Africa's Ferry Crossings

With a notorious water crossing between Mozambique and Tanzania looming, Kingsley Holgate reflects on all the adventures and challenges he and his team have had to endure with ferry crossings.

- Kingsley Holgate

We’re still on the Cape Town to Kathmandu Land Rover expedition and sitting around the campfire near Quionga in Mozambique’s far northern province of Cabo Delgado, we get to discussing tomorrow’s Rovuma River ferry crossing.

Ross has made contact with Gaston, the ferry captain who lives on the Tanzanian side of the river; seems we’ll have to be up at dawn to tackle the buggered track down to the police post to book out of Moz in time to make the ferry on the incoming tide.

Gaston has warned us that if we miss the tide there’ll be no crossing and so with nyama sizzling on the coals and refills of our dented enamel mugs, we get to reminiscing about the many crazy challenges of river crossings in Africa and the adventures that surround them.

“Do you remember,” asks Ross, as with thumb and forefinger, he dips another ball of ugali into the meat sauce, “when we were on the Outside Edge (the name we’d given to a massive Land Rover expedition to track the outline of Africa), we crossed this same section of the Rovuma but from the Tanzanian side and how, using buckets, basins and pots, we had to bail for our lives? The ferry was listing so badly it almost capsized. Then we got swept down the river, missed the landing site and had to dig a ramp out of the steep bank to get the Landies off. Soon after that, it sank. But tomorrow, they say it’s a new ferry and it’s working.”

“Well, let’s hope for the best,” I add. “Last time I crossed the Rovuma, there was no bloody ferry at all. For a hefty fee, the local fishermen lashed three small, wooden boats together with mangrove poles and we crossed one Landy at a time. Dodgy as all hell. Halfway across on the last run, the outboard spluttered out of fuel. With an empty jerry can as a float, the skipper swam across the croc-infested river to finally return by dugout with enough fuel to get us across.”