Trip B Report #7: Going Home (13 July 09)

We all got up early, and were feeling sad as we were saying good-bye to Adri and Anita. They would be travelling via the Massingir dam and the Limpopo transfrontier park to enter the Kruger National Park at Giriyondo. As this route would be much longer, and I needed to get back to work, we travelled outh and entered at the Lebombo border post, close to Komatipoort. In order to savour the last bit of the trip, and also to avoid any roadblocks and having to drive 60km and hour nearly all the way trying to pass through outer Maputo, we took the dirt road inland. The road had good and bad patches, and we joined the toll road at Moambo. The border crossing was uneventful, and soon we were travelling on the good South African roads again. Glad to be home.

Trip B Report #6: Inhassoro to XaiXai (12 July 09)

We all got up at six, which took some effort, and were ready to leave at 06h30. We reached Inhambane about lunch time and decided to do a quick detour to see what all the rave is about. We travelled on to Praia de Tofo. A beautiful beach, but very touristy.

Then we took the long slog to Xai-Xai. We were intoxicated by the good road surface, road marking and shoulder, but as always, this disappeared about 80km north of Xai-Xai. We leaned on intelligence obtained from Jean, and turned off about 20km before Xai-Xai to sleep at Paradise View Chalets. The chalets are in the dunes next to the ocean in a beautiful setting. This is the first time that we actually saw decent sized dunes on our trip. The stayed in a little log cabin, and concocted a pasta dish from all our left over food. We had the last of our wine, albeit white wine.

Trip B Report #5: Inhassoro (9-11 July)

It was so beautiful and comfortable, we decided to stay. A good selling point was the hot clean showers! We all checked the maps, the distances, and decided we can do another long trek the last two days, and skip Inhambane, and thus afford to stay another day. We arranged with Jean, who is in charge of activities at BillFish (http://www.deepblueadventures.co.za/), to take us out to Paradise Island. We had a fantastic day! Jean first took a tour of the island, which still carries the ruins of early years when there was a large hotel and holiday apartments. Somewhere between the civil war and a large cyclone the buildings were damaged beyond repair, and the whole island was abandoned. There were even the remnants of an old church, with a few benches and coloured windows remaining.

Even during our approach to the island, we witnessed a large sea turtle from the boat. Snorkelling was brilliant. We were mesmerised various species of rockcod and angelfish and parrots, threadfin butterfly fish, blue petes, tamarins, anemones, parrots, etc. Too many to mention! There were also beautiful examples of hard and soft corral. Jean just knew where to drop us off, and we all had a lovely day.

Even though it was overcast, we all got a little sunburn and were dead-tired that evening. We had a lovely dinner of chicken barbeque, couscous and salad.

Trip B Report #4: 10 July 2009 (Inhassoro):

Hennie and Adri enquired from official operators about a potential trip to a nearby island (Santa Carolina, otherwise known as Paradise Island), but were informed the trips leave earlier in the morning. We then decided to support locals that promised us a “big boat with an engine”. Two Spanish back-packers asked if they could join us, to bring the cost down. They were very friendly, and as the man was born in a region of Spain close to the border with Portugal, he spoke a dialect that assisted him in understanding and translating the discussions with the locals. This came in very helpful later!

On the beach we waited and waited, whilst the locals had discussions with a man that looked like an official. We were not briefed about the content of the discussions, but about 90 minutes later we learned that the boat does not have the necessary “papers” to take tourists to the island. We were stranded! This we found out with the assistance of our new Spanish friend. At this stage we decided to abandon the trip, as it was nearing lunch time, and we could not get our money’s worth, as the island is at least 1 hour away by boat. We proceeded to ask for our M1,000 deposit back, but since it was used to purchase fuel for the engine, it could not be returned. Things got interesting when Adri seized the engine and loaded it on the Dokka. We have in the mean time decided to treat ourselves to a chalet the next evening, and packed up camp.

Havoc broke out as they prevented us from leaving, and the poor Spanish guy tried to understand Portuguese and then translate it to English, in which he was also not fluent. In the end Adri settled to take the petrol and a small cash payment, but we would not have reached that point without the backpacker’s assistance. In the mean time Hennie and I went to BillFish Lodge (a recommendation by Mark), to secure a chalet for the evening.

It is a brilliant setting, run by two South African partners. We had a chalet that can sleep up to 10 people, with a nice veranda looking out over the sea. It has a bar area, restaurant and a pool deck. The chalets were very clean, and very well equipped, possible our best accommodation for the trip.

We had another superb restaurant dinner, with 3 of us eating the calamari, and Adri settling for the parrot fish – to Anita’s annoyance! And a nice bottle South African red wine, or two…

After a quick drive through the park again we headed for Inhassoro, based on a recommendation by Mark. Hennie looked up possible fuel stops on the GPS and were advised that we could get fuel at Muxungue, which would basically take us to the limit on our tank. The road was reasonable good and we made good time. However, in Muxungue we were told that they do not have diesel, but we could get at Rio Save, another 110km away. We slowed down seriously to reduce drag and lower consumption, and prayed. About 50km from Rio Save the range on the trip computer read Zero kilometres. Just after we crossed the Save River, we pulled into a very desolate fuel station. No person in sight. Apparently there was no fuel available!

Anita went in search with a friendly smile, but no luck. Even asked the driver of a BP fuel truck if he could assist. Hennie and Adri scattered into different directions, but no one could assist. In the end they waited where the cars and trucks line up to cross the river, and found a truck driver willing to assist. He was carrying spare diesel in the back of his truck, at a reasonable price. That sorted us out to get to Inhassoro. From Rio Save to Inhassoro the road was severely pot-holed. We pulled into the Seta camp site, which was quite neat and had electrical power and flushing loos – a novelty.

That evening we spoiled ourselves again with a restaurant dinner.

Trip B Report #2: 7-8 July 2009 (Quelimane to Gorongosa Reserve)

The next morning we woke early, and Mark gave us some very good pointers on the road ahead, as well as references of places to stay, and the name and number of another missionary further south, who basically does the same as Mark – helping people in need!

He also told us that we should not arrive any time later than 11h30 at the Ferry crossing over the Zambezi River, as the ferry staff go on lunch break from 12h00 t0 14h00, thus the last ferry before lunch departs around that time. Then it could take up to 15h00 in the afternoon to get the ferry again.

Adri had to try and sort out his oil leak, as we were concerned he may blow the engine. Adri and Hennie slid underneath the Dokka for repairs albeit Hennie’s role was more that of moral support. In a flash Adri fitted another part that fixed the problem. Anita then proceeded to try and clean the back of the Dokka, which was filthy from all the black oily smoke that spewed out of the car the previous day. I also did a thorough cleaning of the windscreen.

We left a little bit later than planned and arrived at 11h35. Needless to say, we only crossed the river around 14h45! The saddest part is that we had to get onto the ferry right next to the brand spanking new completed bridge, that could not be used, as it has not been officially opened as yet. That was scheduled to happen the following week!

Service at the fuel station at Caia was very slow, that set us back even further. We tried to push as fast as we dared. The road was good, with the occasional pothole to remind you that you cannot travel full speed. We desperately wanted to catch the entrance gate to the Gorongoza park before it closes at 18h00. As can be expected with our luc, we arrived at 18h10, and were not allowed to enter. We asked permission to pitch our tents in front of the gate, and the guards then told us to go to “Piet’s place”, approximately 3km back.

What a delightful surprise. Piet’s camp turned out to be a beautiful, well equipped camp site nestled in the bush. Sakkie, Piet’s eldest son, an entrepreneur in many ways, has just started with developing a camp site. Sakkie informed us that the overnight fee would be a mere donation, as he felt the campsite was not fully completed. What a lovely stay at this camp site, and recommended it to a few travellers we met on the way, and to anyone reading this blog.

Due to the fact that the only place that the green-headed oriole occurs are on the slopes of the Gorongoza mountain, Adri and Anita arranged with Sakkie to take them up the mountain before day break the following day, in an attempt to spot this rare bird.

Hennie and I slept in, packed up camp and headed for the Gorongoza Game Reserve. We decided to opt for a chalet as the ground was still wet from rain, and that a large overlander truck occupied most of the camp site. We took a leisurely drive through the park, and were quite surprised by the variety of vegetation. The park has more warthog and waterbuck than Impala! We were lucky to see lion, oribi, reedbuck, and many more.

We were getting worried when we enquired at reception at around 12h00 whether Adri and Anita have arrived and were informed that they were not yet there. Around 15h00 we enquired again, and of course many scenarios were played out in our heads as to what has befallen the Van der Veers! Just then the cell phone rang and Anita informed us that they encountered a bit of bad lack on the way down the mountain.

The rarely spotted green-headed oriole remained elusive, but they did spot a few other rare and interesting bird species. On their way back the land cruiser they were travelling in bumped into a rock that shifted the runnerboard to press against the tyre. Emergency repairs were carried out with primitive materials, as they did not have tools, to get the vehicle running again. This of course resulted in them being delayed and only arriving at the Gorongoza Game Reserve well after 17h00 soaking wet but with big smiles! We treated ourselves to the buffet dinner at the restaurant, with a few bottles of wine.

Trip B Report 1: 7 July (Ilha de Mozambique to Quelimane)

(Trip B reports relate to the splintergroup of the Burgers and Van der Veers post Nampula)

We awoke with a heavy heart this morning, as we knew we had to say goodbye to Carl-Hein and Marie-Louise today. They were heading west, back to Malawi, then on to Zambia and eventually Namibia. The rest of us revised our trip to travel south through Mozambique to avoid crossing any borders with Zimbabwe, due to our previous problems.

When everyone was up we shared our stocks of available fruit and veggies, with the Burgers trying to convince Marie-Louise they would love canned fruit and chicken korma source, all in an attempt to lighten the Fortuner.

In order to delay the inevitable, and since everyone would be travelling through Nampula, we decided to delay the good-byes for our stop there to re-fuel. Marie-Louise offered our “guide” of the previous day a lift to Nampula, some 140km away. He was suffering from Malaria and wanted to go to the hospital to get medication. However, she estimated we will leave our “normal” time, and indicated that he must wait in the road around nine o’clock. Thus he was not there when we left for a change at 08h00 in the morning. They decided to wait about 5 minutes, whilst someone will go and find him whilst the rest of us continued on to Nampula.

Unfortunately for us, it did not work out that way. We never managed to catch up with them, as Nampula was decidedly bigger than anyone of us estimated. Also, we were let down by the cell phone network, as we could not reach Carl-Hein.

Adri also realised that the Doka was starting to use oil, and had to top up with oil in Nampula. With heavy hearts we left Nampula behind.

The road was quite bad getting out of Nampula, but soon improved. As soon as we crossed the border into the new province, the road got wider, had road markings and even a bit of a shoulder! Heaven! We made good progress and started to think we may even make Quelimane that evening!

Unfortunately our luck did not hold. The road got progressively worse, and about 100km north of Mocuba the road disappeared. And we though the road from Marrupa to Montepuez was bad. This was even worse. To add to this, the Doka was bellowing more and more smoke the further we travelled. We stopped for a comfort break, and Adri added some more oil. We were very down hearted and despondent, because it was getting dark, and we were still approximately 30km north of Mocuba.

A car stopped to ask if we need assistance, and we told them we are fine, but if they could tell us how much further to Mocuba, and if the road is that bad all the way. Our spirits were lifted when the man informed us that the road will improve in approximately 5km, and is good to Mocuba all they way through to Quelimane, and even Gorongoza. That is just what we needed, as we were all quite despondent at that stage. True to the driver’s word, the road improved in exactly 5 km and we decided to push through to Quelimane, even if that meant driving in the dark. I do not have enough fingers on my hands to count how many times we promised ourselves that we will not drive in the dark again!

Just after Nicuadala the road deteriorated again, and it was already after 19h00 in the evening and completely dark outside. We had no idea where we were going to sleep that night, as it has been raining throughout the day and we were not very keen on pitching a tent in the mud. We decided to first get something to eat, and our trusted GPS directed us to a “good restaurant, with fresh pizza”. But we nearly did not get there, as, and I know this does not sound possible; the road got the worst yet! Lots of people talk about potholes that cars can fit in, but these were big enough to fit a bus, filled with water. At some stage we contemplated driving onto the sidewalk, as we were not sure how deep the pool was we were about to enter. And the part of town we were entering looked decidedly shady. However, we eventually reached the restaurant, and it looked good. We just had to avoid a tree stump that we put into a very deep pothole to prevent a car from disappearing into a black hole.

At the restaurant we heard American accents, and we accosted them to ask if they know about possible camping sites or reasonable accommodation. Richard, an American working on Agro-projects, promptly took out his cell phone and called a missionary called Mark. Can Mark please put us up for the night? Even if we can just put up our tents in his back yard? Mark obliged and said we are welcome.

We decided all to have pizza, as we knew how much Carl-Hein craved pizza to whole trip, and we wanted to be reminded of them. We were given directions to Marks place, which was basically back to Nicuadala, over the same potholes.

Mark is Canadian, and has been doing missionary work for the past 7 years in Mozambique. He is also the general saving saint, and knows all about car repairs. If anything goes wrong to any visitor in about a 200km radius, Mark is called upon to come to the rescue. We were very relieved to arrive to his friendly greetings. He had a small guesthouse at the back of the house that sleeps four. However, after being informed about the snorers in our midst, he offered that Hennie and I could sleep in his daughters’ bedroom in the house with him! And he does not know us from Adam. He wife and kids have departed for Canada already, and he was leaving in approximately 10 days time. He was returning to Canada for 2 years, so that his kids can complete high school there, then he plans to return.

We had a very good night’s sleep, very happy not to be pitching our tents in the rain, and having hot showers!

Trip Report # 18 (8 - 10 July): Lazing along Lake Malawi

One of the most absolutely fabulous things of this extended holiday is losing track of time, days and calendars. Initially I desperately tried to hang on to a sense of week days, but not caring whether it is Sunday or Monday or whether it is ‘time to get up’ or not probably really marked entering ‘Holiday Zen’ for me.

I only consciously recognised our transition into the Zen phase however, when we decided to book in the bus for a service (one or two niggly concerns to address before tackling the notorious National Park access roads in Zambia e.g. the broken and lost diff lock button) in Lilongwe.  Our intended passing through Lilongwe (according to our vague outline) coincided with a Saturday and Sunday – not optimal for a vehicle service in the normal schedule of day-to-day life. We were forced to acknowledge the dreary timetable of normality and had to wait out time to Monday.

The two ‘additional’ days allowed us a leisurely pace travelling north along the lake AND the opportunity to make a round trip to Mzuzu to visit Adams and Doreen’s family.  

We therefore booked the service for Monday 13 July, forewarned the VW service centre of parts and service requirements and set out chilling fastidiously along the lake.

This camp site was a treat.   Nkopola Lodge Camp site is operated by and located adjacent to the Nkopola Lodge Hotel (part of the Sunbird group of hotels).  This meant beautiful and rustic camp life, good camping facilities (meaning primarily toilets and hot showers) coupled with the amenities of high end accommodation (laundry, restaurant and bar facilities:-)) just a stone throw away.

Even more enchanting was being woken up in the mornings, not by the local roosters, but rather by the numerous Fish Eagles that nest along the lake and particularly in the koppie adjacent to the camp site.

The absolute highlight however is the daily feeding of the Fish Eagles by a hotel staff member. 

A fisherman on the lake in his past life, he has over time built up an understanding with the birds by tossing them fish from his boat.  He now feeds them twice a day from the lake shore in an entertaining, but not heavily advertised, display.  Once again we found out by bush telegraph (South African missionaries we ran into) and had the privilege of this experience. 

From Nkopola we took the scenic route via Mokopola Lodge for breakfast, through Monkey Bay and Cape Maclear to Senga Bay.  Malawi most certainly is a paradise!

 

At Senga Bay we did a thorough inspection of all recommended camp sites - a foreign concept to us to be stumped for choice! We favoured the extremely charming Cool Runnings above the renowned and very impressive Steps Camp site (also a Sunbird operation) and the Lonely Planet pick, Wheelhouse Marina. And boy where we pleased.   

The sheltered, grassy camping area was a perfect location against the prevailing wind and the food served at the little restaurant exclusive to residents, exquisite AND incredibly inexpensive!

Cool Runnings is frequented by an eclectic mix of backpackers, campers and ‘house guests’ from all over the world and this was our first experience of socialising with ‘others’ (i.e. really hanging with people not from our group, not from the establishment itself nor fellow South Africans intent on exchanging critical travel info)

This place is perfect to slow down another notch or two.  We strolled to the local market, watched local fisherman mend fishing nets the size of soccer fields, lazed on wood and canvas loungers and read our books.  bliss. 

The only gripe I have with this place is that it practically begged me to hang my hammock in the Jamaican-like setting, but none of the numerous (and quaintly labelled) trees are properly spaced – how inconsiderate!

M-L

Trip Report # 17 (6 – 7 July): Leaving Mozambique

After accepting that we have unceremoniously lost our compatriots at Nampula, we kept going west at Nampula only to be immediately treated to a gravel road where we were expecting a tarred road.   mmmm

Soon afterwards it became obvious that this was going to be a long day.

The road was good in most parts, but intermittent huge potholes made the going tough and stressful.

The road was very beautiful though.  Late in the afternoon we decided to stop for bread at a little town, where we  found the most amazing fresh ciabatta.

 

 

As I climbed out of the bus, I heard what I hoped was an snake, but it turned out to be a rapidly deflating tyre.  Yahh!  Finally I could use my emergency tire repair kit.  Apparently to the amusement of the local kids!

(Hannes, you were right, it is simple.)

Driving on I decided that we should overnight at the only indicated camp site on the whole route, as it was getting late.  The campsite came and went, nothing.  We had to drive on to Cuamba.  I was not pleased.

The road conditions caused me to have both the front wheels airborne at 3 separate occasions.  Not good.  (Adri, never before was I as happy about upgrading the front suspension).

Very tired and stressed out we arrived in Cuamba at around 1900 in the dark.  We had covered 529 km in 10 hour 50 min, average 49km an hour.  Not fun.

Hello Hotel Vision 2000 is indeed a vision of sorts (at an exorbitant US$75 for a room).  You can tell this by the way it is described in the Lonely Planet.  Not so much by what they say, but rather by what they do not say.  ;-)  Anyway, starved for choice this was home for the night.

We had dinner in the local restaurant where I thought my luck was about to change when I found a bottle of Nerderburg Cab 2003 for a decent price.  You often hear about this sort of thing in small towns where it is assumed that people do not have a clue of what wine is worth.  Very excited, I ordered the bottle in a storm of hand waving, as my Portuguese at this point was worse than when we started.  Needless to say the wine was BAD, due to lots of oxygenation.  I drank it anyway, together with a rather good grilled chicken. 

Attempting to shower brought another challenge.  The hotel does not have geysers, they use these curious point of use heating shower heads, which nerve rackingly requires power right in the shower with you.  Our shower kept tripping.  mmmm

The picture does not show it properly but:

The connections are bare and the earth is not connected!

That means we were tripping on over-current, never mind earth leakage.  Scary sh#$%^&t!

I suppose I should be glad the switch tripped at all.

We showered in another room.  Sleep was easy to come by.

 

View of our bus from the hotel room.

View of the “eastern wing” of Hotel Vision 2000 from our balcony.

 

We wasted little time leaving Cuamba, quite certain that we will not be back soon…Cuamba is a junction town.

Happily the road from Cuamba north (once we crossed the Niassa province border as it is a primary artery into the Province whilst being only a ‘minor’ road for the Nampula district) is much, much better.  We stopped for coffee and a snack for breakfast.

We arrived back at the same border crossing we used to get into Mozambique.  It was the easiest crossing to date and things were looking up.

My view of the crossing while waiting for Mari-Louise to get the papers sorted.

We arrived at Nkopola Lodge, on the lower west Malawi lake, to be welcomed to a fantastic camp and view.

Me, blogging away.

 

Mari-Louise, taking the chance to rinse out clothes (an effort which abruptly stopped once we found out about the laundry service)

Lake view from our spot.

 

 

 

Mozambique roundup:

I include this overview map to bring things together somewhat.  We effectively started in the south of the lake and entered Mozambique going north.  We then headed east to Pemba, south to Ilha de Mozambique and west again ending up where we started.  One BIG loop, clockwise.

Overall my memories are positive.  Negatives include a large communication barrier and really bad roads.  Positives include some truly beautiful scenes and 2M (the local beer!).

ciao, Carl-Hein