The road to Tofo

[Kirby-Morgan]

Hello there. This is my first post to Scubaboard

I'm about to rediscover scuba after about a twenty-year layoff because my kids are keen to try it. We will be driving from Cape Town to Tofo next month where they will do the PADI course at Diversity Scuba.

I've often travelled to African countries so I have a rough idea what to expect but never having been to Mozambique before I have a few particular questions I'd like to ask. I'd be very grateful for any advice from old Moz hands.

1. Should I anticipate any difficulties or long delays at the border. (Komatipoort)
2. What is the best time to cross. I have tentatively planned to cross at dawn since I might need all day on the road.


3. Realistically, how long will it take me to drive from the border to Tofo by the main road? Ive been told 6 hours but I don't believe it.
4. Should I attempt to do it in one go or is there somewhere to stop over?
5. Is it safe to do the trip in a single vehicle full of white faces or should I try to travel in convoy?
6. How much should I pay the police for the inevitable bribe?

7. I assume the all-powerful US$ can be used there but can I spend SA Rands?
8. Where should I change money and what is the exchange rate to the Rand.
9. Are there any ATMs in Moz.

10. I know Diversity has a good reputation but it has changed ownership in the last few months. Does anyone have input regarding the new management?
11. I've booked to stay at Nordin's. Anybody have a comment?

My kids are beside themselves with excitement for this holiday. I don't want anything to spoil it.

Thanks in advance. All wisdom gratefully accepted. Colin.

 

[SA-Diver]

We are also going in December and go to Moz 3-4 times a year.
I'll try to answer most of your questions.

1. Should I anticipate any difficulties or long delays at the border. (Komatipoort)

The border post will be busy as the December holidays would have started.

2. What is the best time to cross. I have tentatively planned to cross at dawn since I might need all day on the road.

We normally try to cross early morning. You need to be very patient.

3. Realistically, how long will it take me to drive from the border to Tofo by the main road? Ive been told 6 hours but I don't believe it.

6 Hours will not be enough. All I can say is drive slowly, and plan to only drive during daylight hours. After dark is just too dangerous.

4. Should I attempt to do it in one go or is there somewhere to stop over?

I would stop over.

5. Is it safe to do the trip in a single vehicle full of white faces or should I try to travel in convoy?

Single vehicle should be safe, convoy is always better.
Make sure you have the correct number of triangles (2 for your vehicle, 1 more if you are towing a trailer). You also need the blue/yellow triangle on the front of the vehicle and back of the trailer - get this at outdoor shops or AA.

6. How much should I pay the police for the inevitable bribe?

We have never needed to pay bribes and I won't.

7. I assume the all-powerful US$ can be used there but can I spend SA Rands?

$ will work in some places, but we normally change Rands for local currency at the border.

8. Where should I change money and what is the exchange rate to the Rand.

At the border.

9. Are there any ATMs in Moz.

Take cash.

10. I know Diversity has a good reputation but it has changed ownership in the last few months. Does anyone have input regarding the new management?

No idea.

11. I've booked to stay at Nordin's. Anybody have a comment?

No comment.

I would recommend you post some of you questions on the SA 4x4 forum.
www.4xforum.co.za

 

[ajrbrown]

Both times I've dived at Tofo I've been with Tofo Scuba (who are excellent)

I was there in September and though i don't know who the new owners of Diversity are, the instructors are Jules and Esther who are very good (they were working at Tofo when i 1st went 4 years ago)

I'd probably change a little money but don't worry too much. Dive schools and Restaurants will happily take Rand (you might not get the best rate but the difference isn't worth worrying about)

I know you'll have a fantastic time

Andrew

 

[thisisandrea]

I have always used Tofo Scuba and as Andrew has already said - they are excellent. I did my Naui Open Water and then my PADI Advanced course with them.

I know that Diversity has changed management since Iwas there but the last I heard was that the old instructors are still around.

There are ATMs but the nearest to Tofo is in Inhambane - I believe that this only takes VISA cards though. Mastercards are a bit of a nightmare over there and are not accepted in many places.

Most places in Tofo will take rand and also US$.

I am sure that you and the kids will have an amazing time.

 

[drew52]

I would take Rands. They usually take Rands at a slightly worse exchange and then give you change in their currency so it's not really a problem.

I would stop over if possible; we stayed in a small lodge just outside Maputo which was great and reasonably priced. (On a small holding on the Tofu side on Maputo) I forget what it was called but can try find out. Otherwise do some research on it.

 

[omnio]

Hey Colin,

I just got back from Mozambique yesterday. I drove up just like your planning to do. From Joburg I flew to Nelspruit at which point I rented a van (6 people traveling). From Nelspruit we drove to Tofo. Although I don't nearly have as much experience as SA-Diver, here are some lessons/stories from my journey.


1. Should I anticipate any difficulties or long delays at the border. (Komatipoort)
- Only problem I had was they require so many useless forms. For example you would get a form from one person and have to get it stamped then give it to another person about 100 feet from the person that gave it to you. I actually entered into Mozambique and pasted up the person that was handing out a form at the entrance. Logic would have it that I would just walk back and ask for it. Nope they made me drive back into SA and re-enter. First lesson in Africa, logic does not apply.

2. What is the best time to cross. I have tentatively planned to cross at dawn since I might need all day on the road.
- I crossed around 11pm. It wasn't busy when I first arrived, but then several large buses came through with heaps of people loading/unloading. It took me about an hour to get through. If I knew what I was doing it would have only taken about 10-15 mins. You will probably have better luck in the morning.

3. Realistically, how long will it take me to drive from the border to Tofo by the main road? Ive been told 6 hours but I don't believe it.
- It took us about 9 hours, but I was also in a big van that was not a 4x4. On the way back I made it in about 7 hours. Road conditions from Komatipoort to Xai-Xai for the most part were really good. Some areas much better than others. After Xai-Xai the road conditions sucked. I wasn't mentally prepared for how bad they were at first so I was really shocked. Keep in mind that I'm from the US, where I see people afraid to go off a curb in their fully decked out Land Rovers. By the end I was dodging pot holes with the best of them. There is one section where you have to detour off the main road onto a dirt road for about 10 miles. Only problem with that is that it rained for a solid 4 days before I headed back so the road turned into a huge mud pit. It was quite the adventure trying to get through it in a 2 wheel drive van. There were sections where these hugh 18 wheelers were stuck that caused a huge traffic jam. I was lucky enough to have a local point out a short cut that pretty much saved our trip back.


4. Should I attempt to do it in one go or is there somewhere to stop over?
- If you hit the border in the morning I don't see why you would not be able to do it in one go. I didn't get into Mozambique until about 2pm, so we stopped in Xai-Xai. I would say that if it's getting dark definitely stop at Xai-Xai, as you would not want to drive at night. Also keep in mind that the road splits to Inhambane, but there are no clear signs that tell you.


5. Is it safe to do the trip in a single vehicle full of white faces or should I try to travel in convoy?
- Hrm...we had 2 white faces, 2 asians, and 2 indian. Didn't have any problems at all. Found the people to be extremely friendly.


6. How much should I pay the police for the inevitable bribe?
- After getting comfortable from driving all week I was going about 120-140kilometers/hour on the way back. Speed limit is 100 in most places. Coming into one of the towns I got stopped for going 27 over the speed limit. Police over was nice and even showed me the radar gun which had me clocked at 97 in a 60. Before writing the ticket he told me 1,000,000 meticas to get out of the ticket. I offered him 500,000 (about 20 bucks) and he was more than happy to take it. I wish it was that easy in the States.


7. I assume the all-powerful US$ can be used there but can I spend SA Rands?
- I found it much easier to just use meticals. Most gas stations accept credit cards, but for some reason they don't tell you that immediately. I found some that just right out say cash only until you tell them you don't have cash then they reluctantly except the credit cards. One location said cash only, then Visa only, but when I gave them my Mastercard it still ended up working.

8. Where should I change money and what is the exchange rate to the Rand.
- I would just keep a little bit of rand as backup.

9. Are there any ATMs in Moz.
- The first convenient ATM I found was at a gas station in Xai-Xai. After that there is another ATM in Inhambane. For some reason the lines the the ATMs are ALWAYS long. I went to the one in Inhambane once and there had to be about 25 people waiting in line. It takes the locals about 5 minutes to work the machine, where it took us about 30 seconds. I found that pulling meticals from the ATMs was the best value.

10. I know Diversity has a good reputation but it has changed ownership in the last few months. Does anyone have input regarding the new management?
- Have small recap on my diving in another post. Just search for Tofo.

11. I've booked to stay at Nordin's. Anybody have a comment?
- I have never heard of Nordin's, unless it's the main hotel in the town center. I only know it was the white hotel. I stayed at Barra Lodge and loved it. Although a little expensive, Barra Lodge has the best food in town. Peri-Peri grilled chicken is a must try. Along the lines of food, I bought seafood from the local fisherman several times. I bought some of the shrimp that would make a lobster look small. Mozambique is famous for the lobster and shrimp so I would say it's a must try. We had a grill infront of our cabin so grilling up the fish and shrimp was extremely easy. They even fillet the fish for you. As for the shrimp your on your own. You will absolutely love it though. Diving was truely amazing. I would be happy to anwser any other questions you have. You can learn from all the mistakes I made.

My kids are beside themselves with excitement for this holiday. I don't want anything to spoil it.

Thanks in advance. All wisdom gratefully accepted. Colin.

 

[thisisandrea]

Have just heard that Diversity are back in the control of the original owners.

 

[Kirby-Morgan]

Mozambique was wonderful. For the first few days the weather wasn't kind to us (This must have been the same deluge that omnio mentions) but on the whole the trip was FAR less hassle than I'd anticipated and my family had a whale of a time.Thanks to all you kind people who took the trouble to reply to my post. Since I'm now an 'old Mozambique hand' myself it would be my pleasure to offer any advice to others interested in making the trip.

Blue seas
Colin

 

[thisisandrea]

Hey Colin, glad you had a good trip. Would love to read a trip report if you have one?

 

[Kirby-Morgan]

Hi Andrea
I considered submitting a trip report but realised that there was little if anything I could contribute that others haven't already said. One exception being our accomodation at Nordins, of which more in a moment.

You are quite correct. Diversity has reverted to the original owners. They are still in Tofo but are now involved with other endeavours and have appointed Mark Whaley as manager and Chief Instructor. He has quite a high-pressure life (at least at this busy period) but I found him very capable and extremely patient, as in fact were all the instructors and DMs we met there. Having spoken to several holidaying divers my impression is that Diversity is considered a little less formal and more personal than the other operations in the area.

We had a few days blown out which was disappointing as after training it left us with not enough time to do all the dives we would have liked. According to Mark, November and April are the best times of the year. We will go again this year for my family to consolidate their training and catch up on the dives we missed.

Regarding Nordins, we started off very badly, arriving exhausted, in a torrential downpour to find that our reservation, made six months earlier, had been overlooked and the place was booked out. As was all of Tofo. Nordine's management style could politely be considered 'informal' though I was disinclined to courtesy at the time.

To make matters worse the car's fuel tank had sprung a leak and we could drive no further. Fortunately Nordine did have one very small room available. (still under construction but at least it had a roof!) into which we all squeezed for the first night.

In the morning he sent us a complementary breakfast then by some astonishing feat of diplomacy persuaded the two Swedish occupants of our booked rooms to swap with us. They did this with admirable and uncomplaining good grace. From then on all was fine. The chalets, (casas) are best described as 'rustic' by SA standards but having nothing but the beach and the Indian Ocean at the end of your garden more than made up for it. The casas were cleaned daily and the linen was changed every second day. One thing we disapproved of was that the accomodation was described as self catering but had no stove, pots, pans etc. Nothing in fact to cater with, though Nordine would supply it on request. At US$50 per double room per night it was amongst the cheapest of the 'formal' accomodation in Tofo and we thought it reasonably good value.

We're looking forward to our second trip. If I can offer any more advice, please say.

Kind regards. Colin.