After the EN1 road north of Maputo was closed at Xai Xai due to the road simply disappearing last week…the road was again closed on our way south on Monday. Without warning we drove into Xai Xai and were simply turned around. The chaos ensued and after a lunch and a dinner we still could not go on.
These pics are taken a week after the floods yet we still saw many houses underwater as we finally got through at 5am the next day!
For a fantastically eery experience, log onto Ocean Global Shark Tracker and see what a few Great Whites are doing right now. As of yesterday, Maddox, a 2000lb monster, was casually heading into the Maputo Bay area. Brenda Fassie and Louise were cruising the coast just south of Inhambane, a bunch of whites are swimming about in Zululand…and for those of you living and swimming in the Cape – wow! An amazing concentration of sharks hang out in the Southern Cape waters…check it out…!
Another success story is about a shark called Success, a 3500 pounder – he swam across from deep Cape Town to past Maputo and across to Madagascar in 6 weeks!
http://sharks-ocearch.verite.com/
Well I am not sure what this all means to each different ocean using community out there…but it sure stokes emotions either way.
This little baby white could be your worse nightmare, the encounter of your life, food or profit…as a surfer, a diver, a subsistence fisherman or a poacher…
Guinjata Bay. Southern Mozambique. A few days back…
Thanks for the photos emailed by Janine Newman and taken by Sergio Cavalho.
The driver of Fatima’s bus confirmed first hand that the main EN1 road is closed. Exactly where, we are not sure, and the useability of the bypass road is also an unknown.
What is known is all over the internet. 70 000 people displaced. Quite a few dead by now, the number growing. The road is flooded in a number of places, and at least one bridge is reported gone.
Fortunately evacuations were effected a few days ago. After the town of Chokwe was flooded by the Limpopo River flood surge yesterday, it was predicted to hit Xai Xai this morning.
Engineers were already on the site of the missing bridge earlier today, and it is hoped they will effect temporary measures in as quick as a few days.
The pic below is of a road closure in Lindela, a few days ago, in the Inhambane area. In Mozambique road closures are a common occurrence. Generally they only last a few days. Thanks to Keith Cooke for the photo.
In the meantime, it’s sunny skies and chevrolet here in Tofo. The ocean is flat, light onshore breeze – not a clue as to what is happening 200kms odd south!
Check the following report from the BBC…8m waters, 15 000 crocodiles swimming free, grasshoppers for food, shortages and outages…!
