Daily life in Mozambique is similar to most of sub-Saharan Africa. Lots of roadside vendors, mostly produce and often charcoal.
Traffic was not bad, except sometimes in Maputo. The drive to Swaziland was without problems on nice roads.
Coming back from the Gorongosa National Park to Beira Airport was a four hour drive. The first 1.5 hours of that was on terrible roads. A paved road with potholes is much worse than a dirt road. Other than that the roads were nice.
My last stop was in Inhambane and Tofo Beach to see whale sharks. I made a short tour of Inhambane (see Wikipedia entry for Inhambane). Inhambane had a narrow gauge railroad in the late 19th/early 20th century.
Mozambique women carrying large loads on their heads. (710k) Mozambique woman walking along the road with a heavy load on her head. (574k)
Camping
My crew bundling up firewood for the camp fire. (1438k) Dragging the firewood back to camp. (1184k) Starting the camp fire. (1227k) Relaxing at the camp fire. (771k) Camp. I had a large tent with a folding bed. It was very comfortable. (1189k)
Houses, villages, and towns in Mozambique
Local houses. (769k) Local houses. (660k) Local houses. (778k) Statue of Vasco da Gama. He was the first Westerner to visit this area in the late 15th century and made it popular for the Portuguese. (890k) Hindu temple from 1914 near Maputo. (976k) Central park area in Inhambane. (852k) Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Inhambane, from 1974. (722k) Previous Inhambane Cathedral, dating from around 1840, the Portuguese era. (922k) Bell tower of the old cathedral in Inhambane. (747k) Mosque in Inhambane. (739k) Old railway station. (791k) The old locomotive that ran on this railroad. (800k) Sculpture made of everyday items. (698k) Sculpture made of everyday items. (730k) Tofo Beach. (504k)
Traffic and Roads
Ox-drawn cart. (629k) The car that I took to the Maputo Special Reserve. (946k) One of the zodiacs that were used for Scuba diving in Tofo Beach. (624k) On the ferry across the Tembe river. (734k) Coming off the ferry. (821k) Black smoke coming out of one of the diesel minibuses. (561k) Fully loaded bus. (847k) Heavy truck traffic. You can see how this damages the road. (735k) Bad road on the way from Gorongosa to Beira. (702k) This enormous bridge is being built by a Chinese company over the Tembe river inlet. (616k) Bridge construction. (663k) Bridge construction. In this section the two ends are constructed at the same time, eventually meeting in the middle. (638k) Bridge construction. In this part prefabricated sections are rolled in place by a huge crane. (567k)
Business
Roadside produce stands. (611k) Slate slabs and building wood for sale. (805k) Charcoal bags for sale. (850k) Bringing produce to the market. (736k) Bakery. (769k) Market area in Inhambane. (898k) Vegetable market. (1043k) Vegetable market. (946k) Vegetable market. (901k) Vegetable market. (957k)
Dr. Günther Eichhorn Travel Website
Soaring website