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Henry Fynn Lagoon Coast Post Ramble to AH2007
NB: This event is full – we have started a waiting list - 31 July 2006. If you were one of the lucky few, your name should be on the list below. Here is what you have all been waiting for – the plan for the Post Ramble to Africa Hash 2007. Caution – this is only for real hashers – some parts of the ramble will involve rough transits off road, basic camping and close encounters with dangerous wildlife. If you’re OK with this – read on…… Day One - The Post Ramble will leave Maputo on Monday, March 19th 2007. We will pick you up at Sparrow Fart from your Africa Hash hotel. Now relax while we take you on a trip back in time… to the old Africa of tribal chiefs and ivory traders….. (for the sake of clarity, all place names are those in use 200 years ago **) In the Footsteps of Henry Fynn Taking the steam ferry near the Portuguese Fort at Mattoll we leave the safe harbour of Delagoa Bay to cross the Rio São Jorge to the village of Chief Mayetha in the area known as Tembe. Here water dragons and herds of sea cows infest the rivers and buffalo roam the plains – (the area is also infested by a hasher named Long Trunk, more of him later). Our bearers will meet us at the Jetty, and after two hours of journey on village roads we will reach the end of the trade route at Chief Mbongi’s Village. We will break for refreshment at the Indian trading post at Salamanga where we will visit the old Hindu temple the earliest in this part of Africa. From here on the going deteriorates rapidly. After crossing the Maphutha River the bush is wild and Elephant are common in the forest. Travellers are scarce and a local guide is needed.# If the going is good and the bush is dry we should succeed in crossing the land beyond the River without excessive loss of life to wild beasts or fever to arrive at the coastal village of Malongane by late afternoon, where a great welcome awaits us! It is said that at Malongane the beer flows like rushing water after a tropical storm! There will also be great rejoicing amongst hashers of weaker disposition upon the discovery of such luxuries as running water, soft beds and hair dryer sockets! # Note: to transport 60 hashers through this terrain will be a serious challenge. We will be using a system of transport that is so innovative that it hadn’t been built at the time of writing. The design has worried our Hash Engineer - Ring Piece, so greatly that to protect his professional reputation he has left Mozambique and gone to live in a tent in Southern Sudan. And so we arrive back in the 21st century – we have booked chalets at the beautiful resort of Ponta Malongane – a location about as remote as any you will ever visit, but with every comfort. We will hash the dunes and beaches and in the evening we party. Quad biking in the dunes and coral reef diving are available as optional extras if we have time (our arrival time will depend on the condition of the track, so this is not guaranteed).  Day Two - we start early to cross some of the rough country we saw on Monday and if our progress is good, after a couple of hours we should reach the Maputo Elephant reserve. There are very few visitors to this reserve, which is one of the most remote and beautiful in Africa. There are also no fences and very few wardens. Our Hasher – Guide, Elephant Trunk, is currently the only operator taking visitors to this reserve, and he doesn’t take many! The elephants in this area are migratory, so there is no guarantee of a sighting, but you should be aware that these are wild animals, more used to ivory poachers that tourists, so exercise caution if you are lucky enough to meet one.   We will continue deep into the reserve to set a hash around the beautiful lagoons and sand dunes of the coast. Please take care, we hope to end the hash with roughly the same numbers we started with. The lagoons are inviting, but they are teaming with hippos and crocs – swimming is not recommended! After the hash we will have a sumptuous barbeque meal, and - only if time allows - Elephant Trunk will offer elephant tracking game drives as an optional extra. At night we camp out under the stars in the elephant reserve, listening to the night sounds of the wild and hoping that a curious elephant doesn’t visit our tent in the night. For a limited number of wimps and wankers who feel they really can’t hack this, Elephant Trunk will provide transport back to his hotel in Catembe at no extra cost. Day three – we rise early and head for the village of Bela Vista on the banks of the Maputo River. Our plan is to transfer to a boat here and continue down-river to the sea – following the route of Henry Fynn. However the river is prone to shifting sandbanks and the success will depend on river conditions on the day. We are still negotiating for the boat to come this far as the operators are reluctant for their staff to enter the water to shove us off sandbanks due to large numbers of crocodiles, hippopotami and sharks. I have told them that they are being unreasonable, as we could use surplus hashers for these tasks, but so far the issue is unresolved. Note: This is not a joke – the boat operators are seriously worried about the hippos in particular. Negotiations are in progress. I promise that any assistance I offer will be completely at your own risk.  If we do not succeed in getting the boat to Bela Vista we will continue by land up the wild and virtually trackless Santa Maria peninsula to reach the water somewhere on the Baia de Maputo (Delagoa Bay) which is accessible to our boats. Lunch and cocktails will be served on board or on the beach, depending on timing. Once on the boats we will head out across the Baia to Inhaca Island, where we will run an evening hash amongst the pristine sands and mangroves. We are booked into the Pestana Inhaca Lodge which will lay on a delicious seafood dinner. There will be showers to wash off the grit of two days in the bush.  Day Four - Leave for Portuguese Island – a beautiful sandy paradise only ten minutes boat ride from Inhaca. This was the first establishment of the Portuguese on this part of the coast, given to them as a base to trade ivory by Chief Maphutha. Henry Fynn was shipwrecked on this Island (then known as Ilha dos Elefantes) on his arrival in Delagoa Bay. It is now uninhabited, visited only by occasional fishermen and hashers. We will hash on the island followed by a desert island barbeque before taking our boat to Catembe. After about an hour’s crossing we will be welcomed by Elephant Trunk at his Catembe Gallery Hotel – where we will feast on local seafood and dance to live music in the last great hash ball of the Post Ramble. Day Five - The next morning we will hash around the plains and beaches of Catembe where we may be lucky enough to sight the local buffalo herd. The circle will be in the Catembe Gallery’s dramatic Amphitheatre with a stunning view across the harbour before we take to the water for the last time to return to Maputo. After check-in at the Hotel Cardoso we will meet at the O Marlin beachfront restaurant where Hasher / Owner Careca will provide a superb Mozambican buffet dinner for the survivors to mark the end of the Lagoon Coast Post Ramble. 
 Day Six - If , after a comfortable night at the Hotel Cardoso, you feel ready for more, why not join Maputo H3 at 16.00 for their weekly hash? The hare-raiser has promised a memorable trail to commemorate the Africa Hash 2007 week in Mozambique! ** for the source of old place names used in this flyer read the The Diary of Henry Francis Fynn, explorer, elephant hunter and traveller, concerning his voyage to Delagoa Bay in 1818 Lagoon Coast Post Ramble to Africa Hash 2007 Registration Details: Price: Total cost of the Lagoon Coast Post-Ramble is USD 600 per hasher. NB: There are special prices for Mozambique residents who provide their own 4x4 transport. What is included? Everything above – plus a Henry Francis Fynn hash souvenir How do I book? Reply to this e mail quoting your Africa Hash 2007 registration number. Only hashers who are registered and paid for AH 2007 will be registered on the Post Ramble. What if I already paid USD 500 deposit? No need to send more money now. Bring the USD 100 in cash and pay Hash Cash when you register for AH 2007. If we negotiate deals after the date of this flyer that reduce the price the reduction will be applied first to reduce the additional amount due by those who paid the deposit. How do I pay? Send USD 600 plus bank charges to the AH 2007 bank account giving your name and the words “POST RAM” as reference.
Register now for Africa Hash 2007 and join in the MADNESS IN MAPUTO!!
Last updated 14.12.2006 |