Crossing the border to a different "real" Africa
In and around Mozambique
(Ronnie's story) This was a day full of surprises! First, our bus from Nelspruit to Maputo left EARLY! Never in the entire history of my travels has a bus departed before its allotted time (a whole fifteen minutes before). Next, at the Mozambique border there was a kind of controlled chaos. All the buses arrived at exactly the same time which meant there were tons of people. We stood there hot and sweaty waiting for our visas but grateful that our bus driver waited for us. The woman working for Translux was lovely- she stepped to the front of the line and speaking in portuguese "handled"the entire visa process for us. Her kindness even extended to people who were not on our bus which increased our time at the border to an additional 30 minutes... but whose counting?
Finally we arrived in Mozambique. Then after paying a taxi 100 Rand (over 10 dollars) to get out of the city and we had to pay it again to get back in! Our original plan was stay at a hostel on the outer limits of the city, overlooking the ocean, on the recommendation of its owners. We met the owners while staying at their other hostel in Swaziland but decided against staying there after the price quoted to us by the owner was not honored.
After setting off from South Africa at 100pm, we arrived at the Base Backpackers around 800pm. We were given a better than expected double room for 1/2 the cost of the other hostel and... we only had to cross the street to get some fantastic Indian food. The restaurant was being diligently guarded by a man with a very large assault weapon.
I liked Mozambique right away- arriving on a Sunday was great. This was another surprise because places are usually dead on Sunday afternoons. There were lots of people walking along the beaches and sitting outside in the restaurants. The city has a vibrant and welcoming feel to it. I even enjoyed using my Spanish again to communicate with the taxi drivers and people working in the hostels.
Route taken and entries by Real Traveler Voices of Africa
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1
A Day out coaching
(Nicks Story). Today I had the absolute privelage of working with RTP at the biggest rubbish dump in Maputo. There is a huge community tha... Continue reading » -
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a home and some movies
(nicks Story) A big thank you to Marshall and Connie for making their home, our home for a few days in Xai Xai. We met them through Right to... Continue reading »
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Our two week Vacation
(Nicks Story) We eventually took a two week vacation at Barra Lodge on Barra Beach, close to Tofu. When we called them they quoted us $345 a... Continue reading »
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A Sharks tale
(nicks Story) Finally, after a 4 year wait ( I missed them in Western Australia), I got to swim with whale sharks.
After a two day wait (we n... Continue reading »
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Finding Nemo
So this is the story of how I became a qualified open water scuba diver...I had not been in the ocean for about seven years and am prone to sunburn... Continue reading »
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The bus was only 7 hours late!
(nicks story) We waited 7 hours on a garage forecourt for our 'luxury' bus to arrive. It was about 90 degrees and humid and no breeze!!... Continue reading »
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11 hours of pure pain!!
We got up at 3am to catch the 4:30am bus from Vilankulu to Beira. The 24 seater bus set off on time at 5am! and within 20 km had hit a dog at... Continue reading »
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9
You know you're a traveller when...
You know you are a traveller when.....
1)...you wear the same shirt for 7 straight days or more.
2) ...en-suite is luxury
3... Continue reading »
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10
Going North
Hopefully we have caught a bus today and have arrived in Ilha de Mozambique for a few days in a supposedly beautiful little town. The bus lea... Continue reading »
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A chapas is never full
(Nicks story).
Imagine getting picked up by a 24 seater minibus. Imagine that on the back 4 seats there are 8 people...and th... Continue reading »
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12
We Flew to Tanzania
After all the fun on chapas we didn't dare do a border crossing that potentially could include walking 10 km, a river crossing, another 5 km walk and... Continue reading »
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