When we left off, our hero's were just about to leave their comfortable beach cottage in pursuit of some danger and adventure.
The next step of our journey landed us right back in the heart of Mozambique. Leaving a bit late that day we did not cover much distance before dark arrived. We found a little corner to park the van (amongst tall grass and unbeknownst to us, a stones throw away from a little village).
Luckily, nothing happened that night and we set off for the province of Sofala. When we fist arrived at the Mozambican border in Swaziland we had been warned that there were rebels fighting in this area. We thought about changing our route but that would mean heading back along the road we came. Instead we asked at Turtle Cove. The lady there told us that as of this month there was officially two months of peace. This was enough assurance for us to push on.
When we got to the weigh bridge that marked the entrance into Sofala, the guards stopped us and in their broken English and my broken Spanish communicated to us that we would have to wait until 2pm (it was 11:30 at the time) to cross. As we waited in a little patch of shade, we saw groups of soldiers arriving in trucks, decked out in their uniforms with guns and amo.
That wait and the following convoy assembling that occurred after we crossed the bridge, were quite worrying. In fact, I felt most concerned before we actually headed into Sofala than I did the whole time we were there. The convoy was 130K of slow buses and annoying cars trying to overtake, but at least we didn't get killed by bandits.
The next day we crossed the border into Zimbabwe and as we did we both let out a unison sigh of relief. We were finally free from the prison of coconuts (which I mentioned in the last post and goes back to a little comment from a friend of mine in India about Amritsar being a prison of butter. Those of you who have lived there know what I mean...) and on into Zim where the landscape was breathtaking, the weather was cool and crisp, and the people were super chill. We went through ridiculous police road blocks in Mozambique and ended up paying 900rands in bribes, whereas in Zim when we got to the same checkpoints, the police would stop us purely to ask how our day was and than let us continue. We ended up paying 100rands and the dude actually wrote us out a ticket and everything, no pocketing the cash at all.
Besides the Zim people being chill, the roads were actually drivable. We even were able to go off the highway onto a main road (and it was still nicer than the one highway in all of Mozambique). Who would have thought!
That day we spontaneously stopped at the Save River (Rio de Save in Portuguese, since we had passed it in Mozambique as well). To make it even better we decided to jump in and go for a swim. The water was clean and refreshing (tip number 135, when roadtripping one should never give up the chance to bathe).
It was as if this day couldn't get any better, until we found the perfect camping place. Down a dirt road and under the most picturesque African tree. We arrived at sunset and set up camp. Under the most magnificent stars I have ever seen in my life we retired and watched the Lion King (yes, we are major cheese balls).
The morning came too early with regret that we would be leaving Zim. With this sadness, however, was the excitement of exploring Botswana.
I thought people couldn't get much chiller than Zimbabweans, until we were in Botswana. Beside the fact that they have like half the population so you scarcely even run into people anywhere, those you do meet are lovely (and I don't remember ever being stopped at a police check point).
That day we drove through the land of Bushman. It was a long, hot, pretty boring day. The landscape was virtually unchanging and flat, and the sun beat down through the windows. Somehow, even though this day was longer than the one from Maputo to Inhambane, it was not nearly as stress inducing.
We pitched camp quite early that evening in the middle of some salt pans. As we sat and watched the sunset a woman and her child from a nearby village stumbled over to us as she herded her cattle. We struck up a conversation. I ended up getting a picture and she got some of our extra yams (that we bought in the Plumtree market earlier that day).
The next morning we headed towards the Namibian border. Driving through the Kalahari, all I wanted to do was jump into some water. The map even showed me that there would be a lake on the way, just after we passed the base of the Okavango Delta. Unfortunately, that dang thing lied to me. There was no lake, only more of the same flat, boring landscape that we had grown accustomed to seeing in Botswana.
We didn't quite get to Namibia that day, instead we camped in the desert. We pulled off of yet another road to camp near a tree, this time amongst hundreds of locusts (but much fewer Mosquitos, so that was nice.)
The next days journey, took us through yet another border, and yet another currency change. We headed towards Walvis Bay, where Bhaj has family. Heading towards his Aunts place we drove, and drove, and drove some more. Pretty soon we went from the prairie right into the heart of the desert. There really is nothing like sitting in a car and just watching as the landscape shifts, right before your eyes.
As we got to Walvis we encountered one I the most incredible sunsets over the sand that came about due to the heavy mist that descended from the sea. It felt apocalyptic (not the first time on this trip). We decided to pull over and eat some leftover oatmeal from that morning and watch the sunset. We would have to arrive at our destination in the dark anyways.
We arrived and had a nice meal, some hot tea, a refreshing shower, and warm bed. Of course this was after we spent a few hours joking around with Bhaj's aunt, uncle, and cousin.
The saga will continue with the rest I our stay in Walvis and the journey to Cape Town. Just hang tight.
The next step of our journey landed us right back in the heart of Mozambique. Leaving a bit late that day we did not cover much distance before dark arrived. We found a little corner to park the van (amongst tall grass and unbeknownst to us, a stones throw away from a little village).
Luckily, nothing happened that night and we set off for the province of Sofala. When we fist arrived at the Mozambican border in Swaziland we had been warned that there were rebels fighting in this area. We thought about changing our route but that would mean heading back along the road we came. Instead we asked at Turtle Cove. The lady there told us that as of this month there was officially two months of peace. This was enough assurance for us to push on.
When we got to the weigh bridge that marked the entrance into Sofala, the guards stopped us and in their broken English and my broken Spanish communicated to us that we would have to wait until 2pm (it was 11:30 at the time) to cross. As we waited in a little patch of shade, we saw groups of soldiers arriving in trucks, decked out in their uniforms with guns and amo.
That wait and the following convoy assembling that occurred after we crossed the bridge, were quite worrying. In fact, I felt most concerned before we actually headed into Sofala than I did the whole time we were there. The convoy was 130K of slow buses and annoying cars trying to overtake, but at least we didn't get killed by bandits.
The next day we crossed the border into Zimbabwe and as we did we both let out a unison sigh of relief. We were finally free from the prison of coconuts (which I mentioned in the last post and goes back to a little comment from a friend of mine in India about Amritsar being a prison of butter. Those of you who have lived there know what I mean...) and on into Zim where the landscape was breathtaking, the weather was cool and crisp, and the people were super chill. We went through ridiculous police road blocks in Mozambique and ended up paying 900rands in bribes, whereas in Zim when we got to the same checkpoints, the police would stop us purely to ask how our day was and than let us continue. We ended up paying 100rands and the dude actually wrote us out a ticket and everything, no pocketing the cash at all.
Besides the Zim people being chill, the roads were actually drivable. We even were able to go off the highway onto a main road (and it was still nicer than the one highway in all of Mozambique). Who would have thought!
That day we spontaneously stopped at the Save River (Rio de Save in Portuguese, since we had passed it in Mozambique as well). To make it even better we decided to jump in and go for a swim. The water was clean and refreshing (tip number 135, when roadtripping one should never give up the chance to bathe).
It was as if this day couldn't get any better, until we found the perfect camping place. Down a dirt road and under the most picturesque African tree. We arrived at sunset and set up camp. Under the most magnificent stars I have ever seen in my life we retired and watched the Lion King (yes, we are major cheese balls).
The morning came too early with regret that we would be leaving Zim. With this sadness, however, was the excitement of exploring Botswana.
I thought people couldn't get much chiller than Zimbabweans, until we were in Botswana. Beside the fact that they have like half the population so you scarcely even run into people anywhere, those you do meet are lovely (and I don't remember ever being stopped at a police check point).
That day we drove through the land of Bushman. It was a long, hot, pretty boring day. The landscape was virtually unchanging and flat, and the sun beat down through the windows. Somehow, even though this day was longer than the one from Maputo to Inhambane, it was not nearly as stress inducing.
We pitched camp quite early that evening in the middle of some salt pans. As we sat and watched the sunset a woman and her child from a nearby village stumbled over to us as she herded her cattle. We struck up a conversation. I ended up getting a picture and she got some of our extra yams (that we bought in the Plumtree market earlier that day).
The next morning we headed towards the Namibian border. Driving through the Kalahari, all I wanted to do was jump into some water. The map even showed me that there would be a lake on the way, just after we passed the base of the Okavango Delta. Unfortunately, that dang thing lied to me. There was no lake, only more of the same flat, boring landscape that we had grown accustomed to seeing in Botswana.
We didn't quite get to Namibia that day, instead we camped in the desert. We pulled off of yet another road to camp near a tree, this time amongst hundreds of locusts (but much fewer Mosquitos, so that was nice.)
The next days journey, took us through yet another border, and yet another currency change. We headed towards Walvis Bay, where Bhaj has family. Heading towards his Aunts place we drove, and drove, and drove some more. Pretty soon we went from the prairie right into the heart of the desert. There really is nothing like sitting in a car and just watching as the landscape shifts, right before your eyes.
As we got to Walvis we encountered one I the most incredible sunsets over the sand that came about due to the heavy mist that descended from the sea. It felt apocalyptic (not the first time on this trip). We decided to pull over and eat some leftover oatmeal from that morning and watch the sunset. We would have to arrive at our destination in the dark anyways.
We arrived and had a nice meal, some hot tea, a refreshing shower, and warm bed. Of course this was after we spent a few hours joking around with Bhaj's aunt, uncle, and cousin.
The saga will continue with the rest I our stay in Walvis and the journey to Cape Town. Just hang tight.
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