Since last semester, my roommate Austin and I have been pondering a road trip to Mozambique. I did some research to find the closest place on the Indian Ocean that we could drive to. Google Maps told us it would take 10 hours each way, and we were reminded never to trust Google Maps in Africa. Over four days, we drove over 28 hours from central Malawi to the ocean and back. Not wanting to drive in the dark, we stopped in Mocuba the first night and continued on to Quelimane and Zalala Beach in the morning. After a full day of relaxing at the beach, we came back to Quelimane to walk around the capital city of Zambezia Province before making it back across the Malawi border. The final day we drove back through southern Malawi all the way to Lilongwe, completing the following route:
Some highlights from the trip:
- Reaching the Mozambique border, seeing cars on the other side of the gate, thinking we should park there and then getting surrounded by guards once we realized crossing the border without presenting any documentation was probably frowned upon
- Austin almost having his Yellow Fever card taken away because the "clinical officer" was upset that he hadn't signed it
- Upon crossing the border, immediately noting that Mozambique seems like a wealthier country with more infrastructure, before turning onto a "main road" that was unpaved for 90 km...
- Getting stuck in a ditch on the dirt road and having a Mozambican family help push it out, then giving them a granola bar for their help because we didn't have any meticais
- Taking a sunset stroll to see the Licungo River after stopping in Mocuba, which wasn't part of our planned route
- Getting through an entire season of the Serial podcast in roughly 24 hours
- Finally reaching the Indian Ocean after 14 hours of driving and bathing in the warm water, bopping up and down with the small waves
- Eating Mozambican seafood and drinking Portuguese wine at the Zalala Beach lodge
- Naturally waking up at 5:15am in a tent just off of the beach and running outside to watch the sunrise over the ocean
- Getting asked by police officers twice in one day - once in Mozambique, once in Malawi - if we would get them a soda to quench their thirst on the hot day
- Camping at the base of Mt. Mulanje and waking up before sunrise
In the past two months, I've left the United States and traveled to my 12th, 13th and 14th countries.
My travels of 2016 have so far included:
Malawi: Nkhata Bay, Nkhoma, Zomba, Mulanje
South Africa: Cape Town and Johannesburg
Mozambique: Mocuba, Quelimane, Zalala
Looking forward to seeing what else 2016 has in store!
My travels of 2016 have so far included:
Malawi: Nkhata Bay, Nkhoma, Zomba, Mulanje
South Africa: Cape Town and Johannesburg
Mozambique: Mocuba, Quelimane, Zalala
Looking forward to seeing what else 2016 has in store!