On week 1 and settling in.... (long)

Howdy all,
So a couple things off the bat, this is my first blog – so bear with me, this is also my first trip to Africa – so pardon my naivety. I am hoping to use this to keep in touch with anyone who is interested and try and share my perspective and experiences here.
Why am I here? I was fortunate enough to be selected for a CIDA funded, 5 month internship via www.MinesActionCanada.org to work with Handicap International – Mozambique’s Demining efforts. Specifically they were looking for someone to assist in the maintenance of the various vehicles and mechanized equipment used in the demining operations.
For a background on Mine Action check out the MAC site, note that the international campaign to ban landmines is a “success in progress” but much work remains. Also note that this fall the Cluster Munitions Campaign will hopefully receive its first signatures from heads of state with the intention to ban the use of another indiscriminant, disproportionate and devastating weapon from use. There is so much information I will leave it your own path of discovery, if you are more visually inclined maybe spend 15 minutes perusing youtube, a lot of people had worked very hard to shed some light on the issue which has fortunately(?) been largely removed from our experience in the west.
As for me I have thus far enjoyed a very easy transition into Mozambique, having been hosted by the HI program director’s house in the capital city Maputo while recovering from jet lag and picking up a couple last minute items too heavy to pack. You can get anything you want in Maputo, and you can expect to pay about the same as in Canada. This week of big city life included my first assignment of shopping for 2 vehicles to replace one lost in an accident in the north of the country. This alone was an eye opener, in short the used car market here consists of the cars deemed unfit or unwanted in Japan. They show up in Mozambique, and are essentially marketed as is. After inspecting around 40 cars we found two that were in decent operating condition.
Following the completion of that task I was given a lift ~500km north to my new home in Inhambane. A sleepy little town with a lot of history, and an idyllic setting. The relatively comfortable life that Inhambane provides makes it home to a range of NGO’s, a university, and backpackers passing through. As the provincial capital (of the province of the same name) it also has a wide range administrative buildings, and related infrastructure. Again for further reading I suggest Wikipedia.org for a backgrounder on the history and geography of Mozambique. Their former status as Portuguese East Africa is especially interesting and relevant to the current situation.
So here I am settling into life in Inhambane, it was a long weekend here this week celebrating independence from Portugal, this meant they turned the music up on Friday afternoon and pretty much kept rocking until sometime last night (with the exception of when the power went out Saturday night around 1am). With Monday off I had a chance to visit around the town (takes about 25 minutes to jog around in its entirety) as well as the surrounding beach wonderland. Friday night some friends and I headed to nearby Tofo beach for an all night disco African style, cool mix of Mozambicans and expats, live music, dollar beers, etc. The Chapas (local buses) don’t really drive after dark so we ended up at the beach for the night and caught the first lift back in the morning which happened to be the DJ’s equipment truck. They like their bass here but nonetheless I caught a couple hours of zzz’s in a deck chair overlooking the ocean.
Saturday evening I had a chance to break Ramadan’s daily fast with a co-worker and his family and was treated to a feast just after sunset. Even had a pineapple/crumb bottom desert dish that was likely as close as I will get to my mom’s pineapple refrigerator cake for another 5 months anyways.
Sunday I caught a ride to the beach with an American who is working for an S. African cotton farm that is re-investing in the area and had the chance to explore further down the beach from Tofo and check out the surf conditions. Not huge sets but some nice 4/5 footers suitable for surfing proper, all kinds of waves for kiting on. I saw a kiter the other day, wind was a bit light but comforting nonetheless that they exists in these parts. The place is packed full of lagoons and bays and waves, and whale sharks (largest living fish species, but only eats plankton and the like).
Monday checked out another local beach called Barra which has some pretty high-end accommodations including a string of lodges on stilts sitting on the tidal lagoon called Flamingo bay (apparently there are Flamingos here as well)
Pretty amazing place physically, with I am told, the highest density of palm trees in all of Mozambique… The area is certainly gifted in terms of attractions with world class diving, seafood, vistas, etc but short of a couple water-wells “courtesy of lodge X” it makes me wonder what life is like on the fringe of affluence brought by the visiting tourists. I intend to travel well beyond Inhambane and its surroundings so hopefully I can get a sense of what the real Mozambique is like and then have a better understanding of the contrast.
Speaking of travel, the buses (Chinese minivans) run everywhere at all times between sun up and sun down, charge about 50 cents, and literally shake themselves to pieces often packed to the rafters with 5 extra people standing in the sliding doorway. The other day the door fell off on a particularly rutted section. No problem, the driver just pulled ahead to a safe pull off, dispatched the “doorman” to retrieve it and set it back in place…
As for work, thus far I have spent my time familiarizing myself with the SOP’s, facilities, and staff to try and get a sense of how things are done around here. My Portuguese is terribly basic, but coming along. Tomorrow morning we head further North to see some of the equipment in action. The engine replacement in the 3rd Tempest (think lawnmower meets wood chipper on steroids) has been completed in Maputo and should be joining us shortly.
Sorry for the gratuitous first post, this accounts for almost two weeks and all is very new to me.