Maputo to Volksrust (South Africa) - August 15th

August 15th, 2008:

Short: Café culture, Fix the jerry can clasp, Tour Maputo, Mozambique-Swaziland border, Sightsee in Swaziland, Swaziland-South Africa border, B&B in Volksrust

Long: At breakfast this morning we found that Maputo has quite the café culture. Along the main street we had our choice of sidewalk cafes, something we have not seen that often, if at all, on our trip. After breakfast we took the car to a body-shop across the street from our hostel and asked the guys to re-weld our jerry can clasp (It snapped again). The manager of the shop refused to take any money for the fix.

While leaving in the car to tour Maputo, a child ran up asking for money. We refused, and he began chasing after the vehicle as we drove down the main street. Mortimer snapped a few pictures of him trying to hide from the camera. We drove for fifteen minutes, parked the car, and walked around one of the main squares. Amazingly, the child ran the entire distance and located us in the square. Having guessed our location correctly and running entire distance, we had to give him some change, he worked for it. We snapped some pictures of the city hall, and then toured around the, very European looking, downtown train station. We found the architecture in the city to be lacking, but the café culture and coastal location made up for this.


We left Maputo in the morning, and crossed the nearby border (<100km) into Swaziland around noon. Swaziland is a small country of just over one million people and is Africa’s last remaining “absolute” monarchy. The monarch here runs the show, and this was evident as we passed the “Royal” plantations heading west to the capital, Mbabane. On the positive, the country is known for its rich culture and traditions. On the negative, the country is also known for having the highest rate of HIV in the world. A staggering 40% of the adult population in Swaziland is estimated to have HIV. We stopped for lunch and an ice cream! in Mazini, the largest city in Swaziland, and then continued on through the Ezulwini valley to Mbabane.


We thought about staying the night in the touristy Ezulwini Valley, but decided it would be best to keep driving. We are planning on driving to mountainous Lesotho tomorrow, and would like to ensure the latter portion of the drive is in the daylight. We arrived at the South African border after dark, and while I was on the phone trying to fix a relocation fiasco back in Boston, Niki and Mortimer processed the passports. Driving back into South Africa was like a breath of fresh air. It is amazing how much different South Africa is from its neighbors. The roads are immediately better, both smoother and well signed, and services are available most everywhere. We no longer had to worry about where to get money or petrol. After grabbing a quick dinner and some fuel in Elmero, we drove south to the small town of Volksrust for the night. Our guidebook offered no advice for this area of South Africa, but we easily followed signs to a guesthouse, and after some negotiation with the congenial caretaker, an older man, stayed in a nice two bedroom apartment for the evening.