Senga Bay to Liliongwe to Chimoio to Tofo - August 11th / 12th

August 11th / 12th, 2008:

Short: Drive to Lilongwe, Attain visas at the Mozambique Embassy, Malawi-Mozambique border, Dinner in Tete, Sleep in Chimoio, Drive to Tofo, Dinner at Dino’s

Long: We left early for Lilongwe and arrived at the Mozambique Embassy around 9am. We wanted to leave quickly and paid almost fifty dollars per visa to have them issued within thirty minutes. While they processed the visas we drove into downtown Lilongwe to get some money and purchased groceries. By the time we arrived back at the embassy the visas had been completed and we were on our way. Amazingly efficient for Africa - we drove out of Lilongwe around 11.

We arrived at the Malawi-Mozambique border less than one hour later and were disappointed to find out that the border freely issued visas for only $25. We could have saved both time and money had we not gone to Lilongwe. While the woman at Wheelhouse was knowledgeable about the road conditions, she was wrong about the visas. After passing the border we began driving to Tete, the next large town in Mozambique. Mortimer took some great photos of the people and villages along the way (below is a little section of pictures representative of village life in Mozambique).

First impressions: The people seem more reserved (Less likely to smile and wave), they speak Portuguese (Somewhat odd), it’s expensive (Petrol is over $2 per liter), and it seems more wealthy than Malawi. We crossed over the Zambezi River and into Tete as the sun was setting. After touring the city we found a café, and over dinner discussed the road conditions with the owner. She informed us that most of the road was in decent shape, but approximately 60kms was filled with potholes. We decided to go.

Before leaving the café a small puppy began yelping loudly just outside on the sidewalk. The puppy, a string pulled tightly around its neck, was being pulled along the sidewalk by a few boys. One of the boys kicked it harshly while another smacked its face. The son of the owner began yelling at the boys, who quickly ran across the street. A few minutes later the son witnessed one of the boys throwing rocks at the puppy and went chasing after him. We have found stray dogs throughout Africa; some of the puppies are even sold on street corners. Zoe, from Malawi, had purchased one in this manner. Unfortunately, most of the dogs are seen a nuisances, not pets, and are treated accordingly.

We left Tete for Chimoio and arrived around midnight. We had to wake up the owner of the hostel who informed us that she only had one dorm bed left and could not allow us to camp. She explained that the new governor of the city banned her from allowing campers. Fortunately she was German, and willing to let this one slide for her two fellow Germans, as long as we woke up early to collapse the tent. Mortimer took the dorm bed, and Niki and I camped.

Chimioi is a dusty, landlocked, transit town in central Mozambique and, having no reason to stay, we left early the next morning. A few kilometers outside of Chimoio we came across a familiar site, another horrible accident. A pickup at been shredded by a tractor-trailer. We are heading directly for Tofo, a highly recommended coastal town. While Mozambique has a few decent national parks, they do not rival those of many of its neighbors. A long civil war in Mozambique ended in the early 1990’s, but not before many of the large mammals in the national parks were killed for Ivory or meat. Animal numbers are now starting to rebound, but they have a long way to go. This said, Mozambique does have some of the best beaches in Southern Africa, and this is how we plan on spending the next few days. As we drove south we saw more and more South African vacationers traveling the coastal highway. We pulled into Tofo around 6pm and were able to get a dorm bed and a campsite, at Bamboozi, a backpacker place directly on the beach. We ate dinner beachside at a nearby bar called Dino’s and then headed to bed.