After a month in English speaking countries, I was heading back into foreign territory. Whilst the former Portuguese colony of Mozambique is probably best known in the West for the horrors of the gruelling civil war, a peace agreement was holding and things were now looking up. Tourists I had met had told me that it was a great place to visit, and since I was heading that way anyway I figured I may as well go and see for myself.
After being stung at the border for inflated visa fees (the price in dollars was double what it would have been in local currency, and the credit card machine was 'not working'), I was on the road and heading for a campsite just outside the capital Maputo that was marked on my map. However, when I arrived there was not only no sign of the hotel, but not even any evidence of the road it was supposed to be on! With light fading, I bit the bullet and booked myself a hotel in the centre of town. Whilst pricey for a cheapskate backpacker like me, the upside was that I had a lot of choice of places to eat within a 5 minute walk, and the next morning I was able to walk around the city without worrying about my bike. Maputo is nice enough; wide, tree lined streets, attractive colonial era architecture (in places) and a long promenade along the Indian Ocean. But a city is a city, and with nothing particular that I wanted to explore there I got back in the saddle and headed north.
Vilankulos is a little town on the coast, and the jumping off place for the Bazaruto archipeligo. It's a popular place for diving and snorkelling, so I signed myself up. After being rained off the first day we were out the next morning, bombing along in a motorboat to Bazaruto Island. After a wander around the sand dunes there we hit the water, snorkelling around the reef with a load of colourful fish (though sadly no turtles). My GoPro got its second outing of the trip, bringing the coast per use down to only £90 per shot. Such great value.
Next on the on the list was Gorongosa National Park. The park was ravaged during the civil war, with many of the animals killed for meat. Since peace has been restored to the country the park has started restocking, though the legacy of hunting means that some of the animals that remained (especially the elephants) can be unusually aggressive to humans. I turned up late to the park without thinking about the fact that I wouldn't be able to ride through it to the campsite (a motorcyclist would make a tasty snack for a lion), but luckily the manager was driving in at that very moment so I caught a lift with him. On a game drive the next morning I saw a good range of animals including hippos (at a distance) and lions, as well as the usual suspects of waterbuck, warthogs, impala et al, and then relaxing by the pool later I got to see warthogs much closer up as they came in and started digging up the lawns (hastily followed by the groundskeepers who chased them away with sticks for ruining the place).
After the park I had a choice - head to the coast and Mozambique Island, or veer west into Malawi. Always a sucker for something new, I opted for the latter and after two days of driving, with an overnight stop in a ditch where I managed to pitch my tent on top of a two foot tall rock without even realising, I hit my 20th African country of the trip.
After being stung at the border for inflated visa fees (the price in dollars was double what it would have been in local currency, and the credit card machine was 'not working'), I was on the road and heading for a campsite just outside the capital Maputo that was marked on my map. However, when I arrived there was not only no sign of the hotel, but not even any evidence of the road it was supposed to be on! With light fading, I bit the bullet and booked myself a hotel in the centre of town. Whilst pricey for a cheapskate backpacker like me, the upside was that I had a lot of choice of places to eat within a 5 minute walk, and the next morning I was able to walk around the city without worrying about my bike. Maputo is nice enough; wide, tree lined streets, attractive colonial era architecture (in places) and a long promenade along the Indian Ocean. But a city is a city, and with nothing particular that I wanted to explore there I got back in the saddle and headed north.
Vilankulos is a little town on the coast, and the jumping off place for the Bazaruto archipeligo. It's a popular place for diving and snorkelling, so I signed myself up. After being rained off the first day we were out the next morning, bombing along in a motorboat to Bazaruto Island. After a wander around the sand dunes there we hit the water, snorkelling around the reef with a load of colourful fish (though sadly no turtles). My GoPro got its second outing of the trip, bringing the coast per use down to only £90 per shot. Such great value.
Next on the on the list was Gorongosa National Park. The park was ravaged during the civil war, with many of the animals killed for meat. Since peace has been restored to the country the park has started restocking, though the legacy of hunting means that some of the animals that remained (especially the elephants) can be unusually aggressive to humans. I turned up late to the park without thinking about the fact that I wouldn't be able to ride through it to the campsite (a motorcyclist would make a tasty snack for a lion), but luckily the manager was driving in at that very moment so I caught a lift with him. On a game drive the next morning I saw a good range of animals including hippos (at a distance) and lions, as well as the usual suspects of waterbuck, warthogs, impala et al, and then relaxing by the pool later I got to see warthogs much closer up as they came in and started digging up the lawns (hastily followed by the groundskeepers who chased them away with sticks for ruining the place).
After the park I had a choice - head to the coast and Mozambique Island, or veer west into Malawi. Always a sucker for something new, I opted for the latter and after two days of driving, with an overnight stop in a ditch where I managed to pitch my tent on top of a two foot tall rock without even realising, I hit my 20th African country of the trip.
