This forms the third part of our trip to Mozambique in 2004.
We are continuing northwards along the main road from Barra Beach towards Vilanculos, which is our turning around point on this trip. Patchwork roads of Mozambique with their multitudinous potholes…
We chatted to some roading engineers and found out that the government had let contracts for 1000km of road in 17 sections and expected them to be done simultaneously, still have the roads open and ready by the end of the year ….. ! Mozambique ha a shortage of gravel, it is a sandy country and they stabilize the roads with 6% cement.
After the total neglect of a civil war and a socialist government, overseas aid was given to the government to fix the roads. This money vanished with very little road work done, so when it all started again but this time the money was handled by the donors.
This is the ‘chaining measure’ zero point, from where they mark chain lengths on the road for the repair crew. They did 100km lengths at a time!! and they had to have the contract sign up- Worth 590,000,000,000 meticals!! although these signs were a bit of a worry, they split it up into 20km lengths. Which still gave road works stretching away as far as we could see. Sometimes there was no worry about traffic control, other times there were proper traffic lights with piles of dirt for miles!
The survey pegs were local, and the guys had the nukes out, and the cement bags! There goes that 6 hundred thousand billion Meticals! The side roads were just not counted The roads were just basically dangerous! The potholes may randomly be 400mm deep and rip a wheel off. They may be so close together you drive off the road and crawl around in the bush a bit. You look ahead by watching the car/truck coming towards you and noting which side of the road he was driving on and where, so you can mirror it after you pass. There are completely stripped wrecks on the side of the road, for once you crash you are a long long way from anywhere. Once it rains the potholes all fill up, so you can’t tell 20mm deep from 400mm deep. As for doing 100kph along here…. !
Vilunculos
We drove out to Vilunculos on the coast and found our camp. The office was a bit of a worry. The ceiling inside was no more reassuring, and the wiring system at the counter was just mind-blowing!
Our unit was OK, the usual sort with the usual sort of wiring, strung in across the trees from the office! The ladies loo was okay-ish…but the shower was not quite up to it!
The notes from the diary.
Vilanculos was 5 hrs drive from Barra beach. It was more run-down than Imhanbane, no street signs at all, roads deep sand with coconut fronds over them. Limited electricity, not many shops, plenty of informal markets and ‘everyone sells something’
The camp was empty except for us and an overland bus. The roads were also empty, not even taxis and the worse potholes so far for the trip.
Lady at the private tourist agency (free info, buy map) says that it is impossible to own land. If you follow the correct channels it would take 110yrs just to get a lease to build. State owns all the land and locals can get a lease after occupying for 2 years. As land develops potential, it becomes more expensive to lease.
The land situation has been holding Mozambique back for years. The Communists government seized all land and leased it back to people. The structure was so complicated it took forever to get things built, and the corruption was legendary. One businessman said he rented a warehouse, and the rent was meant to go to the local Council, as residents do not pay rates. However a minor politician came along and said HE held the lease, and it would cost ten times as much to sublet it off him. That he paid, only to have the same thing happen a couple of months later with a higher-up politician. He gave up of course!
Buildings may have a concrete floor and a stub wall without planning permissions, so everyone builds a typical native hut with a concrete floor, and all the empty concrete buildings stay empty. The bottom of the society runs marvellously with free enterprise markets, but anything larger gets bogged down in the corruption.
The camp was right on the beach with the Bazaruto islands just offshore.
Just along the road was a carefully stripped motel, with the windows all removed
The inconspicuous bakery was difficult to find-but well worth it!
The weather was against us, but we went downtownto the market stalls; The taxis had their roofs up.
When it dried a little we wandered around the derelict buildings of which there were plenty, even great places on the waterside with companion derelict boats
Vilanculos to Maputo
The road condition together with the stress of finding places to stay drove us back south.
Catching up on odd buildings, interesting few of the churches where destroyed.
The small villages are largely near the coast as the people fled here during the civil war leaving the interior as there are still plenty of minefields preventing people going back.
How far had we come? Compare this to the map at the start that shows all of Mozambique! As we had spent less time in Mozambique than anticipated, we had a 5 days to spare before our flight back. We drove back to Maputo, then straight to the border and managed to get accommodation in Kruger National park where we gently explored, then back to Johannesburg and home.
