By telling us your country of residence we are able to provide you with the most relevant travel insurance information.
Please note that not all content is translated or available to residents of all countries. Contact us for full details.
Shares
Feelings of excitement, nostalgia and those of anticipation filled me as I embarked on a journey of a lifetime. All things considered, I had never been the adventurous type, I had never spent that many days away from my family but in December 2014 I took a challenge. Travelling to Mozambique, Beira from my country Botswana would require me to journey a day and a half by bus. The expedition starts from the capital city Gaborone on the wee hours of December 1st. I was to connect in Zimbabwe, Harare in the evening and travel all night to the Zimbabwe/Mozambique boarder. Truly it was an exciting journey. I was a 20-year-old wanting, no, longing to see the world for myself for the first time. When the opportunity came to volunteer with a youth-led organization AIESEC, not only to travel but to transform the continent which I dearly love, the decision to go was that easy. As well, being in a different country is amazing to say the least, but also it can be the most frightening experience one can ever get to experience. While connecting in Zimbabwe and getting a bus to head to the boarder, I had an incident that nearly ruined my trip. One of the locals directing me to the bus I had to ride, nearly ran away with my luggage. It is amazing that I reflect on it now and I actually laugh but at the time only fear and horror were the two emotions I felt. Fortunately, a man quite older, had seen the whole incident and alerted the patrolling police, they immediately apprehended the man and no sooner than later, I was on the bus ready to travel to my destination. The advice I had gotten from my parents had been to keep my travel documents safe with me and never lose sight of them as I could find myself on the wrong side of the law in a foreign country. This proved helpful as I had produced my papers to the police and after inquiry about the purpose of my trip, let me go my way with no delays. Arriving in Beira was a much welcome breath of relief. I had finally arrived at my destination. I was in a new environment, thrilled as I was, I was also overwhelmed. What actually calmed my nerves was the fact that I was not alone anymore. There were a few students who came from all over, Swaziland, South Africa as well as the neighboring country Zimbabwe who had come to volunteer 6 weeks of their lives. Knowing that there were others like me who had traveled for the first time outside of their countries gave me some courage and looking back at it now, the 6 weeks spent in Beira became the best part of my life. What can I say, Beira is a beautiful city, not so much different from Botswana. I was not taken aback by the architecture or the landscape of the city, if anything I was quite dazed by the people themselves, one thing that caught my attention during the trip was the many nights spent without sleep. Which is quite different from my capital city Gaborone. By a certain time, people are in their homes getting ready for bed, mainly because of the crime levels but in Beira, the city came alive at night. The markets gleam with people busy making a life for themselves, the clubs filled with young men and women ready to have a good time, I went to a club for the first time in Beira! The ocean, what do you say to someone who has never seen the ocean before? Nothing! It was the most breath-taking experience of my life. Sometimes maybe, just maybe because the environment I grew up in has never allowed for me to be bold and adventurous, maybe because I have never seen a point in getting out of my comfort zone, I find myself regretting not traveling sooner, but I have found that taking a leap into the unknown is what I need to see what life has in store for me and to also inspire others with my stories.