About make-shift ferries and scary roads:Trying to head north in Mozambique

Thursday, 17th of April, Chiwanga to Cuamba

The next couple of days are long driving days since we want to get to the east coast of Mozambique and then head north. We stock up on our veggie supplies whenever we see good looking produce for sale on the side of the road and when we reach Lichinga we also manage to find (with the help of our GPS) a good place to buy meat and also a bakery for some nice Portuguese rolls.

We drive all the way to Cuamba where we arrive in the dark. The GPS’s info about a guest house in the center of town ends up to be outdated, but a funny Portuguese speaking guy guides us to a Missionary couple who speak English…but not before proudly showing us his house entrance with multi color blinking fairy lights saying ‘Jesus loves you’!

The English couple is very helpful and the guy guides us on his motorbike to their Mission Guesthouse, which is to all our surprise run by Nicola and Philip, who are Australian and are from the same town (Wollongong) as Kirsty. And not only that! They lived in the same suburb, his family lives on the same street and she went to the same university, studying the same degree as Kirsty! Real bizarre – seems like the world is a village!

Friday, 18th of April, Cuamba to Nampula

We leave early but not without Nicola having brewed us a cup of real coffee and having some more Aussie chat with Kirsty. The rest of the day was pretty much spent by driving to Nampula where we stumbled onto a great clean camp site with donkeys, situated on a lake just 15 km outside the town.

Saturday, 19th of April, Nampula to Ilha de Mozambique

At the ‘Bamboo’ Hotel just outside we manage to change some US Dollars into Meticais and even score an hour of wireless internet while sipping a cold fruit juice. We definitely prefer this to standing in the queue at a bank!

Nampula has a Shoprite! We do a major shopping expedition, needing a security guard to make sure our trolley gets to our car safely! We also find a pharmacy as well as the most delicious peanut brittle ever sold by a kid in the street! Nampula wasn’t as bad as we thought after all! (Damn, no Nutella at the Shoprite though, they gotta do something about that!)

We head further east to Ilha de Mozambique which is connected to the mainland by a single lane bridge. This island is bizarre, interesting and fascinating at the same time. Highly populated mainly by Moslem communities living in dilapidated buildings, it has a weird mix of oriental flavor, nostalgia, post civil war and fishing town feel. After enquiring prices at one of the hotels, we decide to stay at a simple yet nice lodge in the poorer part of town. We get reminded of the mostly Moslem population by the evening prayers of the Muezzin from the Mosque right across the road from our lodge. We walk through the dark sandy streets to a French run restaurant next to a hotel where we have great meal of local lobster and fish.

Sunday, 20th of April, Ilha Mozambique

We spend the day walking around the island and check out the fortress with the oldest chapel in Africa, built in 1522! A quick stop at the local internet café (2 computers!) gives us piece of mind on our email situation. While Kirsty takes a dip in a luxurious, beautiful hotel pool to satisfy her inner princess for an hour (original text Kirsty), I hit the streets of the island, walk through the local market and the fishing village, watching the crazy distribution of the daily catch. We round off the evening with a nice sundowner on top of our lodge’s terrace and another great meal at the nearby restaurant. Pulling out my only bottle of Springfield Chardonnay for the occasion lets a bit of a vinegary aftertaste lingering in our mouths since the annoying Frenchman owner charges us 10 dollars corkage for it!

Monday, 21st of April, Ilha de Mozambique to Ponta Nangata

While driving north we get a call from Kevin who recommends us to go to a place called Ponta Nangata which makes our route choice for that day a bit easier. It seems like Kevin and Philippa are heading south to be back in Cape Town in time for Philippa to take up a job at her previous employer mid May. I am really sad we can’t hook up with them L ! All along I had really been looking forward to seeing them somewhere along the way and spending some time together at a cool spot. After all their inspiration and friendship contributed and encouraged me hugely to do this trip! On top of that I’ve been carrying a box of wine and another box full of presents for them from their loved ones back in South Africa!

We follow the route to Kevin’s route description to the Ponta Nangata lighthouse and then further on to a lodge that is busy being built by people Kevin and Philippa met. Our anticipation fades quickly as getting there materializes to be pretty hard stretch of driving on a potholed track to a pretty average place with no facilities! Now I’d REALLY like to meet up with Kevin!

We make our first pizza in the Cobb with a proper dough base! Even though it needs some improvement next time (I made the base too big - as large as the cooking surface, cutting off the coals’ air supply underneath) it was delicious and went down in no time!


Tuesday, 22nd of April, Ponta Nangata to Pemba
We head back onto the main road via Geba and Memba and head further north via Alua, Namapa and Sunate to Pemba where we find a camping spot just outside the center of town. Despite boasting a great beach lined with mangroves, we are not allowed to camp close to it and are being ‘banished’ to sleep amongst the dark trees. We cook a cabbage stew which doesn’t seem to agree with my stomach…


Things we come up with on the delightingly boring tar road to Pemba…

I am going on a deserted island and I am taking:
Some basil, toothpaste, an open heart, a spare tube, a picture of my mum, a packet of chewing gum, a tar road, a piece of sugar cane, false teeth, a mango, an antelope, mosquito repellant, an orangutan, ear plugs, vegemite, super glue, umbrella, T-shirt, a burly black man, a yield sign, a go sign, really good chocolate, a nuclear power station, a light globe, an ice maker and then a FINITO SIGN!!! J

Wednesday, 23rd of April, Pemba
I feel pretty sick today and apart from a runny stomach I also have these vile burps (Imagine the foul smell of rotten eggs!). Those were so disgusting that Kirsty said to me in the morning: ‘Hey, no farting in the tent please!’ …well what should I answer to that, I didn’t fart after all!

We managed to do our much dreaded washing deed and spend the rest of the day relaxing/recovering and even made time to watch a movie on the laptop.

Thursday, 24th of April, Pemba to Pangane
My stomach bug seems to have gone and I feel hungry again in the morning, which is a good sign. We get fuel in town and manage to change some dollars at a hardware store of an Arab guy who Kirsty managed to flag down at the filling station.

We drive away from the coast, head north via Sunate and Macomia and then approach the coast again at Mucojo.

There’s a rest camp at Pangane which Kevin had recommended to us on the phone. This time we totally agree with Kev’s tip! The simple rest camp, run by a Moslem guy named Assim is situated at the end of Pangane village right on the beach and is lined with coconut palm trees. When positioning Anse we get one important advice from the camp guard: Do not park under the coconut palm trees! Much valued tip after we hear one of those huge coconuts hitting the sand with a loud thud!

Friday, 25th of April, Pangane

This is a great spot to spend some time and it feels good to be finally enjoying some exercise again. Kirsty’s jogging and my yoga on the beach creates much amusement amongst the local by-passers. One local white faced, traditionally dressed woman even runs with Kirsty for a while! The women here paint their faces with a white paste which is ground from a local shrub and then mixed with water. They wear their face masks throughout the day, which apparently softens and beauties their skin and give them this comic but at the same time ghostlike appearance. But apart from looking after their beauty, the women here work hard:

While the local fishermen apply themselves to the more serious fishing practices like spear fishing and going out by dhow or mokoro and fishing net, we observe how the women here developed quite a unique technique to catch small fish in shallow water: Maybe 10 of them stand in a half circle just off the beach hip-deep in water. While moving forward and slowly creating the formation of a full circle, they keep on splashing water with a scoop to the left and right of them as to maintain a more effective barrier and to scare the fish further into the circle. As the circle closes they start moving more swiftly towards the center of the circle, pushing the fish towards two of the women who hold a see-through fishing net between them. The last few meters they rush towards each other, resulting in a splashing, dance-like movement and then gather the net quickly to secure the catch. It looks amazing and must be a very bonding experience for them every day!

Saturday, 26th of April, Pangane

At 7 am we hire two local sailors who take us to Macaloe Island on their dhow. Comparing the dhow’s we experienced on Lago Niassa, I am impressed with the workmanship of the local dhows here. They are solidly built and really make good speed considering they are equipped with only Latin-rigged main sails which stick out like white shark fins hovering around in the vast turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean.

It almost feels like we are pirates conquering an undiscovered island, especially because our skipper is seriously one-eyed! (Note for Phil: But his name is Assan, not Carrot!)

We spend a few hours on the island where we enjoy swimming and snorkeling and then sail back to Pangane.

Sunday, 27th of April, Pangane

After breakfast, having enough potatoes and time on my hand, I start making one of my favorite German dishes which originates from the area I was born. ‘Lippischer Pickert’ is a type of potato pancake made with yeast which makes it rise (and therefore somewhat thicker than a normal potato pancake) while being slowly fried in oil. Since the batter has to proof it’s a bit of a lengthy process, but at lunch time, regardless of rain setting in, I finally enjoy a piece of home on the Mozambiquean coast! Whish I had some real ‘Ruebenkraut’ (sugar beet syrup) which is the way we eat the Pickert with at home, but here the rest of our honey and strawberry jam has to do. Kirsty’s comment: ‘They taste weird, but I like it!’

Every night so far we have been treating ourselves to have a meal of the local catch cooked for us by Assim’s wife Mamuna. Tonight we buy eight crayfish off a local spear fisher and bring them to Mamuna’s hut for her to prepare them for us. We find her sitting on the ground, having her one foot resting on a low, narrow stool which has a grating tool fixed at the end. Holding half a coconut in her hands and working it against the grater, she makes a whole lot of coconut shavings which she uses to boil her coconut rice. Now we know why her rice is so delicious!

Kirsty cuts into her finger with the Swiss knife and we have to do a quick wound cleaning and bandaging fix. Thank god for Dettol ;-) (Kirsty’s shares just went up!)

At night we experience a real downpour. It rains hard for almost the whole night accompanied with a strong wind.

Monday, 28th of April, Pangane to somewhere past Palma

After the downpour last night we are not so sure if we should leave today but considering the sandy roads we came on, we think they actually should have improved and firmed up after the rains, so we decide to pack up.

The roads are indeed okay and we make a pit stop in Macomia. A refueling stop the African way means having one guy holding a 20 liter yellow plastic canister on his shoulder, while another guy sucks on a pipe to siphon the diesel from the canister into Anse’s tank – who needs fuel pumps?

Driving through a little village past Macomia we see a guy laying on the ground with his hands and feet tied, surrounded by a crowd of people and being beaten up forceful by another guy with a bat. Kirsty is horrified and says to me with a firm voice: ‘Just drive. Just drive.’

As we drive we wonder how justice is handled here in these small villages where police authority is far away. What we saw seemed harsh and shocking, but who knows what this guy had done? Difficult to say as an outsider…and not our place to judge, or interfere with local practices.

We are passing Mocimboa da Praia and are planning to spend the night at a place called Cashewnut Tree Rest Camp which is indicated on our GPS just outside Palma. The road leads through two river crossings which look a bit scary to us in the dark but are actually not that bad. When the water was splashing over the bonnet, Kirsty was freaked out a bit – it was her first river crossing, and then in the dark at night! Anse handled it confidently though and increased my trust in her…little did I know that soon there were bigger obstacles to overcome for her! When we arrive at the location where according to Priscilla (that’s how I christened our GPS’s friendly voice) the Cashewnut Tree Rest Camp should be we don’t find anything! Since it is dark already we just drive on a bit and bush-camp just off the dirt road. Cold hamburgers from our left-over beef patties make for a good quick fix in our tent while we hear hyenas calling in the distance.

Tuesday, 29th of April, somewhere past Palma to Mocimboa da Praia
We get going early and drive through on the narrow dirt road bordered by dense bush. On the roadside we spot elephant dung, so they do roam here! We arrive at a very marshy section where the narrow road has been raised to avoid the mushy ground. In the middle (of all places) of this maybe 200m long section was a truck blocking the way, obviously broken down since there was another Toyota 4X4 vehicle behind him trying to get past him. We stop and witness how the Toyota, in the attempt of passing the truck on the right, slides off the raised section of the road into the really muddy soil and gets bogged down there.

After a few failed attempts by the many passengers to push the car out, I just get this guy calling towards me:’ Hey Blanco!’(hey whitey) then a few Portuguese words and pointing at my winch. I get it and connect the operating cable for my winch, open my bonnet for protection in case the winch cable should snap, pull the cable out and hook it onto the Toyota’s rear winching point. After two attempts by pulling him backwards we get him out. A relief, but now he still has to cross through the marshy section past the truck to get back up to the dry part of the road! He takes it with a lot of speed and after much slipping and sliding and heaps of mud spraying everywhere he eventually makes it up the other side onto the dry soil!

All well to watch somebody else doing it…we were still sitting behind the truck and it was either getting past him somehow or driving a few hundred kilometer detour!!! It’s good to watch another car going through a bad section beforehand, so I got an idea what to expect. Kirsty made sure the Toyota guy waited for us to make it through so we had at least some help in case we were stuck. My heart was beating fast. It’s a shit feeling to put the fully loaded car, our fully loaded Anse through this!!! If we get stuck here, it probably would be for a while! Anyway, decision made, at least there were other people. Got behind the wheel, second gear low range, diff lock. Anse you gotta help me here! I took off with medium speed and tried as much as possible to stick to the previous guy’s tracks. Down the raised section, increasing the speed and then when I hit the deep mud I put my foot down while Kirsty was busy filming in the background and supporting me screaming: ‘Go, go, go!!!’ as she told me later. I kept the momentum going and could feel Anse flashing her teeth! She was grinding through that mud with a huge appetite and got me out safely on the other side! Phew, well done Anse, we are proud of you!!! We are relieved and are amazed of Anse’s abilities…Kirsty said afterwards in comparison to the Toyota my crossing looked like a breeze!

After this adrenalin rush at 7:30 in the morning we drive on and arrive at Quionga border post. As we sit in front of the friendly immigration officer’s desk, he asks us in very good English: ‘Are you aware that the Rovuma River Ferry to cross over into Tanzania is not operating?’ We look at each other in surprise…obviously we didn’t. Otherwise we wouldn’t have driven 700 km to get up north to this point in the first place!

The officer explains that the ferry might be working again on the 6th of May… or if we wanted to cross now there was an option to put the car with the aid of wooden planks onto three wooden local boats which would be tied together next to each other. Cost factor: to be negotiated but probably between 400 and 600 US $!So far 7 vehicles have crossed successfully this year, he said. We think if it’s been done a couple of times it seemed like an option, so we have our passports and the ‘Carnet de Passage’ stamped out of Mozambique and after the usual spot check of the contents of our car we get back on track to drive the last 6 km to the Rovuma River.

These six kilometers prove to be the most taxing we have done so far…and that after this morning’s experience!!! Imagine a lush marshy area with long grass through which leads a track or better a maze of tracks which were all made with the same goal: Somehow trying to get to the river without getting bogged! The black cotton soil doesn’t look very inviting and neither do the meter deep puddles full of sludgy black water. If we managed to overcome one puddle after choosing from three different track options we find ourselves confronted with another deeper one right behind it with even more track options and detours. Sometimes we stop and walk the tracks first. Definitely not the stuff you want to stick your feet into, never mind your vehicle! Locals, carrying heaps of goods on their heads are faster walking then us driving and are pointing us to the ‘firmest’ tracks. Eventually, with our hearts in our throats and quite a few gray hairs later, we arrive at the Rovuma River.

There are quite a few people hanging around there waiting to be shipped over to the northern side of the river with all their goods by one of the small local boats. We spot the ferry sitting stuck in the middle of the river further downstream. We can see Tanzania a mere stone throw away!

We are trying to assess the situation. We are trying to figure out how they would want to get Anse across. Nobody of the local guys seem to be or wanting to be in charge though. All we can figure out is that apparently there is a vehicle coming across this afternoon from the Tanzanian side using the local boats which we would need using the same method. Having Anse standing on wooden planks which are somehow being connected to three wooden boats tied to each other seems dodgy enough! But looking at the steeply eroded river bank it’s a scary thought how they would get the Land Rover all the way down the river bank onto the boats floating in the shallow river a couple of meters below! My thoughts go towards the huge detour we would have to do… that would be a huge pain too, but rather that than seeing my Landy sliding into the Rovuma River! There would also be an option to wait it out for the ferry to be fixed which supposed to be by the 6th of May, but who knows how reliable this information is…



As we are sitting there back in our car, a bit clueless about which option to chose, another two cars arrive. A white guy gets out of the one bakkie and introduces himself as Lance. His Aussie accent lets Kirsty’s eyes sparkle and soon we get to know that Lance works for a Canadian company that is looking for oil up here. They currently have their operation set up in Tanzania but want to move it into northern Mozambique where they already found a huge gas reserve. A big satellite device destined for the new basis’s communication center is stuck on the ferry and Lance has to get it off there so it can be put into operation. He calls the ferry services and seems to understand that the ferry should be in full operation again on Saturday. It’s not quite clear though if they mean this or next Saturday. He passes the phone to his Portuguese speaking lawyer Benjamin and tells him with a cheeky smile and a laugh: ‘Here, you speak to them mate! Find out if they can’t get the bloody ferry fixed earlier! I don’t care what you bloody tell ‘em, just tell ‘em some bullshit, you’re the lawyer, not me! Just make a freakin’ plan mate!’. Kirsty’s eyes sparkle again at the ‘Aussie-ness’ at play.

Lance also tells us that he has already seen one vehicle go into the river which definitely puts us off this option… We decide to go back together the same road we came on and Lance even offers us to stay at the rest camp where he stays in Mocimboa da Praia. We manage to make it somehow back through the dreadful mud back to the immigration office at Quionga. Stamping us in proves to be a bigger issue than we thought because at this border they don’t issue any new visas. The superior at the head office has to be called first to ask for permission in order to cancel our previous exit stamps. After finally getting the authorization we get a piece of paper scribbled by the immigration officer explaining that we were going to cross into Tanzania but could not do so because of the broken down ferry and that thus our visa would still be valid.

This process took quite a while and during all that time Lance was waiting for us outside the immigration office so that he could lead the way – because we had to go through the marshy section past the broken down truck once again! We can be lucky the rains didn’t set in again, Lance and we made it fine through that tricky marshy bit again where the truck was still blocking the dry part of the road. We followed Lance’s description to ‘Chez Natalie’ in Mocimboa da Praia, the rest camp where he was renting a chalet. Since the ablutions were very basic for us campers, Lance generously handed us the key to another chalet which was rented to some of his colleagues who were out for 2 days, so that we could use their showers and toilet.

We are happy to have ended up at a place with a bit of piece and quiet after this eventful and adrenalin loaded day!!!


Wednesday, 30th of April, Mocimboa da Praia

Apart from washing clothes and logging onto the local internet café we didn’t do much. After all these hectic events from the past days, Kirsty is reconsidering her options for the next part of her year long travels.

Thursday, 1st of May, Mocimboa da Praia

We are still recovering from the past hectic days and are taking it easy. We get some local take-away food and are falling asleep the first 20 minutes into a movie we watch on the laptop.

Friday, 2nd of May, Mocimboa da Praia to Pemba

We finally decide to go south and enter Tanzania via Malawi and head to Pemba where we camp at Russel’s Place recommended by Lance who is a friend of Russel. According to Lance Russel apparently also has some information about putting the car onto a train in Nampula and head into Malawi that way to avoid the bad roads… When I approach Russel about the train option he says that he has done it before but he has also heard about a few derailments of trains lately! Oh, good to know!

Saturday, 3rd of May, Pemba

We go onto a snorkel excursion with a local dive company and enjoy two hours of exploring the beautiful underwater world. In one of the beach restaurants we have yummy grilled seafood skewers. For supper we treat ourselves to a nice meal at the nearby Italian restaurant. It seems like Kirsty has decided to carry on traveling with me for a bit, after weighing her options and getting advice from some of her good Aussie friends.

We also meet Isaac and Klaas from George who arrive in a Defender 90.

· Sunday, 4th of May, Pemba

This morning I go for a long beach run, experiencing what Kevin had told me already… The locals here like to use their beaches as their loos so running on the beach can become quite a walk in the mine field! This morning not only the sun was blinding me but also a full moon between the rocks…

I wash a few clothes while Kirsty goes through her pre-booked flight itinerary to figure out which flights she will have to change if she stays on.

In the evening we enjoy a sundowner swim and a pizza made in Russel’s Place’s own pizza oven!

· Monday, 5th of May, Pemba to Nampula

One of these driving days on a route well known to us…we are back tracking to Nampula and do our shopping again at the local Shoprite there. Since we are pretty tired and also hoping to get internet access, we decide to have a bite at the Bamboo Hotel. Unfortunately the internet is down, but at least we manage to exchange some dollars into Meticais there.

As we arrive in the evening at the same campsite we previously stayed at, we bump again into Isaac and Klaas who had some stories to tell us about being in police custody on Ilha de Mozambique for driving the wrong way around a roundabout and also about having to pay locals money to give back their own ground tent which blew off their roof rack!
They want to leave around 3 in the morning tomorrow to make it in time for Klaas to catch a plane in Maputo. So we leave them to their errands while we attend to replenish the food drawer and fridge with our fresh supplies which we had just thrown into the back to enable a quick departure out of the busy town center of Nampula.

· Tuesday, 6th of May, Nampula to Cuamba

Unfortunately neither Isaac and Klaas nor Kirsty and I get a restful sleep as Anse’s alarm goes off at 2:30 am and then gets triggered another three times that night! Imagine getting ripped out of your dreams with deafening honking noise each time! In the morning when Kirsty is about to get her running gear out of her box, she shrieks as a mouse hops from underneath one of her tops! This explains all the alarms during the night…

We drive about 6 ½ hours on some pretty bad dirt roads to Cuamba where we stay overnight again with the Aussie family of Nicola and Philip at the missionary guest house. They generously invite us for dinner and with their three children Josh, Drew, Isabella as well as two of their children’s friends around the table it’s a pretty vivacious affair!

After dinner I try to follow Kevin’s advice in greasing Anse’s universal joints. With the help of the guest house’s guard and my newly acquired grease gun I manage that more or less successfully.