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15/02/2009

We leave Vilancoulos at 05h00 and plan to drive about 280km to Gorongoza National Park and overnight at Pete’s Place.
The first 150km is typical Mozambiquan road. Potholed and uneven tar. The country side is impressive but there are hardly any infrastructure in place. Occasionally a small village,sometimes with fuel and a market but more often than not there is nothing but M-Cell painted shacks.
After the first stretch the road get’s better and we reach Gorongoza by about 14h00. The sign says 8km to the camp and off we go on the track through the bush. 18 kilometers later we reach the main gate to the national park. This park featured on Carte blance as it was purchased by an IT billionaire from the States who invested something like $250 million into it.

Well at the main gate we are informed that the park is closed till the end of March because the roads are in bad condition after the rains. Furthermore we can stay at Pete’s camp for 350Mt (R125) per person per night, but the camp is a further 17km inside. We decided that we have wasted enough time on the drive in, and if they cannot look after the roads we are not going to support them further.

We get back on the main road and now continue the drive towards Caia looking for a place to stay.

Well there is just no accommodation and there are so many people on the roads that we just don’t feel save to pull off anywhere for the night. Maybe safe is not the right word because I don’t think we are in any danger. It’s just a question of everybody wanting to crowd around you, stare at you while you eat and never leaving you alone.
We eventually drive 750km for the day, which is a marathon distance for us. Approximately 50km before Caia we see a sign for James Wright camping and turn it. It’s a lovely lodge with individual chalets but no camping. I manage to meet with James Wright personally and he informs me that his license does not allow overnight camping and he stands the risk of losing his lodge license if he let us stay.

Tourism Mozambique are so concerned about visitors that they offer any person 30% of the fine they can levy on any owner that transgress any of their silly rules. They are not concerned about the roads that tourists must travel on, or the corrupt policeman that we have to face, but more concerned that we might not camp in a non designated area.

In any case we manage to find a little clearing where there are a few general workers and we spend the night behind a fence. It turns out to be a lovely evening because for the first time we try out external shower and everybody manages to get a hot shower, which always puts a smile on your dial.

11/02/2009

From Maxixe the road is fine till you reach Masinga then it turn horrible for 60km. I fail to understand why the roads are so terrible. How is it possible that in one province the road is maintained and just the next province it is allowed to go to waste.

Despite the raod we reach the familiar surroundings of Vilancoulos by 11h00 and after a quick bite to eat at Smugglers Inn we are off to Blue Water Beach resort to spend a few days relaxing. The 7km road to the resort have deteriorated in the past year and the resort is empty except for a few guys from Botswana, 3 more from Boksburg and ourselves.

We don’t mind. As long as the weather is good and we can have a hot shower we are happy.

The weather does not stay good and it turns out overcast for most of our stay. The hot showers are not always hot but we manage. We catch up with the schooling and by the time we leave on the 15th the kids are back on track.

The idea is now to drive to Malawi, spend 2 days in the Blantyre region so we can catch up with work and hopefully get a quick internet connection, and then drive to Monkey bay on the Malawi Lake where we will spend another 4-days.

10/02/2009

Early the morning we leave Nelspruit and head for the border at Komatipoort. On the way Zelda feels jerky movements on the front wheels and once again it is off to Toyota in Malelane. Whilst waiting for somebody to come look at the vehicle I sit and work in the back, Zante asleep on top and Zelda and Ivan off to Shoprite.
As I get out at the back I catch a guy leaning in through the front window and eyeing our goods. This is right in front of Toyota with 2 security guards. He just casually walked round the front of the vehicle and because the side door obscures the view he could lean in through the window.

Well when I confronted him he started running away. Now I’m not sure did he take something or is he just running away because he was caught in the act of wanting to do something. I give chase. It’s a long run and nobody helps. At last a taxi driver cut’s off his path and I catch up with him. No, he did not take anything and a quick search reveals that he has not.

From now on we never leave the front doors unlocked or any window open. These guys are just too quick and they strike if they see the smallest opportunity.

The Mozambiquan border crossing is easy enough and we continue without incident towards Maputo. As we turn off towards Xai-Xai I notice a police vehicle in front and I immediately see that they have spotted us and see an opportunity for some harassment.

They let us pass and then gestulate to me that I am driving without a shirt. I acknowledge but they insist I pull off. Now the fun starts. They have caught you red handed driving without a shirt, there are 2 senior guys and a another 4 armed on the back of the police vehicle. I admit guilt and tell them I am prepared to follow them to the police station. That’s the last thing they want. They can’t really fine you because the fine must be paid at a police station. They want you to pay them a bribe. We never pay bribes so were playing cat and mouse. Eventually after about 15 minutes we can continue with a warning.

They still stay ahead of us and I know they are looking for something else to confront us with. With the state of the roads and the traffic there are always some excuse to pull somebody over. Not waiting for a pedestrian to cross, crossing the centre portion of the road, maybe taking the wrong lane around a circle, not indicating. The list is endless. We decide to pull off and let them get ahead. They also pull off. We go to a roadside restaurant and sit down for cooldrinks. An hour later we left and at last they have decided to look for trouble elsewhere.

The road to Xa-Xai is in good condition and the 90km that was in a bad state has now been fixed Mozambiquan style. That means filling every single pothole with tar but not evening it out so that instead of a hole, there is now a small elevation. In any case the road travelled much easier than our last time here.

We travel without any problems to Maxixe where we spend the night.

16/01/2009

Visit Elandsbaai. There just seems to be no end to these coastal towns. The one more interesting than the other and we are amazed at the property prices in these small towns. Elandsbaai is population consists of 20 permanent Europeans and 19 policeman and 1 police dog. The police officers watch over the locals and the dog watch them.
For the first time I travel on a dirt road with aspirations to become something much bigger. It’s a toll road (R20 for a single trip) and it even has warning signs for a 60km speed limit that is enforced by camera. Well the speed limit is not in any danger of being exceeded by us as we only manage about 40km/ph on this corrugated road.
When we started the trip we looked forward to eating crayfish at Muisbosskerm in Lambertsbaai. This was not to be as we got to Lamberstbaai out of season when Muisbosskerm only open’s for a certain number of people, and only on certain days.
We decide on Die Kreefhuis and at 13h00 we enjoy a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc and crayfish. We hope this experience will be repeated often, but at a cheaper price.
At 17h00 we reach Vanrhynsdorp. A grand total of 169km for the day. That is approximately 20km per hour. We are not concerned. We are having a fantastic time.
Besides our expensive crayfish meal we limit the spending to R124 for camping for the night, and only because there was a swimming pool.

15/01/2009

It is a scorching hot day in Vredenburg that starts with the news that we might be able to leave today. Good news which we take with a pinch of salt. Our scepticism is unfounded and at 18h00 we hit the road. It has become a trademark of our journey that we retrace our route time and again. First from PE to Jeffreys bay and back, PE to George and back, Riebeeck Kasteel to Langebaan and back, Vredenburg via Velddrift to Dwarskersbos and back and now at last, hopefully we will only go one way. Past Dwarskersbos and overnight next to Verlorenvlei just outside Elandsbaai. The wind is howling but the setting is magnificent right next to the vlei, no artificial light, no neighbours and best of all for free.

As a family we have started our own challenge to see who can buy the best, or most, of anything with $1. At this stage everybody is still playing a strategic game of waiting to see what the other guys are going to buy.

We have also met some really nice people from Europe that has said to come visit them once we reach Europe so we decided to extend our One Dollar Challenge to any person, group or company that feel like making a contribution to our trip.

It basically works like this. You offer us anything you want for $1. We decide whether we want to accept it and if we do then once we meet up we will give you $1 in exchange for whatever you offered.

Example: You offer to buy us a beer when we reach Paris. When we reach Paris and contact you we will exchange you our $1 for a beer.

Of course you can offer anything. Maybe a room for a night, a meal, a guided tour or whatever you are prepared to exchange for $1. Once we take you up on your offer we pay you $1.

If you have something to offer us please e-mail us on ericus@north-bound.co.za Keep in mind we are 2 adults and 2 children.

You can enter your own offer here. Just remember to send us your contact details as well.

We will display everything that anybody has offered us on this page and our heartfelt thanks to everybody that has taken the time and trouble to respond.

Play along. It can be fun.