The Macuti Lighthouse and the shipwreck lying directly in front of it form one of Beira’s most iconic and atmospheric landmarks on Macuti Beach. The 28-metre-high lighthouse was built in 1904 and was originally painted with black-and-white horizontal bands; today, it is painted red and...
Driving from Caia to Beira via Inchope covers around 446 kilometres. The first leg along the N1 to Gorongosa took us 11 hours for just 226 kilometres, although that was still one hour faster than on our way there. We once again battled some notoriously degraded sections of road...
Getting from Nampula to the half-forgotten island was surprisingly complicated. Rather than spending another eight hours changing between crowded minibuses, we hired a taxi for 5,500 MZN (176 km / 3 hours), which proved to be well worth the extra cost. The Island of Mozambique (Ilha de...
We were exhausted after the long drive on the horrific road from Gorongosa to Caia. To make matters worse, we couldn’t refuel there, as all the filling stations had been dry for quite some time. We spoke with several truck drivers about the fuel situation further north, but the...
After the punishing drive from Gorongosa National Park to Gorongosa town—just 65 kilometres in four hours—we thought the worst was behind us. We were wrong. What followed was another level of hell. The official Estradas de Moçambique road conditions app, which provides updates on the...
The journey from the Machipanda border to Gorongosa National Park covered 231 kilometres and took us a frustrating six hours. Most of the drive followed the excellent EN6 highway to Inchope through Chimoio, where you’ll find the ideal place to refuel or stock up on groceries at...
After a long stretch of smooth and hassle-free border crossings, we once again found ourselves facing a rather chaotic one. The Forbes–Machipanda border is the main land crossing connecting Mutare in Zimbabwe with Manica in Mozambique along the Beira Corridor. It was only a few kilometres...
After checking all our guidebooks, we decided that Mutare, Zimbabwe’s vibrant “Gateway to the Sea,” would be our final destination in the country. Zimbabwe’s fourth-largest city lies just 290 kilometres west of the Mozambican port of Beira. Nicknamed Kumakomoyo...
One of the best roads we drove in Zimbabwe brought us to the capital in just five enjoyable hours. After many days of navigating pothole-ridden highways, the smooth 317-kilometre journey felt almost magical (toll fee 2x 4 USD). We spent two nights and one full day exploring Harare...
A surprisingly good road, interrupted only by a few potholes and damaged sections (304 km / 6 hours / toll fee 2x 3 USD), brought us from Bulawayo to Great Zimbabwe—the magnificent ruins of a sprawling medieval stone city that served as the capital of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe between the...