Category: Mozambique

Mozambique

Mozambique Beach Camp

Joel

For the first time on this trip we were allowed to sleep in until 8am! Prior to this the latest we have been allowed to get up is 6am. That may not sound late, but considering that it is winter down here at the moment, it is still pitch black outside at 6am and not easy to wake up naturally.

Our guides made us our first hot breakfast of eggs and bacon as well. We really had nothing scheduled to do for the day, so we all took off to do what relaxing we enjoyed most. I had a bit of a walk on the beach and a snoop around some tide pools at low tide before going for a nice beautiful swim. It may officially be winter around here, but it sure doesn’t feel like it!

Around midday many of us took a walk out to the local ‘town’ for a bit of lunch and a look at some of the souvenir stalls set up. We chuckled at the big sign saying “Genuine Italian Pizza” on the way in, but decided to stop there for lunch since there was really nothing else. Imagine this town of about 10 shops on a sandy track in the middle of nowhere with a pizza joint on the corner. As it turned out, it was GREAT pizza and the owner did seem to be an Italian surfer, obviously setting up shop in the neighbourhood to surf locally and support his lifestyle.

During the afternoon I took a long walk up the endless beach to see what was around the bend – as one does. There were a smattering of nice looking vacation houses up on the hill overlooking the ocean for part of the way and then nothing but wilderness for a little while. Most vacationers here are purported to come from South Africa in their 4wd vehicles, packing the place out during certain times of the year. Overall my walk ended up covering about 7kms of perfect beach and I never did find where it ended. Along the way I took several swims in the perfectly warm water.

We had a traditional African barbecue for dinner with several very tasty African dishes and lots of grilled lamb and sausage. All cooked over log fire embers in the sand. It was very nice!

Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland

Three Countries in a Few Hours

Joel

After a night of listening to a variety of big game animals making loud noises just over the fence from our campsite, we got up early (yet again) to pack and start making a move for Mozambique.

In order to get to Mozambique we had to drive through rural Swaziland for a while and pass back into South Africa briefly before we got to a useful border crossing. On the way down to South Africa we had a chance to see quite a bit of rural life in the Swaziland countryside. There were lots of school kids making their way to their village schools and lots of locals confusing our van for one of the taxi vans they use for public transportation between villages.

In theory we could have crossed straight into Mozambique from Swaziland, but it was quicker to drive back into South African for a while. Mozambique is a country still recuperating from over 20 years of civil war so much of the infrastructure is very poor and many roads are dirt – requiring 4wd vehicles. Because of this it didn’t make sense to just cross into Mozambique directly from Swaziland, but rather to ride as close to our destination as possible in South Africa, which has better roads.

Of course, this required that we make two border crossings in a single day – one back into South Africa and another into Mozambique. The South African crossing is the most modern and efficient of the three, but I was scrutinised when they found too many stamps in my passport. Sure enough, after flipping through every page, I was asked to present my Yellow Fever immunisation certificate due to my recent swing through South America.

We stopped for lunch in the last town in South Africa before arriving at the Mozambique border. The customs officials were much nicer than in Swaziland and even gave us all a steep ~50% discount for our required visas because we only planned to be here a few nights. US$30 instead of US$60.

The drive into the beach camp we stayed at from the border was very much an adventure in itself! We had to change vehicles at the border and shuffle all our gear over into a 4wd pickup truck with trailer because the road to the camp was little more than a very sandy track. It was a very slippery trip with lots of and swerving and dips and crests. At one point our driver gave up trying to get through a stretch and backed up and turned around to pursue another track in order to find enough momentum to punch through the slippery sand dunes.

The camp is very nice and right along a beautiful beach on the Indian Ocean. The water is a perfect temperature and great for swimming. Our tents were pitched just behind some dunes and under some nice shady trees. There are no lions or gibbons to worry about, but there still are snakes and scorpions to keep an eye out for we were warned.

We all enjoyed a beer down at the local pub, overlooking the beach, just before dinner. Every place we visit has a different selection of local beers to try, which keeps things interesting. We looked into snorkelling and diving options for the next day, but none sounded like very good value.