Motorscootin in Mozambique

Since this past Sunday was the last full Sunday I would be on Ilhe, I decided to go for a motorbike ride.  I kept putting off the off island excursions to make sure my money was adequate, and so I finally took off.
I rented a 50cc motor bike from one of the guys on the island, and after a little learning curve, I was off the Island!  Now, a 50 cc motor bike is small....I mean real small.  People kept looking at me as I would motor along partly because they don´t see a white guy on a motorbike...ever...and I was a little big for the thing anyway.  But, as I would go along I would wave at everybody and I would hear Bon Dia! and cheers and yells and the little kids would giggle and laugh and everybody waved back.  Some waved back enthusiastically and others in sort of a dull shock like the circus had just ridden by.
I did get to see 2 cool things, at least I think they were cool.  First, there is an old airplane hanger just off the main highway and a couple of white buildings back behind the hanger. So, I turned up this little dirt path on my little motorbike to see what I could see.  I ran into...Aeropuerto de Jumbo!  This is a cool little airline terminal with an equally cool control tower.  The one employee met me as I drove up and gave me a tour of the entire facility!  He said that maybe 2 or 3 airplanes a month land there and he did have a photo of a private jet sitting on the tarmac.  It was fun to see and I get to tell the visitors on the island that are doing research about the airport...which they don´t believe.
The second thing I did was take the motorbike on a dirt road out to the country side to see what that was like.  It brought  back great memories of my cousin Steve and I riding his motorscooter on the dirt country roads in Oklahoma when I was 12 and he was 14.  In fact, that is how I learned to dirve a motorscooter.  Thanks, cuz!
The people on the country road were as enjoyable to see as the scenery.  EVERBODY stopped what they were doing to look at me go by.  They were all very friendly...just confused or amused or both.
We are moving the end very fast on the project now.  The mason has completed all but one small task and he is trying to get the bathroom floors and walls finished before I leave.  We need to stain a little bit of door trim and some small stuff but other than that...we are done.
I posted pictures on Flickr if you want to see.
Mike