The Best Advice for Driving in and Visiting Mozambique

We spent a week in this beautiful Mozambique paradise after travelling up from Komatipoort via Maputo to Inhambane. We decided to take a new route home as we head from the beach to the bush. It was a good experience and I share the best advice for driving in and visiting Mozambique.

Speed Traps and Chilli Mixes

We woke up to another beautiful morning and enjoyed our last sunrise over the Indian Ocean. Packed our bags left the beach and headed for the bush in our Discovery 3. We were back on the N1 and heading south looking out for those speed signs as they decrease from 80 down to 60 km an hour as you enter the towns. Then looking out for those traffic cops with the speed traps. The one in Inharime was still there almost a week later after the last time we came through. We were going the right speed so no issues.

We were on the lookout for the legendary chili mixes that you can buy in Mozambique. I had seen them on our way up the previous week and so on the way back we were looking out for them so we could stop and buy some. When we did stop we were flooded as usual with a crowd of salesmen coming to the window to offer us their wares.

Fuel availability in Mozambique along the routes we traveled was no issue at all. There was a surprising number of brand new fuel stations with very neat convenience shops and toilet facilities being built. At Chidenguele we turned off the N1 and headed via Chibuto and Chokwe towards the Giriyondo Border post. As we took that turn off we headed down into the Limpopo Valley and drove along and through the flood Plains next to the Limpopo river.

Limpopo Valley

Chokwe was the last big town that we passed through and we noticed these big coal tracks on the side of the road. They were picking up the coal bags that were laid out on the side of the road. We also noticed wood trucks doing the same thing. The locals would collect the wood or manufacture this charcoal and then leave it on the side of the road and then sell it to these passing trucks who took it too the market.

We also learned that Chokwe is known as the car hijacking capital of Southern Africa as many of the cars hijacked in South Africa pass through here. Many of the culprits involved in this crime originate from this area, that’s useful advice when visiting mozambique.

As we got closer to Massingir the road got narrower and a few potholes started appearing. Unfortunately we were not paying attention and actually missed our turn or for our overnight stop. We had to do a U-turn and head back to the overnight stop which was at Massingir safaris. Going through the Giriyondo Border post meant that we had to stay over in the Limpopo National Park to be able to qualify to use that border post. You need to either stay over in the Kruger park or the Limpopo National Park and Massingir Safari qualified as one of those overnight stops. The best part about stopping here was this nice cool pool where we could have a swim after a seriously hot day.

Crossing at the Giriyondo Border Post

The next morning we got off to an early start because we still had a couple of hours to the border post. Then we were going to drive down south through Kruger Park. We needed a full day to get right through the park and to be able to make it out before closing time at sunset.

This was our first time in this area and it was really impressive to see this Massingir Dam and the massive sluice gates at the damn wall. We stopped just to have a look before crossing into the Limpopo National Park. [Music]

It seems like we took the scenic route to the border post as we passed through this a village and then found ourselves on some pretty remote tracks. After stopping and speaking to a local Ranger I realized that we were not on the main road anymore but it wasn’t the end of the world.

I had a nervous moment as the low coolant level indicator on my vehicle showed up but after stopping and checking it out there was no issues. I found out subsequently that it is the a little indicator in the actual bottle that’s become a little bit faulty. We were finally approaching the border post and passed through here quite easily. It wasn’t very busy, although the manual process did take a little time.

Driving Through Kruger National Park

We were into Kruger park again, a first for us through this border post and really novel to come into the park from the other side. It wasn’t long before we were seeing some amazing game sightings.

Letaba camp which is the closest to the border post is where we stopped for a brunch before we headed south to Crocodile Gate. This was a real treat and we were looking forward to the opportunity of having some sightings and we weren’t disappointed. In the distance we saw a crowd of vehicles. We you see something like this in the Kruger Park you know that something big is going down and there sure was. The leopard sighting was amazing as this leopard just sat in a big tree in full view with everyone watching.

We could just squeeze in one last stop at Lower Sabi before we headed out towards crocodile gate to make it before Sunset and closing time.