Epilogue
Here we are on the road back to Johannesburg where we rented the car as they are a lot cheaper there then in Mozambique. We had left behind the Mozambique capital town of Maputo filled with huge open-air garbage dumps and had just crossed the border with South Africa, getting back to the modern world driving on a nice tarmac road with the usual painted white lines and the road signs on the edges. We were going up in the world, driving along a beautiful river in a valley full of planted orange trees. An easy and restful drive after the 12 hours we had just spent in Mozambique avoiding pot-holes, walkers, bikers, chickens, dogs, ox-carts and worse than all that, cars driving at night without a single light!
“We didn’t score Tofinho point but all in all it was a really cool trip. Scoring waves is just a bonus. I like the random weird things that happen between windsurf sessions’’, said Thomas while he was driving. ‘’Like the farewell party we had yesterday at our place?’’, asked Jules. ‘’Well yeah…but no, I’d rather remember those whales jumping next to the peak, those monkeys on the side of the road, the endless savannah planted with millions of coconuts and mango trees and those guys playing guitar sitting by the door of their wooden hut.’’ ‘’While their women are walking bare foot in the bush with a baby tight on their back and a bucket full of water on their head!’’, I added. ‘’Yes, I like that timeless image of Africa which is so alive there in Mozambique’’, said Thomas. ‘’Yes …for the ones who can see it!, because if you spend your day on Facebook you will miss all that…But look Jules, you are far from being the worse social media addicted guy I have travelled with lately’’, I said. And before Jules could answer I added, ‘’Facebook is just a symbol of the main problem, it just speaks about what pro- windsurfing has slowly become over the last 10 years: egocentric, parasitic and completely disconnected from the environments upon which it depends and the people who live by those remote spots.’’ ‘’Well, give us an example then!’’, said Thomas.
‘’Here you go: the first question most pro-riders will ask me today when we are planning a trip is: how long is the transfer from the airport to the spot? It is a pity because as you just said it is those random moments that give any trip its deepness! I will never forget those 13 days at sea against the wind to reach the Chagos islands. From our crew, Kauli Seadi was the one suffering the most from sea-sickness on board. At one point I remember that I offered him a baked potato that I had just cooked and which was a true luxury regarding the weather conditions and the devastated kitchen. His words after he managed to eat it were: “Thanks man, you kind of saved my life”. He meant it. He had been vomiting his bile for so long he was starting to turn green. And now, look, he is spending his life looking for spots on board a sailing boat…’’ ‘’You mean that some guys travelling to Indo, Chile or Cape Town should sometimes forget about social media, coca-cola, burgers and TV and rather concentrate on meeting local people, getting into the culture of the place and understanding the new form of nature which surrounds them?’’, asked Thomas. ‘’Yes, that’s it.’’, I replied. ‘’But myself, as a pro-rider, shouldn’t I stick to what I am paid for? That is to say stay tuned to what’s going on in the windsurfing scene and play my role by posting on the net no matter where I am at?’’, asked Jules. ‘’What for?’’, argued Thomas, ‘’It is not gonna make you become world champion, nor make you feel happier.’’ ‘’Hey guys listen to some stuff I have just been reading. The words are from a wise surfer called Mark Renneker: ‘Your surfing is finally free when you don’t feel like you need to be showing off or somehow meeting some expectation you have for yourself’. What do you think about that?’’, I said. Jules dropped his phone and started staring at the mountains out of the car window. We then drove in silence.
“ Social media creates frustration for every one of us, it is obvious ” Gilles Calvet