CRUMBLING PIER - ILHA DE MOÇAMBIQUE
The dhows had dropped off their ‘Island’ quota of fish at the Celeiro Fish Market andheaded back to the mainland. I too had decided to leave the market madness to make my way to the crumbling pier that had snuck into the side of my viewfinder earlier in the day.
Due to the fact that the pier was an extension of a building that I could not gain access to I had a precarious climb up the rocks to the side… but it was worth it. The sun had started to drop, the clouds were rolling in off the mainland and the tide was creeping up. With cracks wider than my shoes, ‘sinkholes’ leading straight through to the ocean below and half the concrete railing missing, my sense of stability was a little shaky.
I set up my tripod, waited and wondered if I too would be split in half if the pier suddenly gave way.
It was then the first boy appeared, followed by another and another, all rushing to the end of the pier. “Ah, some fellow visual appreciators.” I thought. Wrong! It was very quickly apparent that the boys wanted to show me their cracks too. I had stumbled upon Ilha’s ‘loo with a view’. Not wanting to have my vision ruined I gave the boys a few coins to move aside and keep their shit together a little longer. I fired off a frame, got my shit together and moved aside.
