We left on a Friday morning and headed for Marloth Park in Mpumalanga. Our destination was Mozambique the paradise that I love going back to. As we went through Hectorspruit we encountered the start of the dreaded coal truck queue and that was still 28 km from the border so that made this truck queue 28km long, unbelievable. It seems like the reason for the long queue was the delay at the border post but this is not the reason. The real answer was waiting for us in Maputo.
Its easy enough to drive down the right hand side of the trucks as they are pulled over but the real problem comes in trying to cross the road. At the turn off to Marloth Park you had to play chicken with the trucks because they just block the whole road.
At Marloth Park we spent the afternoon and stayed overnight visiting with family.
Crossing Mozambique Border
On Saturday morning we were at the Lebombo border by 8am expecting long queues as it was the start of a long weekend, but everything was quiet and normal.
Crossing this border post is straight forward. First rule is to avoid all the hawkers and runners trying to help you or sell you stuff. As you approach the border keep to the right as the trucks go left. The first Police check point usually don’t stop you. Once past the police point keep left and drive around the left hand side of the customs and immigration building. There is parking before the building as well as next to and past the building, we parked next to the building.
Inside the building you will find customs first which you don’t need unless specifically importing stuff. So go straight to the immigration counter to get your passport stamped. And that is it on the SA side.
Leaving the SA side you can see the queue of people entering South Africa, this is fairly normal and a often a problem when returning to South Africa via this border post. This is partly why I like to re-enter South Africa at the quieter border post like Giriyondo.
As you enter the Mozambique side you will get a gate pass from the official. Here they also checked that we had exit stamps from South Africa. Then you drive in and keep left to find parking before the big white building. Inside here you have immigration first and all you need is your passport. After that you need to get a TIP or temporary Import Permit for your vehicle, for this you need your vehicle documents. This used to cost 750 metacais but this time there was no cost.
Once done you can drive out past the police checkpoint point where you will hand back your gate pass and they may stop you to search your vehicle, but this time they didn’t stop us.
One Night in Maputo
When we got to Maputo I found the answer to the long truck queue. The traffic in Maputo can be quite bad especially around the Port. So what is happening is that on the Mozambique side at the border they are limiting the number of trucks going through so that they can control the traffic in Maputo otherwise, these trucks would cause complete gridlock in Maputo.
This time we decided to spend a night in Maputo which allowed us to visit the Costa do Sol restaurant. This was special for us as almost to the day 19 years earlier we had a honeymoon dinner there. So we stayed nearby and used the opportunity to buy our last food supplies and take in the Maputo weekend vibes.
Sunday morning the beach and road was quiet after a busy Saturday. Perfect for the final day of traveling up to Inhambane. There was very little traffic apart from the normal working of rural life.
Driving Maputo to Inhambane
At many spots along the road you find cashew nuts being sold in plastic packets hung on trees. My favorite stop is the town of Macia as they have a bunch of sellers keen to do business. More than 40% of Mozambican farmers – over one million households – grow and sell cashew, and the processing sector provides formal employment to more than 8,000 individuals. Mozambique consistently ranks as one of the top global producers of traceable, single-origin cashew nuts.
On the N1 we passed more than 5 speed traps, all of them in the 60km/h town zones. At one I got pulled over for doing 66km in a 60km zone. According to traffic law the fine cost is 1000 Metacais or about R300. If you pay on the spot make sure you get a receipt otherwise you have 15 days to pay at a traffic office.
Between Maputo and Inhambane there are 5 toll gates where the cost per car is between 40-50 Metacais which is about R15 and payment is in Metacais cash only. Thanks to these tolls the road is in good condition.
Mozambique is developing at a rapid rate and fuel is readily available at an ever increasing number of fuel stations which also make convenient toilet stops.
After having such a good time on our last trip to Mozambique, we were excited to be back again.
Taking a Shortcut
For the final stretch of our Journey I was looking to take a shorter more interesting route from Jangamo to Paindane that I had mapped out from the 4x4tracks for Africa maps.
I was expecting a used 4x4track but what we found was looking a bit unused. Anyway we kept going and with the sand getting softer it was better to let the tyres down sooner than later. It was the first time I used these simple screw on tyre deflators and they worked well.
From soon after the start we never seemed to be on the right track, always just off to the side but were heading in the right general direction. The road was becoming less and less distinct and we approached two ladies carrying water.
It looked like we needed to go right and so with some helpful directions we managed to get back on the original track that I had plotted. But the road didn’t open up any more as we navigated through the trees and up and over more dunes. I took a right fork but watching the GPS it looked like we were now heading too far right and taking us South east. So we had to turn around and back track a bit to the fork the then headed North east. That was the right call as we finally crossed onto the main access road that I was expecting to cross ages ago.
After this I knew the route was fine as we had travelled this previously down to Caso do Mar. After a short section through the coconut trees we had the Daghatane Beach Estate in sight on top of the dune overlooking the sea.
So it wasn’t really a shortcut after all but it sure was an adventure and we were happy to finally arrive.
Watch the video of the first part of this trip at The Overland Legend
Arriving in Paindane
Our base for the next 10 days was Catalina lodge a beautiful spot that we had stayed at the previous year and it was great to be back again.
From day one the whales were spectacular and they were so close to shore we couldn’t believe our luck. The humpback whale has a distinctive body shape, with long pectoral fins and tubercles on its head. It is known for breaching and other distinctive surface behaviours used for display, feeding and communication.
Little did we know that later in the week we would get even closer to them. Even on a quick trip down to the beach the next day we saw them just behind the reef, very very close.
Right next to Paindane is the Guinjata dive centre and they offer an exploratory divers course which consists of a short theoretical course, a pool dive and then a short ocean dive. Some of the non divers were keen to try this out including the kids. The pool dive was great fun and the kids absolutely loved it and any doubts of doing the ocean dive were quickly laid to rest.
Inhambane Market
Later that day we headed back to Inhambane to go to the fresh food market to get some fruits and veggies. We drove around for a while as it seemed like they were busy reconstructing the market area so it was a bit difficult to find parking and to know where to go. But we eventually found parking and the temporary spot for the market. It was a great experience and we found everything we needed, in fact more than we needed.
It amazes me how quiet the beautiful pristine beaches are with just a few locals and even fewer visitors. But walking on the beach it is hard to miss all the different types of plastic pollution. Lighters, slops bottle, packets and all types of plastic. From a distance you don’t see it, but up close it is really concerning.
Paindane Beach Day
With spring tides coming in and the weather improving it was a perfect day to spend at the beach. Driving on the beach in Mozambique is illegal, except for a few small designated areas like this one on Paindane point.
With the tide fully out the reef provides a sheltered bay that is great for kids to swim in and was perfect to try out our SUP on the sea for the first time. It was great fun catching some of the little waves and learning to balance properly.
We were also able to have a really good snorkel and saw some amazing marine life. The highlight for me was the trumpet fish that I saw for the first time. Its a really odd looking fish that looks like it goes backwards because the tail looks like a head with 2 eyes on and they sort of hang there upside down like a piece of sea weed.
That evening we saw the full moon rise confirming that the next day was going to be the lowest tide of the week. So we were back on the beach.
The tide was fully out showing off the whole reef. It was a bit more windy today so we stopped round the corner to avoid some of the wind.
It was a Saturday and all the locals were out early to take advantage of the spring low tide and get their sea harvest. The women were out on the rocks, the kids in the shallows and the men snorkelling and diving.
I was really missing my kite and with the wind picking up we headed back home for a lazy afternoon.
Ocean Safari snorkeling and whale watching
Earlier in the week we had missed an opportunity to go on an ocean safari, so when we got a second chance on our last day and we all jumped at it. The plan was to go out on the boat for some snorkelling along the end of the Paindane reef and then go look for whales and Dolphins.
The visibility for the snorkelling was exceptional and it was perfect to see some of the best coral reefs of all types and colours that you will see.
Once back on the boat it was time to find those migrating Humpback whales that we had seen from the shore. It wasn’t long before we found some of them. It was a very special experience seeing them closer from the boat and hearing them breath and communicate. Many of them that we saw had calves with them. They were very cautious with us visitors and kept their distance and often disappeared as they dived deeper to safety.
Before we knew it the 10 days were over and it was time to start the journey home via Giriyondo and Kruger Park. The nice thing about taking a different route home is that you are guaranteed to see something different again making the journey so much more interesting.
Leaving via Massingir and Giriyondo
Our route took us back through Chokwe where we stopped at an ATM. With Mozambique elections coming up I had noticed many party posters around, mostly for Frelimo but in Chokwe we saw a small but vocal group of Renamo supporters parade down the main street.
We were overnighting at Massingir Safaris and had to pay attention to the badly potholed road, as well as not to miss the turn off like we did last time. We had the whole camp to ourselves again and enjoyed a relaxing sunset and tasty dinner around the campfire.
The staff had fired up the donkey geysers early that morning as we had an early start with a 10-12 hour drive ahead of us. Waking up one day on a tropical beach and then the next in the middle of the African bush is one of those privileges of living in Africa that will always remain special.
The road from Massingir to Giriyondo is only about 70km but takes almost 2 hours as it passes through the Limpopo National Park and is a combination of corrugated dirt and sandy tracks.
The benefit of this route is arriving at the border post with no queues and friendly officials and it makes all the difference. At this border you just need to hand back your TIP and get your passport stamped on the Mozambican and South African sides. Then at the Kruger Park office you need to pay for the entrance.
Stopping off at Letaba in Kruger Park
Crossing at this border post you enter South Africa via the Kruger National Park. Then its about a 90km trip through the park to exit at Phalaborwa gate. The grand prize of course is seeing what you can spot on the way through.
This area seemed to be very dry and baron after what seemed like a widespread fire. But at the Malopenya waterhole you can usually find some thirsty elephants.
Crossing the Letaba bridge is also a great place to find some action and we weren’t disappointed.
We saw a giant crocodile still busy eating something. One of the other park visitors had told us that the croc had just caught a waterbuck further downstream and was still busy eating the last bits. It was a great sighting with the smaller crocodile in tow.
At Letaba rest camp we stopped for refreshments and then carried on home enjoying a few more sightings before leaving the park.
We decided to take the Magoebaskloof route towards Polokwane because its just such a beautiful mountain pass and in great condition. It also allowed us to have some fun as we created our own Top Gear episode.
After a long eventful day we entered Gauteng with the sun setting and arrived home just after dark.
Watch the video of the second part of this trip at The Overland Legend
