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Published: October 21st 2013
Adventures at the coast with loose axles and landmines.
After the previous year's trip up to Barra reef, we felt Moz drawing us like a magnet, so decided to take a trip up part of the coast of Moz (still classified as Southern Mozambique because the coastline is so long). We were yearning to see more of Moz but at a slightly more leisurely pace as we didn't have much time to sightsee along the way the year before. It would only be a two week trip as well but we wanted to stop at a few places and had a basic guideline where we wanted to go. Our goal was to try to go as far as Vilanculos (a further 260 km north of Inhambane, so in total about 760km up the coastline) then work our way back. We didn't book in advance, but did some research, planning and enquiries whether there would be camping sights available which there were. If we liked what we saw we would spend a couple of days, if not, we would carry on.
By now we had an addition to our trailer - a roof top tent with a very
comfortable bed. Initially we wanted to get a smaller tent with just a bed but I insisted on having an extended section where we could stand, as I had heard of too many people finding it awkward to get dressed in their tents, while lying on the bed. I also felt that if it rained we could at least sit there or keep some camping gear dry. We added a few more purchases to our camping equipment, a fridge/freezer and managed to buy two plastic shelving units that fitted perfectly side by side as if made to fit in our trailer, which we would use for our clothes, making it so much easier than living out of suitcases or bags. A couple of other boxes or crates were bought for cooking utensils and food.
We had a better idea what was available in Mozambique and some of the places we were planning to stay at had restaurants, so we stocked up on items that weren't available in Mozambique, referring to my ever changing lists that were getting longer and more involved, now with a list for the vehicle as well. A basic but good selection of tools
are essential when travelling in Africa. Once again we took jerry cans for extra fuel as well as containers for water where the water wasn't suitable for consumption.
Bilene Our first leg of the trip was from home to Bilene, with a border crossing in the middle. Last year we had a two hour wait at the border at 6am so this year we decided to leave home just before dawn and get to the border at about midday. It was still busy, but not as bad and we were through the border, both sides within an hour. Much better and this time our car battery didn't give us any troubles. See the previous blog:
Bitten by the Moz bug and it's name is not mosquito! Bilene is about 180km north of Maputo so the drive wasn't too bad apart from a few hair raising moments through the outskirts of Maputo and we reached Bilene late afternoon. We stayed at Complexo Palmeiras, a beautiful setting on the lake with some bungalows and a camping area under trees. We had a few hairy moments as part of the camping area is on a slope and there is only soft beach sand, no grass, concrete or tar
so to manoeuvre the trailer was quite a mission. Paul did very well reversing the trailer as it was getting dark while I tried to guide him and prevent him from hitting a tree that had a habit of mysteriously sticking a limb out to get in your way. We hoped we would get the trailer up the slope when we wanted to leave. The lake is shallow for a long way so we couldn't really swim properly and it was far from the beach as you either have to make use of a boat to get across the lake or drive around the lake on a sand track. Because we were still wary of driving in remote areas we decided not to take the chance and stayed on the western side of the lake. We had a lovely relaxing day walking around the small town of Praia do Bilene, watching some of the inhabitants of the town congregating, drinking and dancing in the street. It was good to just unwind and get into a holiday mode. We spent two nights there, which was enough, eating at the restaurant both nights, enjoying prawns and Portuguese chicken. Relaxed enough, adventure calling,
time to head further north.
Morongulo Our plan was to make our way to the furthest point we wanted to get to, then work our way back south. We spotted our cashew nut vendors and bought a supply of nuts for the rest of the trip (which still tasted good) then stopped off at a view point at Quissico for a quick picnic lunch with spectacular views over three lakes. The EN1 had been patched in places but other sections were worse than the year before and it took a long time to cover just over 300km. Xai Xai had some of the worst sections and always a difficult section to drive through. The further north we drove, the worse the road became.
After Maxixe we hit the worst section with more potholes than tar and oncoming traffic on a par with last year. On one such occasion we just had to drive through a nasty pothole to avoid an oncoming truck, but then continued on. A short while later we heard a distinctive 'clunk' and the car didn’t feel quite as steady as it should, so Paul stopped the car on the
side of the road, to take a look. There was barely place to pull to the side to be safely off the road, but we had no option because we discovered that the trailer was rather skew. My hands on mechanic crouched under the trailer and saw that the bolt holding the axle of the trailer had snapped right off. Our basic tool kit and spares didn't have any of those type of bolts! We were in the middle of nowhere, a fair distance between Maxixe and the next town. We were both scratching our heads thinking of a solution when Paul said he thought the bolt holding the jockey wheel would fit. We could manage without the jockey wheel - until we had to stop for the night and manoeuvre the trailer! But how were we going to get the trailer back into the right position to secure the bolt? While we were contemplating this, a local resident approached us on his bicycle, apologising that his English was bad, but did we have a problem? We explained our situation to him and he stood with us proverbially scratching his head as well. Paul came up with an idea to
put rocks or a big piece of wood behind the wheels of the trailer then nudge the car in reverse and hopefully get everything in alignment to get the bolt through all the holes. Now we needed some rocks, and started looking around us. Our friendly helper hopped on his bicycle and said he would be back. A short while later, all we spotted was a bicycle coming towards us, a gleaming white beaming smile, rocks and bits of wood grasped in one hand, the other hand holding onto the handle bar and knees pointing to the sides while wobbling from left to right, trying to keep his balance. He was so pleased to be of assistance. By that stage we had managed to find a rock or two as well so we placed all of it behind the trailer wheels to keep them in position. There was only one chance to get this right or we would have a serious problem. How Paul managed to reverse and get it in place again, we don't know, but it worked and the bolt fitted perfectly! We were so relieved that it wasn’t more serious than a broken bolt. Thanking our dear
helper, we asked him what he was doing here as we couldn't see any villages in close proximity, he answered he was waiting for his brother to come back from South Africa but he wasn't sure when, so each day he cycled to the main national road to see if he was there, then he returned home. We gave him a small contribution, grateful for his help, and he was equally grateful, waved goodbye and went on his way. Who knows how many times he cycled to the road and how long he waited for his brother to return home.
We decided to head for Morrongulu for the night which was about another 20-30km further and as we drove on, we saw a sign saying Tropic of Capricorn so we had some indication where we broke down. Upon reaching Morrongulu just as it was getting dark, we both exhaled a huge sigh of relief and said that was as far as we were going - no further - the roads were too bad. We would spend a few days then head back south.
Bilene to Morrongulu was about 420km which took us the whole day with
probably a total of an hour or two at the most of stopping. We supported the front of the trailer on some blocks so we didn’t put strain on the jockey wheel. Once we set up camp, we decided we needed a well deserved drink and have dinner cooked for us so we walked to the bar and restaurant only to discover it was closed. Not surprising as the campsite was virtually empty and no chance of a roaring trade. Luckily we had our own drinks and food.
Shower time was an experience and fun at Morrongulu. We were told that we might not always get hot water to wash ourselves with and some of the bathrooms would need some revamping and maintenance. Here we had to buy paraffin at reception, pour some in a flat tin with a wick inside. After lighting the wick you placed it in a hole in the wall in the shower cubicle and turned on the taps. After a short while, it sounded like a jet engine taking off and produced glorious hot water until the paraffin burned out - about 5 minutes. Those were the best showers we had in
Mozambique! Interesting and intriguing concept which Paul tried to explain to me, creating a vacuum, heating the pipe etc, but all that mattered to me was the lovely warm shower I had.
The next day we headed back to Morrumbene to look for a spare bolt of the same size to bolt in the jockey wheel again. We drove through the previous day after our incident, stopping at the market for some pao (bread) and noticed a couple of little stalls or small shops selling all kinds of goods so we headed for them. Going from stall to stall (armed with a cable tie the length of the bolt and a shorter bolt of the right thickness as a guidline) asking everyone, we had no luck finding the right size bolt. Eventually we gave up and were heading back to the car, when we heard a commotion behind us and a chap running towards us saying he knew someone who might have a bolt for us, so he took us to the shop. The owner produced a box of old, second hand rusty bolts of all shapes and sizes and Paul found two! He bought both and
we still have the one in our emergency supplies and the other on the jockey wheel. Once again, a very helpful community, knowing how difficult it is to get spares when one breaks down.
We stayed at Morrongulu for 3 nights with the full intention of going south again. We chatted to someone who had just come back from Vilanculos who said the road was only bad for the next 20 km and after that it was fine as it had been newly tarred. We decided to take the chance and look for ourselves, but if the road was still bad after 30km we would turn back. The gentleman was quite correct and we found the road to be beautiful after our experience of a few days ago.
Vilanculos As we reached the outskirts of Vilanculos we saw a demarcated area that was being cleared of mines with the help of rats. It brought home to us that the devastating remnants of war was still being felt by the Mozambicans. We headed to the camping area but it didn't appeal to us at all as we felt we would have no privacy and
be watched by everyone that passed the area as it was a busy area. We drove to the tourist information centre where they recommended we stay just outside town at Blue Water bay. That was far more preferable to us. In the end we spent 4 nights there while we walked, dived and snorkelled near the Bazaruto archipelago. We were hoping to see a dugong but Lady Luck preferred to use our good fortune for other purposes. We met a couple who stayed at Blue Water bay who went shopping in town and had their fridge stolen out of their vehicle as they only had a canvas enclosure on the back of their vehicle. We had been warned before our trip that theft was quite rife in Vilanculos. When we needed to replenish stocks Paul stayed at the car while I went shopping. There always seemed to be an entourage following me, wanting to assist for a fee of course. There was a lovely restaurant at BWB. We alternated, some nights cooking for ourselves and others eating at the restaurant and one of those nights we had the most delicious fish with a strange name: the prodigal son.
We were so pleased that we persevered and drove the extra bit to Vilanculos as we had a wonderful time. But we had to start heading south again, because we still had a couple of places to see.
Paindane Still wrapped in our cocoon of bliss we headed to Paindane where we went for a couple of hours the previous year and wanted to come back to.
On our way back we drove past our landmark stating that we were crossing the Tropic of Capricorn again and a little further next to the road we noticed a demarcated area with ubiquitous pegs and red markings on them. Both Paul and I stared in disbelief as that was in the vicinity where we stopped to fix our trailer. In those few days since we last passed this area an unfortunate local resident must have stepped on a landmine close to where we stopped and they were now in the process of checking and clearing the area.
Good fortune certainly favoured us, considering we were searching for rocks in the scrub!
As we took the turnoff towards Inhambane Paul checked
Think we should buy some?
This sign featured in many magazinesour GPS and noticed that we would have to travel towards Inhambane then almost double back the equivalent distance on a gravel road which eventually would become a sand road, to get to Paindane. He had seen another road that cut straight across and was much shorter, albeit a minor road which would be a sand road. He was prepared to use it and it should certainly save us travelling time even though it would be slower going than on the gravel. As we reached the sand we deflated our tyres to about 1.8 B as we had done previously on sand tracks and set forth without a problem, managing little hills and valleys. About halfway across there was a fairly steep and long hill. We got about 5 meters up when our wheels dug in and we could go no further. We reversed and tried again but didn't advance at all. Third attempt and that didn't work either. Should we turn around, but that would mean even more of a delay. We decided to drive on the right of the road where there was a bit of grassy vegetation that would give us traction because the weight of the
Cooking at Morrongulu
Note the blocks the trailer is resting on trailer was making it difficult to get over the hill in the soft sand. We deflated the tyres some more to 1.5 bar and took the hill with as much momentum and speed as we could. Fortunately for us we managed to get over with the first attempt and could continue. Just before Paindane there was another steep hill but the staff at the resort had packed coconut shells and palm leaves across the road to assist with traction. Only then did we see a sign that we actually could deflate our tyres to .8 Bar when the sand is so soft and deep. We were learning something every day. Once we had set up camp I asked Paul if he ever thought of the possibility that there were a few landmines on our hill considering we had passed an area with possible landmines a couple of hours earlier. He looked at me with wide eyes; the thought hadn't crossed his mind as his main concern was getting over the hill, not worry about landmines but I at least had noticed that another vehicle had left faint tracks where we drove, so must have had the same problem and paved
the way for us. We sat down to a much needed cup of tea with a spectacular view looking over the sea, watching four whales putting on a show for us to ease our nerves.
We spent 4 nights here. Although we had a great view from the top of the hill, we were exposed to the elements and a storm set in. When we booked in earlier they insisted on giving us a barraca which is a hut that we could use as a kitchen come sitting area. It was very handy when it rained. When there was a gap in the storm Paul quickly cooked our meat over a fire. The wind was howling and we were very concerned that a burning coal might set the grass reeds alight but thankfully we weren't the cause of any fires there. Some nights we managed to eat at the restaurant that had good tasty food.
We managed to snorkel on the sheltered reef at Paindane when it was low tide and Paul went diving from Guinjata bay but I felt the sea was a bit rough for me, considering my propensity for sea sickness. I whiled
Vilanculos
This one's a cat! away the time, walking on the beach which I love doing.
Zavora We had one night left in Mozambique that we wanted to spend at Zavora. We decided to drive the long way round on the gravel road this time and as we left the sand road we had to inflate our tyres again. We had an adaptor that we could put on our dive cylinder to inflate the tyres which worked quickly. As we were doing this some kids on their way to school stopped to watch us with fascination. I decided to take my digital camera out of the car and take a photo of them. Within seconds they scattered, not trusting this strange piece of equipment. None of them could speak English so I couldn't explain it was a camera but I managed to show one of the braver, older children the photo of her friend on the screen which she explained to them and once again we were surrounded by all of them wanting to see the photos. There was much laughter and chattering and looks of amazement that they could see themselves in this little box. I'm pretty sure we were
Blue Water Bay
Nice camp site! the morning's topic at school.
As we arrived at Zavora we saw the receptionist that had worked at Barra reef the previous year and she recognised us. She told us not to bother to book in yet, but head straight for the beach because there was a circular rocky reef that we could snorkel at only when it was low tide and there was only an hour left before it would be unsafe to swim there. We rushed off and were thrilled that we managed to snorkel before the tide covered the rocks, then booked in and set up camp. We only had half a day there so did a bit of exploring in close proximity to the camp. Another place we wanted to spend more time at in future.
The next morning we headed home not really overjoyed that our adventure was coming to an end but we had more than enough memories to last us a lifetime.
Some interesting snippets or facts: We found that every resort has its dog and the odd cat too. They loved spending time with us, partially because most visitors feed them
Blue Water bay
View's not bad either the odd treat and therefore expected everyone to do the same. We missed our own dog at home and they were a welcome distraction.
When travelling out of season, not every restaurant is open as it just not viable for them.
We timed ourselves to see how long it took us to set up and break down camp and it averaged 15 minutes from parking the trailer, tent erected and everything unpacked to doing it all in reverse before we left. At end of two weeks we had a good system going without too much hassle.
Looking back at this trip, it was one of our most enjoyable ones ( but then all our trips are enjoyable, so maybe that's not a difficult assumption)
A word of warning - if it is South African school holidays, especially in summer, avoid the resorts as some places are packed with not enough essential amenities for all the people, unless you have your own bungalow or chalet with your own bathroom. We were told that most of the resorts are so full then and Paul and I looked at some of the places and wondered how they
Dhow
Rule: make sure there is an engine and a sail or you could get stuck! cope at those times. We far prefer going when it is not so busy and have managed to avoid the busy seasons.
Ablution facilities on the whole were basic and satisfactory, far better than anticipated. Some needed a bit of attention, but nothing to put us off returning there. However, if you expect 5 star accommodation, this is not the way to go.
Much of the driving is done on tar, some good, some bad and some truly ghastly. Often the last section is on soft sand where a 4x4 is really worth while.
Mozambique is...well...Mozambique – just like the rest of Africa but with all it's own rustic charm, mayhem and mishaps. It's a great place to travel through, but like all other countries in Africa, one has to approach it with caution, good planning and as much information as possible about political tensions at the time. At the moment (2013) there seems to be a bit of rising tension between Frelimo and Renamo. Although we have done many trips through Moz on our own and have never had any issues, it is often better to travel in convoy. The
choice is yours.
Travelling through Mozambique takes time. Whatever time your GPS tells you, double the time. Many roads have improved and some are still in terrible condition. Apart from that, the slowing down while travelling through villages, sand roads etc add time to your journey and it always is a good idea to stop travelling before dark sets in.
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Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
Interesting not knowing where the land mines were...
and congratulations on entering the trip dates! That wasn't so bad, was it.