the taste -- kind of earthy but also sweet and redolent of the nut that hangs onto the top... Helene learned the hard way not to bite into the unroasted variety -- saying that the bitter taste lingered for a long time after...


Our mosquito net hanging--barely--from the light fixture...


Hmm, should I have the half-grilled or the half-cooked...? Chicken sashimi IS a favourite of mine...