Watch for Falling Coconuts

Sorry I'm late on this post. We just returned about an hour ago from a weekend excursion to Ilha da Inhaca. Yesterday morning, we took a ferry over to the island, which is about 35km East of Maputo. We walked to the ferry station and met some fellow Americans while we tried to locate the place to pay for tickets. They are here for a month or so as part of the wife's, Arthi's, doctoral residency. We sat with her and her husband, Andrew, and quickly learned they were also staying at the Pestana on the island. Off we went with new friends in tow!

The ferry ride was... rough. There was a storm that we had to go through and it was touch and go there for awhile. Lots of swaying and bouncing and the occasional sick person. Luckily, we all were okay, some with dramamine, some just taking some fresh air. When we finally arrived at the island, the weather was clearing and we went to check into our hotel. Dan and I went to our room to drop off our stuff and went straight to the pool. We spent a couple hours lounging by the pool. I read a book, and Dan took a nap, resulting in an excellent tan line from his earbud cord that goes across his chest.

We went back to the room and rested, watching some soccer before dinner. Met up with Arthi and Andrew for dinner and conversation. Really enjoyed their company and they are also having a hard time meeting friends. Invited them to get together for dinner later this week which they seemed eager to accept. We certainly understand the challenge of meeting similar personalities here in Maputo so I was more than pleased that they accepted.

We retired fairly early last night after a day of rocking the boat and a hearty dose of sunshine. Woke up this morning and had some breakfast and went for a walk on the beach. We found several boats washed up on the shore, one of which looked in perfect working order and was freshly painted. Dan wanted a picture of him on the boat, so without further ado...

We wandered into a little town... and little is probably an overstatement. There were maybe two shops and two or three restaurants with seafood. We had some snacks and watched a dance troop perform with a group of drummers. Afterwards, we went back to the room to pack up our things and check out. We spent the rest of our afternoon by the pool again before heading back to the ferry to come back home.

Luckily, the ride home was significantly smoother. We chatted with our new friends on the ride back to town and then the four of us went by the mall to grab a quick bite. We introduced them to our favorite shawarma place! Afterwards, we said our "see you later's" and parted ways.

I'll leave you with a quick word of wisdom: Watch for falling coconuts (a sign from our hotel).