Day 148: Kukutana Campsite (Mozambique) – Nyamoro Dairy Farm (Zimbabwe)

Driving another 1,000 km to southeastern Mozambique for maybe a week of beach time doesn't seem appealing to us, even if the beaches are supposed to be great. We want to leave enough time for South Africa.

And so we continue to the Nyamapanda Border from Mozambique to Zimbabwe. And our impression of Mozambique remains vague. Poor, like many other countries we've visited. An upper class with good money, whether from coal mining or elsewhere, and nice houses on the Zambezi River. Supermarkets with a good selection of goods. Corrupt border guards and a kind of slowness among the police and officials that is quite remarkable.

Leaving the country is easy.

A SIM card is quickly purchased; we'll see if it works for more than two days. The remaining Mozambican Metical goes for $5, and we have to get rid of a man who insists on sticking a sticker on our car, which we don't need, unlike the locals.

Entering Zimbabwe requires a bit of patience again...

The first stop is the health officer. Then we fill out the visa form, which costs $30 each, and no, the lady won't accept a used bill.

The customs officer has to finish another procedure first, and before that, he has to finish his phone call in peace. Paying the road tax and carbon fee would have been quick, were it not for a WhatsApp conversation. After that, we have to hand over the gate pass, and finally we have to go to a tent, where two women take another look at the car import papers. At one point, Wolle is openly asked by a soldier to give him some money.

Directly after the border post, we turn onto a track that takes us directly along the border for quite some time. Signs warn of landmines from the 1970s. And indeed, work is apparently still underway to defuse them.

A new bridge crosses the Rwenya River, and we drive the eastern route along stunning mountain ranges at elevations of up to 2,100 m. It would be fantastic, if the visibility weren't so poor. We're often reminded of a line from a travel guide (Lonley Planet/Congo Brazzaville): "When the locals burn the land"...

Nevertheless, the drive is fun.

Tonight we'll be staying with Debbie at the Nyamoro Dairy Farm. The deciding factor in our choice were the enthusiastic comments on iOverlander about a phenomenal cheesecake :-)) We arrive at the peak of coffee time, and indeed: absolutely delicious!!!

Debbie cooks for us in the evening, and we eat together and chat. The farm was established by her parents; in the past, in addition to cows, they also cultivated potatoes and flowers for export. Debbie is one of the farmers who stayed, despite the war and the expropriations. Today, there are still 80 cattle, and it's a tough business. The outlook is unclear.