We woke up early: our noisy neighbours were getting ready to go fishing on the Kosi Bay estuary. The day is overcast and a welcome respite after the last few days. At 8am we are ready to head to the border post a few kms away.
At 9am the border is already very busy. Cars are queuing for over a km of road at least. It is Saturday, the first day of the Christmas holidays. Hundreds of South Africans are going to the coast. It looks like the great trek: a migration of fully kitted 4x4 with trailers, tents, boats, jet-skis, quad bikes… In front of us a group of students in a fancy Land Cruiser with a trailer have cracked open the beers. They are not the only ones...
We eventually get to the border (2hrs) and everything goes smoothly. The staff are friendly and helpful and it is well organised. We don’t take photos around the border as it probably isn’t allowed.
Steve gets a 1 month visa for ZAR 17 on his South African passport. Mine (French)costs ZAR 172. It is less than what I was expecting from the information I had gathered from the Embassy. It’s a pleasant surprise. The compulsory car insurance costs ZAR 150, and we don’t have to pay for a temporary import permit for our vehicle thanks to the Carnet de Passage (CDP).
The border post officials didn’t know about the CDP, and it took them quite some time to figure it out with them. but eventually they were very happy that we had such an official document with us. Steve was very patient, and I walked around, observing with amusement the “great summer migration” and looking for a discreet spot without snakes or mines to go to the loo.
We have done about 3,000km since we left Cape Town 2 weeks ago.
Once in Mozambique we have the choice between 3 sandy tracks. They are all 4x4 only. We are told that the one on the left will take us to Maputo. The GPS confirms: keep left all the way to Boane and you will be fine.
At 9am the border is already very busy. Cars are queuing for over a km of road at least. It is Saturday, the first day of the Christmas holidays. Hundreds of South Africans are going to the coast. It looks like the great trek: a migration of fully kitted 4x4 with trailers, tents, boats, jet-skis, quad bikes… In front of us a group of students in a fancy Land Cruiser with a trailer have cracked open the beers. They are not the only ones...
We eventually get to the border (2hrs) and everything goes smoothly. The staff are friendly and helpful and it is well organised. We don’t take photos around the border as it probably isn’t allowed.
Steve gets a 1 month visa for ZAR 17 on his South African passport. Mine (French)costs ZAR 172. It is less than what I was expecting from the information I had gathered from the Embassy. It’s a pleasant surprise. The compulsory car insurance costs ZAR 150, and we don’t have to pay for a temporary import permit for our vehicle thanks to the Carnet de Passage (CDP).
The border post officials didn’t know about the CDP, and it took them quite some time to figure it out with them. but eventually they were very happy that we had such an official document with us. Steve was very patient, and I walked around, observing with amusement the “great summer migration” and looking for a discreet spot without snakes or mines to go to the loo.
We have done about 3,000km since we left Cape Town 2 weeks ago.
Once in Mozambique we have the choice between 3 sandy tracks. They are all 4x4 only. We are told that the one on the left will take us to Maputo. The GPS confirms: keep left all the way to Boane and you will be fine.
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