Trouble in Mozambique

After spending some time in the capital Maputo and at the beautiful beaches of Xai-Xai, Tofo and Morrungulo we arrived in Vilanculos. This small town is known for its chilled vibes and during the vacancies a lot of South Africans go there to escape the winter. We stayed at Baboa Backpackers and went for a trip to one of the tiny islands to snorkel in the coral reef.

 

We had a good day on the island and when we came back to the backpackers the news reached us that a weapon depot in Beira was robbed the same morning. The government blamed the Renamo, a revolutionary group which was founded during the state bankruptcy several years after Mozambique became independent in 1975. The Renamo fears to lose the next election in October and so they try to become the leader of the country the other way. The TV spread the information, that the Renamo has killed several policemen and are trying to block the main highway EN1 next morning at the strategically important “Save” River Bridge. That was exactly the road we had planned to take and as there are no secondary roads which are possible to drive without a 4x4. Our only option was to drive over 800 km back to Maputo and cross the border to Zimbabwe. A Portuguese journalist from Maputo told us that the government has sent 35 military trucks into the north to clear the situation as the first negotiations haven’t had any results. So we hoped that the situation would be better the next morning. Those conflicts in Africa can arise as fast as they can be settled again. Sometimes it just takes a couple of days.

 

The next morning we contacted the Swiss embassy and followed their advice to ask at a local police station if the road is safe again. They told us that it is no problem to take the EN1 because the military has made its way almost to Beira and built several provisory military bases along the road. So we decided to give it a go.

One of the soldiers at the Save bridge fulfilled the cliché perfectly; he stood at the road in his camouflage dress, wearing silver reflecting sunglasses and keeping his finger on the trigger of his machine pistol. Besides a few military bases and a trunk at one petrol station along the way one could get the impression that there was no conflict at all. So the situation sounded much more dramatically as it really was. In the evening we arrived safely in Chimoio after a 470 km drive.