Arriving in Mozambique

by Keith Davitt

We arrived in Mozambique on a Friday evening after three long flights, all of us in our shorts and t-shirts to find it a cold temperature in the low degrees and the rain pouring down. It was hard to adjust because we just came from a heat wave back home of temperatures close to 30 degrees. Leaving the airport, some of the roads were just clay with large holes and parts were flooded making it a very bumpy ride, but there was also sudden changes from a dirty road to a big long four lane road perfectly tarred going on for miles. Arriving at Young Africa was not what I had imagined, everything looked dull because of the grey sky and there were not many people around because of the rain. We stayed in a hostel which was basic but had everything we needed. A bed, toilet and shower. When we were unpacking our stuff, the other boys that were staying in the hostel saw that we had a football and their faces lit up asking if we wanted a game. We said we would tomorrow but they just said “ no, now! “ . It was still pouring rain but it was warmer. So we all decided to give it a go. We went outside to a pitch made of sand with parts of it flooded. It was so much fun and very funny trying to kick the ball when it was floating in the water. It was surprising how fast it got dark which brought a stop to the game. We then went inside to shower to find there was no running water and all of us covered in dirt from head to toe. We spent the next half an hour with baby wipes try to get all the dirt off before dinner. When we went to dinner we didn’t know what to expect but to my surprise it was so nice. We spent the rest of the night playing card, struggling to keep our eyes open after a long day travelling.