Welcome to our impressions and tips about traveling to Mozambique!
Quick facts:
When? December 5th - December 19th
Who? Me (30M) and my girlfriend (26F)
Why? First time in sub-saharan Africa, kiting and celebrating my 30th
Budget? We didn’t want to spend much on accommodation & transport, but since it was my birthday trip we definitely tried to experience as much as possible. In total, we spent €4.500
If this short profile fits yours or in general you are still unsure about a trip to Mozambique, I’ll guide you through Our trip , What was unexpected and our Top 5 tips for getting the most out of it.
Our trip
TL:DR; Maputo →Tofo → Vilanculos → Maputo
We arrived around noon in Maputo with a layover in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (be aware, that this layover requires a yellow fever vaccination). Since we both have German passports we didn’t need a Visa but at arrival they still ask you for $10 per person, which you can even pay with your card, if it works… Ours didn’t so we just paid €20 in total and they were happy enough. We did check-in our bags so we had to briefly wait but quickly we were out of the arrival area and had to grab a taxi. But, we of course didn’t have a single Metical (the local currency) and somehow the two ATMs did not accept our credit cards… Luckily I did try with my normal debit card and it somehow worked. Withdrew some 5k MZN and the cab driver asked 1200 to our hotel (too much but no energy to negotiate).
Since we didn’t want to stay in Maputo long, we looked for a way to get to Tofo the next morning. Initial research, like you are currently doing, recommended us the infamous Fatima bus. Quick walk to the Fatima Backpacker’s and some chatting with the reception and we had a bus reservation for 5am and they’ll even come pick us up!
As good Germans do, we waited at 4:45am the next morning in front of our hotel and lo and behold the bus arrives at 5:30am to pick us up. It’s quite empty and we get to choose seats and everything looks great.
After this timely start it somehow took us until 10am to leave Maputo.
How? Stopping everywhere to pick up more people and generally navigating quite busy roads. Whatever. We were on our way and the running joke was
“The driver has many girlfriends so he needs to stop everywhere to greet them.”
We stopped everywhere. We picked up anything and everyone. People were being squeezed. Leg space was quickly filled. At some point the tire of our baggage wagon blew up and we had to take a welcome break until it was fixed.
Driving through incredible villages, as well as a huge inappropriate KFC in Xai-Xai we arrived in Tofo some 14 hours later. The receptionist asked us how we travelled and chuckled at our Fatima bus response. Apparently most tourists read these blogs that recommend the bus and everybody is just dead after arriving due to all the stops and crazyness that happens along the way. Even though it was incredibly tiring, it was also incredibly real. We saw so much of everyday Mozambiquean life that I wouldn’t want to miss this ride.
Note: But you can avoid it! There are proper travel busses that do the same route in ±8 hours or you can even fly from Maputo to Inhambane and then grab a rather cheap cab to Tofo.
TOFO -WELCOME TO PARADISE!
Since we arrived quite late, we just took a shower and ate some food at our lodge restaurant. It took until the next morning to see the beauty that we had arrived to.
We stayed for 3 nights at Kumba Lodge which I can highly recommend due to the incredible staff, amazing food and perfect base for a couple.
If you’re on your own, you might want to opt for something a bit more social like Kitesurf Tofo, where we actually also stayed for the 2 nights afterwards and ended our Tofo stay in a South African style barbecue with the owners and other guests. Tofo is very small. Tofo businesses are mainly expat driven. Tofo is chill. During our stay we met many of the locals which you can’t really avoid at the market, we did 2 afternoons kitesurfing, did some free yoga, tried out many of the expat restaurants and spent lots of time staring at the wavy ocean.
We had planned to leave to another destination after 3 nights, but so many other travellers kept telling us that they already went to Vilanculos but returned to Tofo to spend some more time here. That’s why we extended for two more nights and decided to switch hotels for some #change.
We arranged with some locals that we met early on a cab ride to Vilanculos. This cost us 7.000 MZN (approx. $100 at the time) and was definitely not cheap but due to the Fatima experience, we were craving some relaxed transport haha. The drive is rather quick in a cab and we arrived at our hotel in Vilanculos in around 5 hours.
Note: You definitely have a cheaper option of taking a bus from a neighbouring town or even flying from Inhambane to Vilanculos! We met people that travelled all kinds and it mainly depends on how much time you have and how much money you’re willing to spend for comfort & time savings.
VILANCULOS & THE ISLANDS
We arrived at Baobab Beach Resort, which most travellers we met recommended since it was a very social place and made for easy adventure planning. We had our own lodge with sea view and it was amazing!
Vialnculos is quite the opposite to Tofo. It’s big. It’s adventurous. It’s exciting. And somehow it’s a hotspot for honey moons. Every 2nd couple was there on theirs.
As you likely know, Vilanculos is the mainland across from the Bazaruto Archipelago which is a national park and must visit for tourists.
There are 5 islands belonging to the Archipelago and you can take trips to all. The most popular one is the exploration of Bazaruto + Benguera islands with snorkeling (or diving if you’re into it), climbing on dunes and lunch at the beach. Second to that is Santa Carolina island, which is famous for the deserted hotel that used to be regularly visited by Elton John. I don’t want to spoiler the trips too much but would definitely recommend you to do both of those!
All good things come to an end, so we had to head back to Maputo. We decided to have 2 nights in Maputo to enjoy a full day there, which was totally the right decision! There is a direct bus from Vilanculos to Maputo for ±$20 per person and it took us 8 hours to arrive. Arrive to where? No one fu**ing knew… How can no one know where this bus will have its final stop? Whatever, we roughly communicated via some assistant boy on the bus and he showed us one bus station where the bus will pass and they dropped us off there. Fortunately our hotel was so kind to send us a taxi, which helped a lot! Somehow it was equally tiring as the Fatima bus but we were just glad to finally arrive.
Note: We stayed at Guesthouse 1109, which I can highly recommend! Very clean, quiet and even has a pool for some 30°C*+ days in Maputo.*
MAPUTO & THE COMMUNISTS
Mozambique got its independence late in 1975 thanks to the efforts of Samora Machel, who became the first President and quite the interesting person to read about. Since his political leaning was in the tradition of Marxism-Leninism, you will find many curious street names in Maputo. Enjoy exploring!
If available, I’d definitely recommend a walking tour or just take a walk through Tunduru Gardens and go to FEIMA for some impressive local craftsmanship.
What was unexpected
Banks changed their system and don’t accept master card anymore - no exceptions. We met many stranded tourists, so don’t make that mistake.
Mozambiques main language is of course Portuguese, but we were very impressed by their level of english.
We expected to mainly spend money on accommodation and fun activities, but ultimately food was quite expensive. Rarely we had lunch/dinner for <$10 per person.
Maputo was tons of fun! I could have stayed longer and learned more about their history and culture or also just trying out more of the endless good restaurants.
Mozambicans are incredibly friendly. Everyone was chatty and all smiles. We were a bit surprised that there was little of their own culture. It's a bit difficult to describe but everything was heavily expat focused and all goods are imported. I assume it comes for their late independence.
Top 5 tips
Do yourself a favour and get a Visa card.
Don’t save on Mosquito sprays for body & clothes
we also used malaria tablets for the whole duration of the trip + 7 days afterwards
Get a local SIM card. The eSIM we had was crap.
Haggle! You can always negotiate for a better price and especially for souvenirs you can easily counter with a third of the original price
Get your open water diving license beforehand and explore the big underwater animals!
