After our long haul down thru the country to Vilankulos we either had the
choice of staying and resting on the beach or making the final dash across
to the modern world back in South Africa. Beach, no. I guess we expect too
much sometimes but what we saw of Vilankulos did not exactly stimulate us
into sun bathing mode, so back to the road it was.
Our route would be a new one to us, a dash across from the coast to a
crossing of the Limpopo at Mapai and then the safety of the Kruger NP.
As it would be a long drive of over 600km and 90% of it on dirt roads of
some description we were up and away not long after 05h00. Boy we will be
glad to get back to normal sleeping hours! The first 50km from Vilankulos
was a quick sprint on good tar before we reached the turn at Mapinhane and
the start of the long gravel drive. To our surprise we had a great sandy /
dirt road all the way to Mabote, some 115km, and despite the odd suicidal
truck coming round blind bends on our side of the road it was uneventful.
Mabote is huge, and in the middle of nowhere, why? The only reason we could
think of was to mark the end of the good wide dirt road and the start of a
narrow sandy track that we had to negotiate for the following 170km to
Machaila. On the whole it was good but there were some extremely bumpy
sections and trying to keep speed up on a track that is the same width as
Mufasa and lined on each side by trees with no idea as to what might be
around the next bend was, err interesting. To be honest I loved it! At times
the sand became quite thick but with quick use of gears and 4wd we managed
to negotiate it problem free. Sue was however feeling the toll of the road
conditions and started to feel quite motion sick, but luck would have it
that a single motion sickness tab was still to be found in our medical box,
and that seemed to stem the nausea.
After Machaila the road opened up again to a wide dirt road but for the last
long stretch of nearly 100km we had many a speed dip to cross. Yes I do mean
speed dip, concrete trenches that are usually put in for streams to flow
across in wet weather but these seemed to be there purely as and alternative
to speed humps. Most of them came with an early warning sign but the odd one
didn't and on occasion Mufasa's brakes and tyres were put to the test to
kill 70km/h of speed at a moments notice. Little did we know that this would
be a breeze compared to what awaited us later on.
Finally we made the Limpopo and once again the clock was ticking away time
on us. We had read that the border crossing at Pafuri closed at 16h00 and by
the time we had crossed the river we still had about 100km to knock off on a
very bad sandy road that was full of sharp dips that shook all three of us
to the bone. Oh and before we move on, can you believe they charged us R60
to cross the mighty Limpopo river! Well I kid you not. The crossing was
merely a case of driving down one bank and over some logs and up the other
side, very dry at this time of year. It cost more for us to do this under
our own steam than for us to get a ferry across the mighty Zambezi, double
the cost in fact. When you next see Sue ask her about my feelings on this
that I politely informed the man at the gate.
Anyway, that last 100km was almost the end of us, thank God Mufasa is a
bloody tough chap is all I can say. Some of the dips we saw some we did not
and with the clock ticking and us wanting to make the border in time I had
to push pretty hard and keep the speedo over the 50km/h mark. At one point
we came to a split in the road and I took the wrong one on and we very
nearly got badly stuck in deep sand. Boy our hearts were in our mouths and
the sighs of relief once we had managed to keep moving and reached the other
side were probably heard back in the UK!
The time 15h44 and our location the border, YES! The formalities were easy
and despite yet more inquisition from the Mozambique police we were over and
into SA with no hassles that side. Boy we were happy, and after an easy hour
inside the park to Punda Maria rest camp (S22 41.594 E31 01.054) we were
able to put our feet up and knock a few of our remaining Mozambican beers.
We had made it and all still in one piece although I think all 3 of us have
the bruises to show from the drive.
So our last night in the tent, sob. We slept well and although we had
another long drive back to Joburg ahead of us we knew it would be a
formality on good fast roads, well good roads and as fast as Mufasa would
take us. It is a different world, highways, shopping centres, fast food! It
seems like we have never been away. All a bit of a blur. But after a few
days of relaxation we should be able to reflect on our amazing adventure. Oh
and blog about it so keep watching!
Relaxation, what am I on about? We have to sort out the contents of the
truck, give it a damn good clean inside and out, get it serviced, work thru
my long list of jobs that need doing, and then plan our next escape!
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