lumo

I am home from my trip, tanned, relaxed and heavier than when I left.

We went on a cruise for our honeymoon to Madagascar, Portuguese Islands and Mozambique. Sadly I haven't had that much opportunity to travel in the past due to studying, work and generally stupid excuses. So it was about time. Tick new years travel resolution!

Assessment of ships; better then aeroplane!
The merits of ships;
1) None of the smog of emotional turmoil surrounding airports
2) I am a nervous flyer so yay for any other mode of travel
3) There is an inherent level of cheesiness about a cruise ship which appeals to me.
The only possible down side for ships I foresaw was sea sickness. Fortunately sea sickness wasn't really an issue. Fortunately eating seemed to settle my stomach, which was good since there was an over abundance of food on the boat.


We sailed first to Madagascar.



We were deposited by zodiac on the island where we made a wet landing (nautical meaning not bodily functions). We went for a lunch at a...well I am not sure if you would call it a hotel or resort, it was less opulent and more beachy and interesting? Unfortunately we saw no lemurs or chameleons, which I was told were abundant. I did see about ten different kinds of butterflies though without putting in much effort, and I saw interesting birds and unearthly plants. I really would love to spend a more substantial amount of the there.


The next day was a spent at sea lazing on deck drinking the best margarita's ever and reading. Which was pretty much the pattern every sea day followed.




Evenings were spent watching dance, magic and acrobatic performances..and more cocktails. Some of the performers I suspect also perform for madame Zingara'ss and they were superbly talented individuals in some wonderful costumes. Unfortunately I didn't get good pictures as I wasn't actually allowed to take any. I tried anyway but I had to be sneaky. It's hard to be sneaky taking pics with an iPad, also you tend to look like a bit of a douche.


We then arrived in Mozambique, Maputo
This was probably my favourite day because we operated completely independently of any prescribed activity. We got off the ship and got transported by the tour bus to the city centre



That drive was harrowing. Coming from Durban I have seen some scary driving but those people are seriously insane. Lane changes and merging occur via a game of chicken, red lights are a guideline and obviously spacial relations logically dictates a single lane can hold four cars quite comfortably. Most of the cars you see there are scratched unsurprisingly, beautifully clean though, go figure.We got off there, relieved to be out of that scorchingly hot death-trap. We wandered around doing our own thing trying to locate the natural history museum. On route we saw stunning old architecture, mosaic walls, filigree burglar guards and gates juxtaposed by abandoned buildings being repossessed by nature with trees growing over partially crumbles walls.










Eventually we discovered the derelict botanical gardens which was post apocalyptically beautiful, the pictures don't fully show the feel of it.



We tried walking into this building which was really pretty and turned out to be a government building.





We were rapidly asked to leave once we started ascending the stairs to the second floor. In our defence, We were being those annoying tourists and It looked like a museum...which we were looking for.. and exploring is fun. We rapidly made ourselves scarce there and eventually, after a few botched attempts we managed to find someone who could both speak English and knew where the natural history museum was. We also managed to get him to flag down a tuk tuk and explain to the driver where to take us. I was so excited because I had been eye-balling them out the whole day as they passed thinking I really wanted to ride in one. And it was awesome, I was like a giddy kid on that thing! The crazy traffic and driving served to inject the whole experience with some vigour.



Finally there at the natural history museum we find the Lumo in its natural habitat gawking at bugs, beasties and all manner of weirdness.









We then walk/jogged back to where we were getting picked up again by the bus to return to the ship and watched the boat pull away from the shore at sunset.








The next day was another lazy ship day sucking back cocktails and sunning myself like a lazy little lizard, A skipper butterfly came to visit.

.

We also went for a massage. A massage so soft it was the equivalent of being breathed on. Very disappointing since my poor overused body needed some maintenance. I had the best of intentioned this day to utilize the gym on board to do some light exercise but then I realized while I brought way too many items of clothing I didn't bring running shoes. The gym staff were adamant that I couldn't be allowed to enter unless my feet were in proper trainers, even if I just wanted to use the mat area..which is all I wanted. For someone who spends most of her life exercising barefoot this is a weird concept. Safety wise I get it but I decided I would sneak in when it was quiet. My initial moment of enthusiasm was replaced by the overwhelming urge to have a cocktail instead. Because I feel mildly guilty now I will say I did stretch on the trip.... Once... At least.


The day after, we disembarked at Portuguese islands. There we went on a beach comber walk accompanied by a marine biologist, which was really interesting.

We saw starfish



pencil urchins:

,

ball urchins:



snails:



and a few different types of crab:



We would have seen even more but we had to rush back to go out on a
boat again to search for dolphins, which we didn't see unfortunately. We rushed again to coral gardens near Inhaca to snorkel, It was my fist time snorkelling. Visibility was again foiling plans somewhat but we saw various corals, small sting-ray, some fish I couldn't identify, more starfish and urchins.


Then we made our way back home to Durban, and while I enjoyed my cruise I am happy to be home.


Just before we left for the cruise for the honeymoon I was given a wedding gift by the powers that be too. I have been waiting for four months for the butterfly farm to call me and let me know when their atlas moths hatch. Finally it happened the week before we left so we went that Saturday. The whole weeks I was worried we would miss them since they only last 4 days or so. We didn't miss them though and they are awesome. I got to see the largest moth in the world! Probably the best wedding present I could ask for.



Now April is going to be awesome too. I got offered a new job yesterday, it is an amazing opportunity. My new boss is paying to further my studies too Which starts on the 11th (further studies, tick off another new years resolution) Also it's my birthday on the 27th and Tarions on the 22nd and we are going to sneak another little trip soon with my ZASG ladies.

Okay, this blog got really long, so I am leaving off here. Next time I promise to be less verbose.