Travel Diary: Mozambique

When we left Mozambique after our 3 week holiday in April we debated which way we would head North when we eventually started full time travel in a few months time, would we go West and via Namibia & Zambia OR would we return back to our happy hunting grounds of Mozambique and head northwards that way?  In the end the decision was made by Stuart acquiring another surfboard and the desire to test it out.

With a desire to at least have some new experiences as we travelled the southern portion of Mozambique we decided to enter through Kruger National Park and the Giriyondo border post, this would be our 5th different border post used to enter Moz.  In hindsight this wasn’t the best decision as we had to incur additional transit fees for the Mozambique portion of the trans-frontier park and some very corrugated roads which threatened to shake both us and Mr Jones apart.  All was made good once we arrived at Chidenguele and enjoyed a Rum & Rasberry while looking out at the ocean.

A short hop took us up to Tofo where we spent the next 12 days just chilling out, enjoying the great vibe of this little village and of course surfing. This brought our residency time in Tofo to 36 days for 2019 and many of the locals seemed to think we were permanent residents or long lost friends.  Over the years we have seen a steady upliftment of Tofo, one improvement we really appreciated was a new Japanese restaurant called Sumi which just happens to be run by a childhood friend of Tania (Craig Harburn). The menu is influenced by the availability of local produce and the catch of the day, it is world class and we enjoyed a couple of evenings out there.

In 2008 on our first trip to Mozambique, we had three goals, firstly to celebrate Stuart’s Dad 70th birthday somewhere along the coast, secondly to tick off a lifer for Stuarts folks birding list ( a Green head Oriale found on Gorongosa mountain and thirdly to visit Ilha De Mozambique.  Although we managed to achieve the first two goals and did get quite far north we quickly realised that Ilha was going to be too far on bad roads especially with 5 people and all our camping gear packed into one Land Rover. On subsequent trips we have had the loose goal of getting to Ilha but invariably got marooned on the beaches down south so this time given that we didn’t have the usual time restrictions we decided we would visit Ilha, leaving Tofo we knew we had almost 2000km and at least 5 days of hard driving ahead of us.

As we moved north of Vilankulos the road began to deteriorate and we soon found ourselves rock and rolling through potholes while playing dodgem with 30ton trucks.   Truck & pothole dodgem video

A days break at Goody Villas in Inhassoro was just what the doctor ordered for both Mr Jones and ourselves as it was so nice to have grass to camp on and not have sandy feet as moved around in camp.

A stroke of luck meant the expected bad roads north of Inhassoro were not too bad and we made good time to the planned overnight spot so decided to gamble and see if we could make the next days drive as well which fortunately went well as we made Gorongosa in the late afternoon.

Mozambique seems to be a tale of thirds, the southern part has steadily developed around tourism over the last decade, the northern section is also growing and changing due to coal and maybe gas. However as we drove through the middle section we couldn’t help but feel depressed as we pushed towards the Beira & Gorongosa area, there is practically no change from 12 years ago in terms of development of the area or people.  Possibly the only change is that the children and teenagers we saw back then are now parents.

Another depressing sight in this section is the level of deforestation and slash and burn activities, for 50km before and after the Inchope intersection (Beira) the bush is just burnt or burning and smog/smoke hangs everywhere.

We arrived at Gorongosa Adventure campsite (a little camp just outside the park boundary) to a “ghost town” feel.  We were the only people there and there was no indication of anybody around.  Everything still seems functional if just a little covered in winter leaves so we parked and opened the car.  It was stinking hot at first but as evening arrived it cooled down nicely and went “bushveld quite”.  Also some camp attendants arrived and we “checked-in”, based on their register we were the first visitors in 30 days which sums up our interactions with other revellers in Mozambique.  In our 24 days travelling through the country we met one Swede on a motorbike and saw in the distance two other “overland” vehicles, in particular once we left Tofo most of the time we felt like the only foreign travellers.

From Gorongosa to the Zambezi was only 300km but took us over 7 hours, the road had massive potholes, lots of detours, dust so thick from trucks on the detours that sometimes we couldn’t even see the end of the bonnet.  The terrible roads resulted in a coolant leak which fortunately Stuart could bypass quite quickly and keep us moving.

What is crazy is that 11 years ago the EU spent a fortune on building a bridge over the Zambezi which is world class and certainly cuts out waiting for a ferry etc, but what good is it if the 300km leading up to the bridge are a road from hell that just punishes and kills vehicles, cargo, people etc.  A first world bridge connected to roads that don’t exist….  After a hard day on the road we couldn’t help but wonder how cynical will we become about aid and the mix of 1st and 3rd world by the end of this trip?

After a long day, CUA CUA lodge was a welcome relief, a couple of beers later and the bartender bringing round a hosepipe to wash off Mr Jones grime from the day makes the world seem better. We camped on the front lawns below the bar and next to pool, the shower facilities are not great so we rinsed off the dust in the pool.

Another long, hot day followed in order to get to Nampula with no stopping for 9 hours but at least the roads were improved. We camped next to a beautiful lake and granite outcrop, the  only downside was it is the weekend picnic spot for the Nampula brat pack and the party was in full steam when we arrived Sunday afternoon.  The last revellers left around 9.  We slept like the dead until some voices and what sounded like an attempt to open the back door woke Tania at 4:00,  then the main security light went out!  We sat nervously staring out the windows trying to see if anybody was around and luckily nothing come of it.  When the security light come back on, Tania took night guard shift together with her kindle while Stuart caught a few more zees.

A pleasant surprise when leaving Nampula was to find a brand new Shoprite, which was very well stocked, clean and had safe parking with nobody hassling you while you try and pack the car. We also found a shop selling water so stopped and bought a number of 6l containers which we decanted into water tank right there on side of road, so that we had our full 60l of freshwater back on board.  A reminder of the differences in priorities when travelling in the 3rd world is how as soon as you finish emptying a water container somebody is there looking to collect the empty for their own use.

The only camping option at Ilha de Mozambique is on the mainland where the causeway starts, our first impressions upon arriving were not good (perhaps cause we were exhausted from many hard days of travel) as the entry to the campsite is right in the busy part of the village and rather dirty but it turned into a good find.  The people running the site are super friendly and go out of their way to help even though there was a major communication barrier as neither of us could speak the others language, the facilities are old but nice and clean and we are camped right on the edge of sea.  There was a nice casita to sit under and watch the comings and goings of the village pass by on the sea shore.  We were planning on going across to Ilha right away but when we got a surprise breakfast (fried egg and bread roll) brought to us, we immediately started to relax and ended up spending the day chilling and doing chores on Mr Jones. Tomorrow is another day…

The island of Mozambique (3km long by 500m wide) was ruled by a sultan (Musa Bin Bique) during the times of Vasco de Gama and it is from this and subsequent Portuguese pronunciations of his name that Mozambique derives it’s own name.  In the 15th century the Portuguese established a port and built a chapel which is now considered the oldest European building in the Southern Hemisphere. In the 16th century a fort was built and the island become a major trading post for slaves, spices and gold. A 3km bridge erected in the 1960’s now connects the island to the mainland.

The island has an interesting mix of Arabic, Chinese and Portuguese influence and we enjoyed a day of visiting the museum, fort and then lazing on a rooftop terrace watching dhows sail by as they go about their daily business.

From Ilha to Malawi we had 700km to traverse and based on the information we had the middle part was really bad roads, the plan was to split this over 3 days driving. When we outpaced the GPS calculations by 2 hours on the second day and the GPS showed we could make Malawi by 3 that afternoon we decided to carry on.

That decision turned what had been an easy day into a day from HELL, the road for the next 200km was ugly dirt with soft powdery sections (like Dakar Fesh Fesh) that just enveloped the whole car.   Almost immediately the GPS ETA started to climb and we were under pressure.  

Mr Jones did not get higher than 3rd gear for the next 5 hours as Stuart battled the road. We arrived at the border filthy and tired. Somehow we survived the border crossing with our sense of humour intact even changing money with the black market traders (and not getting conned) as the ATM inside Malawi wouldn’t give us cash and we had border fees plus insurance to buy.  The last 40km were done in the dark (breaking a hard rule of ours to not drive at night) with Stuart sticking close behind a truck no matter how slow or fast he went as at least he was a moving wall.   

The straw that almost broke the camels back was arriving at Palm Beach camp ground on the Lake, opening the back door and absolutely everything including the inside of draws was covered in dust and the campground and its ablutions are grimy.   We closed off a 12 hour day on the road with a beer and packet of Simba chips as we were too tired to be bothered to do anything else….

All in all we had a great time and a few adventures in Mozambique, now we are looking forward to some R&R time next to Lake Malawi.

Maintenance Log: Mozambique created it’s fair share of issues

Useful links and Practical info for Mozambique