Trip to north west Mozambique

[Marc Lurie]

Is it an expedition? I'm not really sure.

I have some work to do in Niassa Province, NW Mozambique (up near the Tanzania and Malawi borders), so I'll be driving up there somewhere around 10th October.

At the moment it looks like my route should be Johannesburg to Beit Bridge, enter Zimbabwe, exit Zimbabwe at Mutare, enter Mozambique, travel via Chimoio, Quelimane, Cuamba, Lichinga and then to site.

The work I need to do is several site surveys to ascertain what equipment we need to supply. The area is a reserve where there are several stakeholders. Some are involved in research, some in photography and eco-tourism, and some are involved in hunting - A strange mixture indeed.

I'm looking forward to it because I really enjoy Mozambique.

[PinkSeriesIII]

Sounds like "you're going on a jolly" :D

[Marc Lurie]

Well, it's certainly not a pleasant drive through the countryside. :D

The border crossing into Zim is a complete abortion that can sometimes take several hours. Then you have to drive through Zim and get harassed by cops along the route.

The crossing into Mozambique isn't too much of a hassle, but you have to fight your way through touts and conmen who are trying to rip you off at all times.

Once in Mozambique you have to be very careful not to speed as you WILL get bust, and the fines are steep. The road to the Zambezi River is good, but once you cross the river (on a very rickety ferry which sometimes doesn't run for days) the road deteriorates and you're often not able to maintain 50kph average.

Finding good diesel is a constant challenge although I have to admit it's getting better recently. When you get off the main highway to Quelimane, the road gets real bad and there is very little in the way of any infrastructure between small towns. Even the towns up there don't have electricity, running water, telephone access etc.

But there's always access to cold beer and GOOD food. :)