Mozambique's main tourist attraction is its beachin' coastline - sandy, sunny, and
deserted. We boarded a local sailing vessel, an Arabian dhow, which is a rowboat powered by mast and
sail. In the boat's center lay a wooden bathtub filled with dirt and used for ballast and as a barbeque pit. We bumped along the waves for four hours before reaching our destination, islands
off the Mozambique coast that comprise the Bazaruto Archipelago. Waves crashed over the dhow's prow
because it rode so low in the water. The wet spray didn't stop our captain from lighting a fire in the boat
while his crew bailed water feverishly. Over the fire, our taciturn captain (who only spoke Portugese) boiled a pot of crabs for lunch. Everyone was too
worried to be hungry; if the waves didn't swamp us our captain was going to burn a hole in the boat. When
our journey ended we were overjoyed to reach terra firma.
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