Beaches, Boulders & Busted Buses

The Mozambican coast south of Vilanculos is familiar to many South Africans: Ponta do Ouro, Xai-Xai, Inhambane, Tofo… But what about the north? Johan Wahl and his wife Jana shouldered their backpacks and ventured into the unknown.

We made our way towards the train station through the back alleys of Lichinga, a small town near Lake Nyasa – what Lake Malawi is called in Mozambique. We were carrying our heavy backpacks and a stone in each hand, just in case. My stomach was rumbling and so was Jana’s – last night’s instant pap had barely touched sides. I wasn’t too worried though, because I knew there would be hawkers at the station selling bread, eggs and mielies.

Jana and I had got married a few months previously. We resigned from our jobs and departed on an open-ended honeymoon around the world. Africa was first on the list: We wanted to travel on public transport from Cape Town to Uganda. This story starts six weeks into that adventure, in the town of Cobué.

Cobué is in the far north-western corner of Mozambique, on the shores of Lake Nyasa. We arrived on board a ferry called the MV Chambo – the cheaper and less reliable of the two passenger vessels that ply their trade up and down the lake. (The other is the MV Ilala.) On the ferry, we realised that we were in for the adventure of a lifetime: From the deck we had a view of the Mozambican side of Lake Malawi, which was sparsely populated with almost no roads.

From Cobué, the ferry took us further south to Metangula. People typically get off at Cobué, but we decided to stay on board and continue to Metangula. There is very limited transport available from Cobué to Metangula over land so we figured the ferry would be easier.