The Fifth-Hottest Place on Earth

Weekend trip to Tete

Another med student here, Charles, did peace corps in Mozambique, so six of us visited his site, Moatize, near the city of Tete. I've heard the Mozambique coast is incredible. Tete is the site of the fifth-highest temperature ever recorded; not exactly an enticing superlative.

It was great to see where Charles lived, meet his friends, and see the school where he taught, but the heat got to me - the hottest day of the year so far, 40 degrees Celsius. We had planned to stay with the current peace corp volunteer, but his house was literally the dirtiest place I've ever
seen (and I saw a few crack houses in Baltimore). An inch of dirt on the ground, silverware cemented in the sink, black bathtub... So instead we stayed in a truck stop / whore house. I had never before stayed in a flea-bag motel, but I have the bites to prove that I have now.

We decided to leave Charles with his friends and take a field trip to a dam and reservoir 150km north of Tete. It was lovely - boat ride, swimming, fresh fish. We’re planning a trip to the coast in November.

Crossing the Malawi-Mozambique border

Lunch in Moatize (Becca, Charle's pricipal, Charles, me, Jon, Seth)

Charles' school

The library that Charles built

Kid outside a barbarshop (note the poster with the different hairstyles to chose among)

Charles in the market. I didn't linger here.. the smell in this section was really intense!

Market. I like this picture because you can see how the women in Malawi and Mozambique carry their babies on their backs.

Clothes market

Drinking beer in the market. Charles gave some medical advice to the shopkeeper about her arthritis. We attracted quite a crowd.

Crossing the Zambeze River in Tete

Once again, hood open, overheated, under the shade of a boabab tree beside a village. (Notice a pattern?)

Arrived in time for lunch!

Sunset boat cruise on the Cahora Bassa

Nick (lodge owner), Jon, me, Seth, Becca