Maputo, Mozambique

March 8, 2023

Sorry for the long delay with posts. We had 3 overland tours in a row, so I am just now having the opportunity to do the blog.

We sailed into Maputo early in the morning.

We didn't get to spend much time in Maputo. We disembarked in the morning and headed immediately for the border with South Africa. I took some photos from the van as we drove.

There were many small roadside stalls along the road. Some of the women would carry their purchases in baskets, shopping bags, or boxes balanced atop their heads, although others carried them in shopping bags slung over their shoulders as we do in the U.S.

There had recently been flooding which disrupted the road building project, washing away some of their progress and leaving behind puddles and washed away garbage. People were already hard at work already clearing away the damage and starting again on the road.

They didn't have billboards on the drive. Instead they painted the messages along the road barriers. Most were in Portuguese, although their driving safety slogan was in English - maybe directed at tourists?

Goats are a popular herd animal to raise throughout Africa, as well as sheep and cattle.

Crossing the border was interesting. We reached the Mozambique immigration and had to get out of the van and line up to show our passport and visa. We then got back in the van, drove a few minutes to the South African immigration and repeated the process - although in South Africa, our escort collected all of our passports and got them stamped once we were about halfway through the line. It wasn't only the tourists who had to go through this process. There were dozens and dozens of semi-trucks lined up along the side of the road each way as their drivers also had to get out and join the queue so they could deliver their goods across the border.

Kruger wasn't far from the border. We knew we were close when we reached the Crocodile River.