Jo'burg

Thanks to cyclone Favio I am not in Mozambique but still in Jo'burg working in the office.
No complaints from me even though I am really looking forward to Mozambique and the beach etc.. The weather is absolutely gorgeous around 25C-35C in day time and probably around 18C at night. The food is excellent and cheap. The company isd paying for absolutely everything and I am staying in a GREAT hotel less than 5 minutes walk away from the office.
I probably will work in the office till the end of this week (so around March 2nd) and then I am planning to go to see the north part of South Africa somewhere around the Limpopo River.
Of course after the FCP "we promised you could but now you can't travel" fiasco I am still waiting to hit the road before I believe it, but so far everybody is just giving advice on where I should sleep (in the town with the hot springs), where to rent a car etc. Hey, those guys live here they find living here normal. They are not a bunch of Canadian who send people where they wouldn't go themselves.

No photos so far....I'll add them later.

Mozambique

If I ever make it to Mozambique this is where I am supposed to go.

This is what The Lonely Planet has to say about the weather: "Mozambique's south coast offers a pleasurable expanse from April to November of consistently little rainfall and pleasant temperatures between 20 to 29°C (68-85°F) days. Temperatures rise somewhat as you go further northwards, and are downright unpleasant in the northwest around Tete city, though refreshingly cool in the higher country around Lichinga, near Lake Niassa."

Note how they do not say anything about the rainy season. I can't find any information about how much rain falls during the rainy season.




http://www.southtravels.com/africa/mozambique/traveltips/weather.html says:

"SUMMER: October - March
WINTER: April - September
The average temperature for Mozambique is around 28ºC all year round. The climate varies slightly according to the regions of the country. The coast experiences a sub-tropical climate while the northern parts of the county are tropical. Generally, the hot rainy season is from October to March. The average temperature along the coast is 31º C (88º F). Inland, temperatures are slightly cooler, but conditions are more humid. In the dry season, April to September, temperatures along the coast average 27ºC (80ºF).

What to Pack:
Generally, casual comfortable clothing is suitable throughout the year. The most practical items to pack are:
Khaki, brown, white and beige colours. (Ok this is hilarious! they even tell you what colour to wear!)
Light cotton tops and cotton trousers/shorts in summer.
Long-sleeved blouses/shirts for game drives, which will protect you from the sun and from mosquitoes.
Safari trousers for evenings and cooler days.
Fleece or sweater and a warm jacket for game drives.Yeah but what colour?!?
Swimwear, snorkel, mask, fins, sun lotion. Always good on a rig!
A hat, sunglasses and sunscreen. I didn't even use sunscreen in Algeria!!
Sandals, especially to protect feet against razor clams on Bazaruto Archipelago. Steel toes sandals of course!
Comfortable walking shoes.
Camera film and batteries (these are not easily found in Mozambique) "Film"? who uses film?

Where To Go:
The best time to visit Mozambique is during the winter months from April to September. The southern parts of the country are generally dryer and less tropical than the north. The best months for game viewing are August and September, towards the end of the dry season. The best time for bird-watching is usually November and December, which is the hot, rainy season. A wide variety of fish are attracted to the warm waters of Mozambique, with larger fish populating the waters in summer, and small to medium sized fish in winter, making the coast a good fishing and diving destination."

But remember: I will not be traveling in Mozambique. I think I will go to Cape Town and Madagascar, then of course I have to go back to Kenya.

snow

It is snowing snowing snowing snowing !
White is grossly over rated! everything is white including the sky!
How about some yellow? Yellow would be nice.

I am now getting busy after the original "I just got home I don't want to do a thing". I guess I know how to work, I know how to prepare to go to work, but I am not great at the in between especially when it involves staying home.

Now I know (well, I think I know!) that I am going to Johannesburg February 19th or something like this (actually now, a few hours later, it looks like the 20th). Leaving from Johannesburg on March 8th and after this working 28 days off (first) than 28 days on.
I think I may try to go to Cape Town on March 8th. Apparently Cape Town and Jo'burg are quite different. I wouldn't know since I've never been.

the passport nightmare

Just a week after I got home I thought I would work on getting a new passport since my old one only has 2 pages left.
First attempt after four and a half hour in line I was told that they would not rush a new passport without proof of travel. I tried to explain that it is a new contract for me, that the client buys the ticket etc etc,..but no go. The guy suggested that if I couldn't get either an itinerary or a ticket I should at least get a letter saying that I have to go.
Second attempt, yesterday monday, The line was expected to take about 6 hours and I had an appointment in 5 hours so I didn't stay.
Third attempt was today. I went there an hour before the offices even open and I was number 89. In the line up of course people talk. One kid two persons in front of me had a printed email saying that the company in the States "would like" to have him start on the 15 of February. I had a letter saying that I need to travel for work between February 10th and February 16th.
As he went through he got his passport rushed and came to talk to me to tell me "the woman didn't want to do it but the guy that came to relieve her, did it. Speak of lucky". So I knew it was a question of WHOM I talked to. ...And I got the young grumpy woman. She, of course, refused and weren't on and on about how she was trying to help but her hands were tied. And as much as I know that getting people upset never gets you what you want I did end up saying that "I would feel better if I didn't know that a young guy with a printed email saying that they would like him to start on February hadn't just gotten his passport rushed". She of course assumed that I was lying...why is it that they always assume you lie!?!? So she challenged me to tell her who did it. I told her "booth 4" she went there and instead of coming back (because I was right) she sent her manager. So back again to explaining the entire thing... We argued back and forth for nearly a half hour, then he said "I have to go talk to my manager" and came back agreeing to give me a rush passport for February 14th at 15:00hrs.

Of course I get home and there is an email saying that I will have to be in Johannesburg on February 20th, could I please send my passport number etc..

What a day!!