OverlandSphere
Overland Travel, Expedition & Adventure Information for 4x4, motorcycle and truck overlanders
Mozambique was a short affair. In terms of scenery there wasn’t much in north Mozambique. It was dry and pretty poor. We passed village after village of mud houses and bags full of coal to sell lined up on the road. As with most of the other countries, you had the occasional crowd surrounding the water pump with plastic Jerry…
New post on Maralal in Kenya, Tompsons Falls in Kenya and Nile River Explorer in Uganda on the website please go and look at these posts. Next post will be our experience trekking the Gorillas in the Bwinsdi National Park in Uganda.…
We left Pemba and stopped by at a little computer shop which we had noticed a few days earlier to see if they had a laptop charger for me, however the shop was still closed and we needed to wait until after 9am in order for the shop keeper to arrive. They showed me a charger which was not the…
We left Ilha da Mozambique and headed towards Pemba. We were really looking forward to Pemba and it is one of the destinations that was on Larry’s bucket lists. We had read and heard so many wonderful things about Pemba with it aqua waters and white sandy beaches typically thinking that it was some type of Tropical Island. Our dreams…
Van Mozambique naar Tanzanië rijden blijkt geen eenvoudige onderneming te zijn. Twee keuzes: ofwel rijden we langs de kust via de directe route, wat aantrekkelijk kort is en mooi, ofwel rijden we 600km om via de Unity Bridge, een misbaksel van beton, dat halverwege de grens is neergepoot op een plaats waar geen kat ooit komt. Nog een nadeel van…
Casuarina campsite is run by a fantastic Italian named Davide and his wife Spohia. He has been running the place for the past year and is loving every minute of been in this wonderful setting. He came from Milan where he was a chef and decided that a more simple way of living suited him better. Davide was very excited…
We travelled from Zalala just outside Quelimane to Nampula and passed one of the cleanest towns I have ever seen in Africa called Mocuba. The scenery had changed dramatically and we were enjoying the miombo forest and mountains of the area. We knew that there were quite a few campsites in Nampula so set the Garmin for them all as…
De Quirimbas eilanden vormen een archipel aan de noordkust van Mozambique. De eilanden worden nog niet vaak bezocht door toeristen, met uitzondering van een handvol honeymooners die rechtstreeks naar hun lodge vliegen op een van de vele bounty eilandjes. De ferry naar het hoofdeiland Ibo is dan ook niet veel soeps, een klein motorbootje letterlijk volgeladen met mensen, dieren, scooters,…We…
Zalala Beach Lodge (500 Mets per night) We followed the road from Quelimane down to Praia de Zalala on an extremely badly potted tar road. It was rather disappointing as they don’t cater for campers, however they did say we could camp there and showed us a barrack near the workshop. The one advantage of being near the workshop is…
We stopped off at the market to pick up some ciggies and buy a mosquito net which we want to use when we are lying on our hammocks. Then we stopped off at a MCel office to see if they could get my Mozam sim card working with our blackberry but to no avail, so I am realiant on using…
We have eventually left Gauteng behind us as we have visited with the children and family for 2 months. I must admit that it was lovely seeing everyone however I realise that I have lost nothing in Gauteng anymore. We headed out after doing our last minute shopping, the road north was calling strongly and we were happy to oblige. …
Mozambique is helemaal anders dan de andere Afrikaanse landen die we tot nu toe bezocht hebben. Omdat het een Portugese kolonie is geweest, hangt er een Mediterraans sfeertje. Voor de eerste keer kunnen we ons in het Engels niet meer verstaanbaar maken. Ilha De Mozambique is zeker een highlight van onze trip tot nu toe. Het is een klein eilandje,…
Our northernmost stop in Mozambique was Pemba, and according to our guidebook, a relaxed and quiet little town with great beaches, snorkeling and diving. As we reached the outskirts of town, we got a hint that things might have changed since the publishing of our guidebook in 2007. There were construction sites, container storage areas, and heavy traffic. Strange. Well,…
It took only 150km after our maintenance stop in Beira before our beloved came to a grinding halt. Joyously leaving town, we had but glowing praise for the Purple People Eater as we cheered ourselves on out of the city. How incredible was the ‘smoothness of the ride’? The ‘immediate power’ when putting the foot down? And the stress free…
Since we decided to drive through Mozambique and we started to read up on the country, Ilha de Mozambique has been on the top of our list of places to see. The island is 3 km off the coast and is connected to the mainland with a bridge. Long before the Portuguese arrived in 1498 Ilha de Mozambique has been…
After some relaxing days in the Inhambane area with our visiting friends from Norway, our paths took different directions. Actually we both had the same goal, Norway, but they would return to Johannesburg to hand in the rental car and then fly back home. We are still aiming to drive back to Norway up the East coast of Africa, and…
We hit the coast just north of Xai-Xai as it began to get dark. The GPS showed a campsite a few kilometers further and warned us about soft sand on the access roads. As we took off from the highway a sign told us to air down to 0.8 bar (about 11 psi). We took the rental car down to…
Girondo Border crossing in the Kruger – Limpopo National Parks We decided to cross the border at Girondo in the Kruger NP. This is supposed to be a quiet and easy crossing, and we also wanted to spend time in both Kruger and the Limpopo NP. As the crossing is inside the park you do of course have to pay…
Leaving Coral Lodge was quite emotional. In just 3 short weeks we had formed a surprisingly close bond with many of the staff – in particular Sara & Nelson, the lovely Portuguese managers, as well as many of the wonderful Mozambican staff. Sarah & Nelson were great company while we were there and also introduced us to Nelson’s crazy brother…
Mozambique 24-31/05/2012 Praf african la micul dejun? Da, multumesc. Drumul – solicitant, singuratic; peisajul – fermecator, cu enigmatice culmi rasarind ca niste insule din orizontala savanei. Ajunsesem la limita sudica a celui mai mare sistem de falii din lume, care se intinde pe 6400 de km, pana in Cornul Africii si Iordania. African dust for breakfast? Heck to the yes!…
Mozambique 23-24/05/2012 Cand baobabii au facut loc din nou palmierilor, am zarit istmul de 3,5 km care leaga continentul de fascinanta Ilha de Moçambique, fosta capitala insulara a tarii, si din 1991 sit World Heritage. Aceasta este una dintre cele mai interesante destinatii pe coasta estica a Africii. Splendoarea apusa a arhitecturii coloniale, cladirile din coral din cidade de pedra…
After another night in Pemba where we stayed in a chalet instead of camping to get a hot shower, the four of us, Mike and I and Monika and Martin, headed north to Mueda, basically a transit stop. It was a pretty painless drive with more Chinese roads in progress and an overpriced guesthouse at the end offering cold bucket…
Mozambique 19-23/05/2012 Cu exceptia provinciilor Tete si Niassa – prin care am intrat noi – Mozambique nu are mai mult de 300 km latime de-a lungul celor 2500 km de coasta. Cat doua treimi din Africa de Sud, ne-a atras nu doar cu legendarii shrimpi care iti sar direct in tigaie, dar mai ales cu melanjul de cultura latino si…
I know I haven’t written a blog for a while (sorry, sorry Mum & Gran), but we have had a slightly unusual couple of weeks! We ended up staying a little longer in Nampula than originally planned – my last blog obviously jinxed the visas & off course they weren’t ready on time. We returned to the Immigration Office on…
Access to the Archipelago das Quirimbas is difficult by dhow and can only be accessed at high tide. So, as I learnt, everything we did, activities, as well as getting to Ibo Island, was highly dependent on tide times. The road to Tandanhangue was pretty good; there are two routes, the shorter of which is apparently impassable during wet season,…
As we sadly left Ilha de Mosambique the rain started to tumble down. Perhaps it was a sign to try and get us to stay another day, but we were beach bound, and despite the rain were keen to get on the road and head back to the mainland to see Chocas Mar. Chocas Mar Chocas Mar is a stretch…
In Mozambique finally, after nearly a year and a half of anticipation and talk of beaches and perri-perri prawns! Unfortunately we were only unable to see northern Mozambique given the time we had but from all reports and what we had read, we were in for a real treat! Our first destination was Ilha de Mocambique, an island off the…
Now within spitting distance of the coast & Ilha de Moçambique… I can almost feel the sand between my toes – woop, woop! More like red dust in every orifice!! We have stopped in Nampula for a couple of days to extend our visas by another 30 days. A surprisingly easy thing to do, particularly given that dealings with officialdom…
It’s official – Mozambicans just LOVE having their photo taken, as you can see from the colourful market scene above. In most countries to date I have tried to be discrete with the camera when taking photos of people, but there is absolutely no need to be shy here. From the moment they see a camera you get no peace…
In the last couple of weeks we haven’t moved very far – still in central Mozambique & still in love with this country & its people. From the River Savé we have moved north west to the border region with Zimbabwe – the Chimanimani Mountains. We first stopped in the town of Chimoio as, after a week in the bush,…