Route Choice? Nam vs Moz
 

Hi,

Im leaving on a trip to Amsterdam from Cape Town via East Africa 1 year from now...

Was hoping someone could explain why most people choose to go through Namibia rather than Mozambique?

Are the roads worse? Scenery better? Accomodation availability issues in Moz?

Would really appreciate some insight!

Cheers:palm:

Roads are certainly better in NAM than in MOZ. Besides that, the Vic Falls are on your way. There is a low threat from terrorism in MOZ - clashes between government troops & Renamo fighters, but apparently nothing really serious.

I could imagine any combination of the below:

- String out the end of the journey (don't want to finish quite yet)
- Moz visa is difficult to get on the road (if you want to go, get the 6-month multiple entry at home before you leave)
- Namibia is awesome and has some very nice places (pistes, red dunes, fishriver canyon, Himba, Kolmanskoppe, Epupa, ...)
- Victoria Falls is on the way
- Botswana with its many sights (Okavanga, Chobe, animals, Kubu island, ...) is on the way
- Namibia/Botswana/Zim etc are english speaking
- Zambia's South Luangwa is kind of on the way (great for game spotting from outside the park/across the river)
- There's recently been some shootings/ambushes etc in Moz
- Some of the roads in Mozambique are not so nice (better than Moyale/Turkana though)
...

On the other hand, I can see the following reasons for choosing Mozambique:

- you are a beach person (and start missing the Indian Ocean coast, start missing the beaches of Kenya/Tanzania, and find that Malawi's beaches didn't quite make up for it)
- Swaziland is on the way
- Krueger NP is on the way
- you have business in Joburg
- ZA wild cost/garden route/Drakenberg/Bavians cliff/... are on the way (would require a detour coming from Namibia)
- you like/speak Portugese (Edit: fixed, no idea why I put French there first)
- you prefer places with little/no tourist infrastructure (having said that, it's easy to stray from trodden paths in Nam)
- ...

Take your pick :-)

"You like/speak French" ...

Eh??? Last time I was there, they all spoke Portuguese!!! Has something happened that I don't know about???

In answer to the OP's question: NAM is easier to get around than MOZ. But MOZ is more exotic, the coast's prettier than NAM and the seafood is better (arguably...).

I can't really give a balanced opinion as we took the Namibia route, and I know little of Mozambique, but Namibia was possibly my favourite country, I highly recommend it.

To give you a better idea of the place here's a blog I just got round to writing about our trip through, and here's a three minute video of highlights.

Some of the best parts for me were:

Away from the main tarmac roads the gravel riding is brilliant. Uniform enough to enjoy some pace while having your mind blown by the unique scenery.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i6...ps9796d81c.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i6...pscc6f7dcd.jpg

Free camping feels safe and private:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i6...ps5b77f184.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i6...ps9b56bd2e.jpg

A "Living Desert" tour leaving from Swakopmund was fantastic:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i6...pse2d2a74b.jpg

You can visit the world's largest meteorite (Hoba Meteorite):
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i6...ps9e27b2a9.jpg

Sossusvlei and Deadvlei are impressive:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i6...psb2408f1c.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i6...ps0d68c036.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i6...psff200423.jpg

Kolmannskuppe the ghost mining town is pretty cool:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i6...psde9c25ca.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i6...psf1acdd34.jpg

I'm sure Mozambique would be great, but I don't think you'd regret heading through Namibia.

These pics say it all and there is more .

margaret

Hi there,

Really depends what your expectations are...

Namibia is a magical land indeed, the riding can be pretty rough ( well, at least when you are cycling ) but the desert-type landscapes are mind-blowing. By African standards it is a very easy place to travel, the country being geared up for tourism, even in its most remote corners... People are nice enough but to me it felt a bit un-African. Don't expect Namibians to come greet you and chat with you as soon as you step off the bike, you will have to break the ice first. You will have more interactions with the locals in the unfenced north than in the sparsely populated south.

Mozambique is completely different. I only rode in the north ( coming from Malawi and exiting in Tanzania ). Roads/tracks are rather rough and there is an absolute lack of tourist infrastructure away from a few places along the coast. Communicating with people ( and cops ) can be a problem if you don't speak a fait amount of Portuguese, but Mozambicans are a friendly bunch and will strike up conversations as soon as you stop, at least in the rural areas. There is an absolute lack of street food. You will have to wild camp or ask around for places to stay.

You could actually visit both if you take the time. Say, drive up to Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and southern Malawi, then across the border to Moz. From what I have been told the Moz visa is actually rather easy to get in Malawi or right at the border and the political problems/ambushes have subsided with the recent general elections.

Hope that helps,

Levelo.

You're right of course, I guess my mind was somewhere else when I wrote the post. I edited the post above.

Come to think of it, that's a lot of planning ahead, 1.5 years out ;-) If you're set on the East coast, in my opinion the only thing you need to do upfront, is figure out how you will get onto the African continent. Plus maybe get the Moz visa (it's comparatively cheap anyways). Then just make it up as you go along. South of Ethiopia all visa except Moz are easy to get on the road, most at the border, no planning ahead required.

As to getting onto the continent: unless you are flying in half-way, things will probably change once you approach your departure date (Egypt, Libya, Syria, ...), so you'll probably want to have more than 1 option available.

@ KiwiMat: great pics!

I went through Mozambique...

My travel mate at the time went through Nambia.

We met up again in South Africa.


He spent days and days riding boring desert roads. And after Tanzania, no thanks !!

I spent weeks riding through tropical forests in Moz. I loved the Portuguese influence. It was really interesting. I spent every night on pristine beaches and relaxing in the warm clear ocean. Swinging in hammocks.

And Maputo is an amazing city.


Check out my blog post/pics and see if it helps.

www.touringted.com/2011/01/30/mozambique

Touring Ted has summed it up pretty well. Comparing Namibia with Mozambique is like comparing apples with pears...... both are fine but they're different.

Both have pluses and minuses but asking which is better is a bit like asking which one of your children you prefer. Having been to both, I'd be hard pressed to pick a favourite.

Namibia is easier to get around (dunno if that's good or bad, from your point of view...) and the cops there are honest, unlike Mozambican ones, who are all worse than the criminals. Don't get me started on Moz cops....

Ideally, you want to do both. If you really, really cannot do both then I guess it depends on whether you want semi-desert (lots of it) or palm-fringed, white sand beaches and the sub-tropical vibe. Your call then.......

I have been to both Mozambique and Namibia. I've returned to Namibia but not to Mozambique.... On the other hand northern Mozambique might be a challenge.

If you just want to cross Namibia it might get boring, but there are so many highlights if you step away from the main-route. KiwMats great pictures shows some of them.
Okavango delta (a "small" detour...) it's also a great experience.

I did South Africa and 7 other southern African countries including Namibia and Mozambique (some southern parts of it only, Maputo to Inhambane) on a rented motorcycle in 2001/2002. Was a long time ago, but yeah, I´m with most people here, if drawing a route from Cape Town towards Cairo, I´d probably head to Namibia. It is a hauntingly beautiful country, and then you´d also get Vic Falls and a few great national parks nicely on your route.

That said, I did very much love my short stay in Mozambique, too, and I remember thinking, that although the latitude is almost similar, these two countries are like they are on different planets altogether. Not an expert, but I think a big difference comes from sea currents, a warm one brings moisture to Mozambique, and a cold one creates arid conditions to the coastal parts of Namibia.

So, both very well worth a visit, but if I absolutely had to pick just one, it would be Namibia. (Note, that I did not visit northern Mozambique, though).