JULY 2001, mid-winter in the southern hemisphere, found me and my husband of six months on a beach in the coastal city of Beira in Mozam­bique. We had wanted to exchange the freezing winter temperatures of high-altitude Johannesburg for the usually sub-tropical climate of this crumbling city on the shores of the Indian Ocean. Sun, sand, sea, throw a few cameras into the mix, what could possibly go wrong?