Tofo is a tiny little place north of Inhambane, in Mozambique. It's got beaches, palm trees, coconuts, little umbrellas in your cocktails at the beach bar... What more could you ask for?
Unfortunately the locals weren't minion material. Neither were any of the foreigners crowding the handful of cafes & restaurants.
It was, however, rather relaxing to laze on a deck chair, musing over my World Domination plans, surrounded by the oblivious plebeians as they sucked flavoured ice through little straws.
Mozambique is green, sandy, hot and full of begging children and stray dogs, though not necessarily in that order.
The thought of mobilising the thousands of stray dogs, did occur to me, but the moment was brief. The dogs are too busy, roaming wide in their daily search for food.
The locals expect money, if you take any photographs, and they get quite agitated if you don't comply to their demands. Buckets of salty fish water are gestured threateningly at cameras.
This habit of expecting money for nothing from foreigners, is obviously honed from a young age, evident in the groups of children that appear at every corner, begging for money or 'sweets'. Some will even ask for dollars or euros.
And taking their cue from their older counterparts, a rock is thrown at your vehicle, if you ignore their requests.
As a Supervillain, my mind automatically goes into 'Evil Mode' in response to such actions, and so it is a good thing that nothing violent came of the griping directed at my camera.
Mozambique is still a desperately poor African country and yet often the locals seem to scorn the presence of foreigners.
Yet it is the foreigners who are bringing
their hard-earned money into the country, supporting tiny pockets of the tourism industry scattered around the country.
If not for the tourists, places like Tofo, Ponta do Ouro and Bazaruto would be insignificant struggling villages, whose people eke out a living without the benefit of foreign money coming into their town.
Perhaps the Mozambique government should consider educating their people as to the benefits of actually
having tourists in their country!
Just across the border in Zimbabwe, the tourism industry is in serious trouble. Foreigners are wary of the political situation in the country, but those that do venture in, are greeted warmly by grateful locals who have realised the true value of visiting foreigners. The locals living around the tourist spots in Zimbabwe, are friendly and helpful, all too eager to please and ensure that people
return to their country.
In
that respect, the people of rural Mozambique have a lesson to learn from their Zimbabwean counterparts.
