16/1/2011 After making friends with the English girl and Scot couple, they gave us a free lift from Vilanculos down to Tofo! It was a much more bearable ride in a 4x4 and I was in front! Gregor was a top Scottish chap living in Newcastle and was good company whilst I had a numb bum for four-and-a-half hours. As we left our accommodation Baobab this morning, we paid our bill but the woman tried to overcharge us, or the guy who served me the night before. He'd t...

15/1/2011 Picked up at 8am for our day trip to Margeruque Island of the Bazaruto Archipelago. Got talking to and older Scottish couple who were working and friends with a woman from Shropshire, who it turned out had been working at Worcestershire Royal Hospital. At the island, we got to go snorkelling using the providers crap gear, and saw a variety of fish. However, the rocks were very sharp and we ended up with dozens of cuts on our hands and feet. The rest ...

14/1/11 Using the same coach company, this experience was a bit different. The bus we had was taped over some of the broken windows (typical that's where we sat), the windscreen was cracked, and all the seats were closer together so we had no leg room. Still, it was only going to be a few hours so we tried to sleep our way through, plus they put Tekken and I,Robot on the dvd! I felt really dodgy on the journey, it was cold with the aircon on but I was abnormal...

13/1/2011 Check-in at 3am on the bus turned out to be five as seen as they were cleaning and refuelling following the previous trip. Passed the time catching mosquitoes and playing cards on the pavement. On the bus, infested by mosquitoes as all the doors were open in the dark, we were greeted by a freebee juice and biscuits. We slept on and off until the bus needed some repair and stopped in some village. The driver got down to business whilst I bartered 10p ...

12/1/2011 Up early and chuffed to discover I hadn't been bitten! Then fuming to learn that there was no bloody water! We returned to the fortress but had to walk back to the island's museum to obtain a ticket and managed to get a decent price. Attempting the little Portuguese I've picked up, we paid £4 instead of over double that the guards wanted! It was a quick but surreal experience where the deserted buildings where the warriors/soldiers used to fight ove...