Travel costs and information for Mozambique - Mocuba, Nampula, Ilha de Mocambique, Beira, Vilankulos, Bazaruto Archipelago, Inhambane, Maputo

Note that all information in here was valid at the time (August 2009) - it may well have changed since.  It's also possible that I was ripped off, that I did some exceptional haggling, or that I accepted a price that I should have haggled over :-)  Currency indicators are £ (British pound), $ (US dollar), K (Malawi kwacha) and M (Mozambique metical (plural: meticais)).  I'm mentioning kwacha because I paid for my entry tax and bicycle taxi in kwacha.  At the time, the official exchange rates were roughly M29=$1 and M17.3=£1, and K140=$1 and K230=£1. 

Mozambique

• Little hassle, though I was a little surprised at how many people came up to me simply to ask for money.  There are fewer English speakers in the north so you may well need to use some Portuguese, but in the south I had no problems using English (perhaps because the south sees lots of South African holidaymakers).
• If you're coming from the north/west, it's noticeable how ethnically diverse the population is in Mozambique.
• All the ATMs I tried would accept my Mastercard ATM card (didn't try Visa).
• It's hot and humid at this time of year!
• A useful web resource is MozGuide.com 
• Public transport is generally quite slow and, in the case of chapas (aka minibuses), rather uncomfortable courtesy of overcrowding.  You may be charged extra for your luggage, but feel free to haggle.
• Try not to get a seat in the front row of a chapa, as there's a chance people will be squeezed into the space in front of you.
• Note that it is really difficult to get rid of meticais once you have left Mozambique - I couldn't find anyone who would take them even in South Africa, a neighbouring country.  So make sure you use them up before you leave!

I crossed at the Muloza-Milanje border, but I heard the following from other travellers.  Visas are NOT issued at the Nayuchi border.  They ARE issued at the Mandimba crossing, which is supposedly the easiest as there are regular transport connections to Cuamba.  The Cuamba-Nampula train runs in each direction on alternate days except Monday, i.e. Nampula-to-Cuamba on Tu, Th, and Sa, and Cuamba-to-Nampula on W, F, and Su.  It takes about 11 hours and leaves at (I think) 5AM.  3rd class costs M175, second class M331, and there's no first class.  The dining car apparently doesn't look sufficiently appealing to want to spend the journey in it.

It's a walk of only a few hundred metres to get from Malawi immigration to Mozambique immigration.

12th August 2009 K500 Entry tax to Mozambique.  I'd bought my visa in advance in Lilongwe due to hearing that the Mozambique border guards had a reputation for overcharging, but no-one tried to screw me.
12th August 2009 K200 Bicycle taxi from the border to the town of Milanje itself (2-3km).  I'd been told this should cost K50 but I couldn't get below K200.  Frankly, I shouldn't have bothered as it would have been more comfortable walking, and I don't think the guy that took me quite realised how much of a load a 14 stone tourist and his backpack would be.
As we approached Milanje, we passed a couple of moneychangers - had to haggle pretty hard in order to get close to the "real" rate. 

Milanje

• There is at least one ATM here but I didn't try it.
• There are two ways to get out of Milanje - by minibus or by hitching.  The "bus station" is on the left hand side as you approach the town from the border.  A minibus leaves for Mocuba at 4AM (NB in the morning!) and costing M200 but if you choose to use this, you should buy your ticket in the afternoon of the previous day as they tend to sell out.  One problem with this also is that you're likely to have to spend a night in Milanje in order to catch it, though there is at least one pensao near the bus station (I was told it was M4-500 per night).
• A preferable option is to hitch, because with luck you'll be able to get to Mocuba the same day and it's almost guaranteed to be more comfortable than squeezing into a minibus.  Just standing by the side of the road, I was "found" by a random guy who appeared to make his money from finding lifts for stranded tourists.  He kept wandering off and coming back with various tales of potential rides.  After about 1.5 hours, an 18-wheeler pulled up, and I got a prime seat, with suspension, in the cabin.  Result :-)  I suppose you could also try just waiting at the border post, as much of the traffic from Milanje to Mocuba will have come from Malawi anyway (e.g. my truck).  If you have the option, get in a vehicle with large wheels, as the road is in bad condition and wouldn't be much fun in a car or anything small.

12th August 2009 M50 Tip to transport tout for finding me my ride.
12th August 2009 M250 Payment to truck driver for journey to Mocuba.  It took about 4.5 hours, though that did include a stop to pick up some people to carry in the trailer. 

12th August 2009 M90 The cost of a live chicken (apparently). 

Mocuba

• I saw pretty much nothing of Mocuba because we arrived after dark and then I left the following morning.
• Supposedly there are 2 daily buses from Mocuba to Nampula, leaving at 5AM and 7AM.  If you can't make it to the bus station in time, go to another stop (called Cruzeiro - opposite Pensao Cruzeiro) where the bus will appear ~20 minutes later.

12th August 2009 M100 Nightly rate for a private room at "Eduardo's Place" (not sure if it's called this, but it's part of a small complex also containing Eduardo's Auto Repair and Bar Dona Luisa, where many long distance trucks stop).  I stayed here because my truck driver knew Eduardo - actually Edward from Malawi.  Edward speaks English and Portuguese, his wife Portuguese, German and some French.  The accommodation is basic, with no running water and plenty of mossies (but no net) and cockroaches - I also couldn't find the lightswitch (!) to turn the light off so had to use my eyeshade.  It's a motorbike taxi ride from the bus station.  Food is available (I had a good wodge of rice and beans for M50 - a Coke is M40).
13th August 2009 M280 Bus (Grupo Mecula - supposedly the best bus company in the country) from Mocuba to Nampula, taking about 8 hours 15 minutes.  There were already people standing when I got on at the Cruzeiro stop at 7:20AM, but I got lucky in that barely 45 minutes later a guy sitting next to where I was standing got off.  I took my rucksack on board as there was clearly no chance of fitting it in the luggage bay.  The road is mainly tarmac, hence isn't too uncomfortable, but the bus does make a few detours down dirt roads.  It took 4 hours to reach Alto Molocue, then another 4 hours 10 minutes to the final stop in Nampula (off Avenida 25 de Setembro and a couple of blocks from Avenida Eduardo Mondlane). 

Nampula

• I was told that the same guy owns pretty much all the tourist accommodation in town, so there's nothing cheap.
• I was also told that it's dangerous to walk around at night, but I didn't really venture out to confirm this.
• There's a Shoprite where you can buy cheese and meat slices if you want to make some sarnies - I couldn't find many eating establishments at all.
• Internet is available in the main shopping centre on Avenida Eduardo Mondlane (containing the Girassol hotel) for M40 per hour, however their Opera installation is very pernickety, the connection occasionally goes down (for which you don't get a refund), and it's closed all weekend.
• Upstairs from the Internet place, there's a travel agent with at least one English-speaking member of staff, who will try to help with any travel-related queries. 
• Regarding flights, it seems as though availability is often an issue - I heard that if you simply turn up to the airport you may get lucky with a cancellation, however the one person I met who'd tried this tactic for 2 days had had no luck, said the staff at the airport were very unhelpful (though she praised the staff in the LAM airline office in Nampula), and had been told at the very end that even if a seat did become available then it couldn't be paid for at the airport itself.  From other travellers, I heard that a flight from Pemba to Maputo is $220, and from Nampula to Maputo is $300 - this is because the flight actually goes Nampula-Pemba-Beira-Maputo, so it costs more to get to Maputo from Nampula than from Pemba even though Nampula's actually closer to Maputo (!)
• There are occasional power cuts.

13th August 2009 M800 Nightly rate for a private ensuite room (cold water only, though if you have a shower in the afternoon it will be warm/hot as presumably the water is sitting in a tank in the sun) at Residencial Farhana on Avenida Paulo Samuel Kankhomba, with aircon, fan, and fridge.  No towel or mossie net (yet there are mossies ...), and the only light in the bedroom is a bedside light.
15th August 2009 M75 Doxycycline (50 capsules)
16th August 2009 M179 Mosquito net
17th August 2009 M150 Chapa from Nampula to Ilha de Mocambique, leaving at about 7:30AM (though there are several through the day) and taking about 3 hours.  These chapas leave from the minibus park east of the railway station on Ave do Trabalho, about 15 minutes' walk from Residencial Farhana.  The driver will drop you off wherever you like on the island (so have your intended guesthouse name to hand). 

Ilha de Mocambique

• A superb place to spend a few days/weeks/months - sea views, pastel colours, decaying buildings, slow pace of life, prawns, and blue, blue skies.  You will encounter people selling beads, coins, etc, especially if you frequent any of the tourist cafes, but the hawking is never done in an aggressive way.
• It would be a good idea to book your accommodation in advance, as there aren't millions of rooms on the island.  There certainly weren't tons of tourists when I was there, but there were still enough to fill up several of the accommodation options that I visited. 
• There are occasional power cuts.
• In Ilha, you're actually further east than Tanzania, even though Tanzania is an hour ahead, which can be confusing from the point of view of expected sunrise/sunset times if you've come from Tanzania.
• The light here seems very strong, so a polarising filter would be useful for your camera.
• Internet is available in the Telecom office just to the east of the Church of Sao Paolo (i.e. the big red one) for M80 per hour but it's slooooow.
• Cafe d'Ancoura d'Ouro is a pleasant place to eat/relax, though it's priced at tourists and attracts a fair few.  It's opposite the Church of Misericordia, which is attached to the Church of Sao Paolo.
• I met a traveller on Ilha who had paid M5,000 (i.e. over $170!) for a return taxi between Nampula and Ilha - his driver was simply hanging around for a couple of days until the traveller was ready to go back.
• I also heard that if you come into Mozambique from the border with Tanzania, you can expect umpteen police checkpoints between the border and Pemba, at which you may be asked for bribes - didn't meet anyone that had actually paid one though.

17th August 2009 M600 Nightly rate for a private room with shared bathroom (cold water only) in Casa do Gabriel (aka Patio dos Quintalinhos), including mossie net, towel, soap, toilet roll, and a basic breakfast.  This place is gorgeous, partly due to the fact that its owner is an Italian architect (he also speaks English).  It has a roof terrace for breakfast and for sunset watching, as well as a small library.  Note that the water in the bathroom is salinated, but fresh water is available in the kitchen.  You can also buy bottled water, soft drinks, and beer.  This place is popular, so best to book in advance.
18th August 2009 M100 Entry to the museum in the Church of Sao Paolo.  You must have a guide, though there is an English-speaking chap who was very informative.  The neighbouring Museum of Sacred Art is included in the ticket and also requires you to have a guide, but that one only speaks Portuguese.  You can't take pictures in any of the rooms of either museum.  The Maritime Museum is also included in the ticket but it was undergoing renovations when I was there.
20th August 2009 M600 Nightly rate for a private room with shared bathroom at Casa de Luis (now known as Omakhthini and close to Casa do Gabriel), including mossie net, fan, and a reasonable breakfast.  No towel, and the sheets seemed to contain some polyester (I'm not a fan, especially in hot climates).  Rather a dark room and poky bathrooms - certainly the place is not as nice as Casa do Gabriel.  Luis speaks reasonable English but his wife will expect you to speak Portuguese and won't slow down the speed of her delivery even if she knows you're not fluent.  What appears to be a small library is actually Luis' personal collection, so ask him if you'd like to borrow anything!  This place seems to attract a younger backpacker crowd, whereas Casa do Gabriel is more of a family/couples/older travellers place.  Soft drinks available (M10).
24th August 2009 M100 Chapa from Ilha to Nampula, leaving at ~4:30AM and taking 2 hours 15 minutes.  Direct chapas leave between 3AM (!) and 6AM from the corner of the hospital and the church, though any chapa that sees you wandering around at that time will hail you - even if you don't want to go all the way to Nampula, they might accept you as a passenger. Any later departures aren't direct.  I don't know whether the lower cost (vs M150 from Nampula to Ilha) was due to a supply/demand thing, or if Luis (i.e. the owner of Casa de Luis, who was also on this chapa) got me a better price. 

Nampula (again)
25th August 2009 M1,610 TCO (Transportes Carlos Oliveira) bus from Nampula to Beira.  This is probably the best bus in all of Africa, resembling something from Argentina, with 2-aisle-2 configuration, a loo, AC, the "entertainment" (Westlife ...) on at low volume, breakfast (cheese roll, muffin, juice), lunch (pre-ordered on the bus then picked up from a filling station - not a great chicken and chips), and dinner (same as breakfast).  However TCO has done an appalling job with marketing it, to the point that hardly anyone even in the tourist/travel industry knows about it.  Their office in Nampula is unmarked, hidden away in the back of the Galp filling station in Casa Fabiao on the corner of Ave 3 de Fevreiro and Av de Independencia.  Though I couldn't understand much of the agent's Portuguese, it would appear that they have 2 buses per week to Beira on Tuesday and Thursday (departing 4AM, arriving at 6:30PM), with a subsequent bus on Wednesday morning connecting Beira and Vilankulos (see Beira section below).  This is by no means a cheap ticket but the alternative is to get the Grupo Mecula bus to Quelimane (but get off at Namacura), then cross the Zambezi to Caia, stay the night there, then go to Beira the following day - the crucial difference being that TCO takes only 1 day rather than 2, meaning no accommodation required in between, meaning that the price becomes significantly more reasonable.  Note that the TCO bus starts from the Bombas da Sacor filling station, at the corner of Ave Josina Machel and R. Cidade de Mocambique, i.e. NOT the ticket office.
If you are planning on going through to Vilankulos, you might be able to save some money (and get some more sleep) by buying a ticket from Nampula-Inchope then one from Inchope-Vilankulos, as I think the Nampula-Beira bus and the Beira-Vilankulos bus both pass through Inchope.  I don't know that for sure, though. 

Beira
I really didn't see any of Beira, since it was simply an overnight stop on my bus journey from Nampula to Vilankulos.
25th August 2009 M150 Taxi from the TCO bus station (no idea where it was) to Hotel Infante (no idea where that was either, as I simply plucked it out of my guidebook).
25th August 2009 M800 Nightly rate for a private ensuite (cold water only) room at Hotel Infante, with fan, mossie net, (broken) TV, and towel.  Had it for less than 6 hours.
26th August 2009 M250 Taxi from Hotel Infante to the TCO bus station (at 3AM, hence the greater cost than going the other way).
26th August 2009 M800 TCO bus from Beira to the Vilankulos junction, leaving at 4AM and taking about 7 hours.  This was a double-decker, of a similar standard to yesterday's TCO single-decker.  I heard later that the non-TCO buses take about 14 hours (!) to do this route, but they obviously cost much less too.

26th August 2009 M50 Chapa from the Vilankulos junction into Vilankulos itself, taking about 25 minutes.  It's possible I misunderstood the driver and it was actually M15, but I didn't get any change ... 

Vilankulos (aka Vilankulo/Vilanculo/etc)

• This was the first place I visited in southern Mozambique, and it had a totally different vibe to the north, with many more English-speaking people and much more of a touristy air.  Many of the tourist establishments are owned by South Africans.
• The mossies here are pretty aggressive.
• Vilankulos is rather spread out, so it's best to have your accommodation already booked, to avoid traipsing around in the heat with your luggage.  I was lucky in that a Portuguese woman in a car saw me and my companion, and kindly (i.e. no ulterior motive) drove us to a couple of different places until we found rooms.
• I was warned umpteen times about walking around at night here, as apparently it's not safe.  Given how small the place is (in population terms), it's ludicrous that it could be unsafe, as soon everyone would know who the culprits were - you would think.
• The BIM ATM here only gave out money in M3,000 chunks, but you could make multiple withdrawals on the same day.
• Internet is available at Complex Muha or Dolphin Dhow for M100 per hour.  Complex Muha was a new backpacker hostel at the time and it looked nice, so might be worth trying out as an accommodation option.

26th August 2009 M500 Nightly rate for a private hut with shared bathroom (including outdoor showers with hot water (!)) at Baobab Beach, including mossie net and power socket.  This place is about 15 minutes' walk from the centre of town, which isn't ideal, and the road you go down is supposedly unsafe after dark.  The bar and restaurant here are good for an evening's entertainment.  There are also several dogs in residence, all friendly.
27th August 2009 M4,590 2 day/1 night dhow safari to the Bazaruto Archipelago, with Dolphin Dhow, including hire of flippers and (poor quality) mask, lunch/dinner on day 1, breakfast/lunch on day 2, and bottled water.  My group consisted of me, my (at that time) travelling companion, 4 American guys who'd all recently been fired and were spending some of their redundancy package (!), and the 3 crew - it would probably have been more expensive with fewer customers, and the dhow would not have been comfortable with any more.  Note that there is an overhead sunshade, but light still comes in from the side so make sure you've put on plenty of sun block.  The engine was used predominantly rather than the sail.  You might be able to choose your itinerary, but the one we had was not one I'd recommend.  We left Vilankulos at about 10:30AM, taking about 1 hour 30 minutes to sail to Bangue Island, which is small and featureless, other than a few dead trees and bits of scrub - there's no shade whatsoever.  We camped on the island (which I think is, strictly speaking, forbidden).  It didn't help that the staff hadn't brought enough tents for everyone so, as I didn't know my travelling companion well enough to want to share a tent with her, I was forced to sleep outside, which was not only really cold (plus the supplied sleeping bag was too small for me to fit in to!) but there were lots of little cockroaches crawling around.  On day 2, we sailed to Magaruque Island, taking about 1 hour 30 minutes.  We then walked around the island (which is inhabited and has more features than Bangue, not to mention some shade), had our solitary snorkel session of the 2 days, had lunch then started heading back to Vilankulos at about 1PM, stopping briefly to harvest some fresh oysters, before arriving back at 3PM.  Though the archipelago is scenic above water, it's renowned for its marine life so really snorkelling should have been a centrepiece of the trip - 1 session wasn't enough, and even that one wasn't particularly astounding.  Note that the captain was also supposedly the guide, yet he said nothing about the islands or their history or their flora/fauna during the entire trip.  So overall I would not recommend this company or this itinerary - I also don't know how the (surprisingly high) price breaks down, but all the companies are in this ballpark so it's either a cartel or there are some hidden costs I'm unaware of.
30th August 2009 M250 Chapa from Vilankulos to Maxixe (you should get off the chapa near the ferry terminal), including an excessive surcharge for my backpack (I think it should have been closer to M200), leaving at about 9:20AM and taking just over 5 hours.  This journey time was entirely because of the appalling condition of the road between Nhachengue and Massinga, which more than offset the good progress we made in the decent sections on either side.  At one point, the driver ignored a policewoman gesturing to him to stop, meaning that the police "chased" us and we had to visit a police station.  I had to give up my passport (for reasons unknown), but eventually got it back and we moved on.  The last Maxixe-bound chapa leaves Vilankulos at about midday. 

30th August 2009 M10 Ferry from Maxixe to Inhambane, taking about 25 minutes.  You'll need to leave your luggage on deck rather than take it inside, and it will then be dumped on the dock at the end of the crossing.  The ferry runs about once per hour or hour and a half but, if you miss it, you can get on one of the many dhows that do the same route - they should cost the same. 

Inhambane

• Another nice, quiet place with some interesting architecture.
• Internet is available for M80 per hour at Verdinho's (which also sells reasonably cheap Dairy Milk bars for M25) on Ave de Independencia.

30th August 2009 M600 Nightly rate for a private room with shared bathroom (hot water!) at Pensao Pachica, with mossie net but no towel, and a decent restaurant/bar.  Heard from several people (while I was in Inhambane and later) that the South African owner is a piece of work, but I'm not sure how much alternative accommodation there is.
2nd September 2009 M400 Chapa (actually more like a half-size bus) from Inhambane to Maputo, leaving the bus station at 6AM and taking about 8 hours 45 minutes with assorted stops along the way.  I think this should have cost more like M350.  The guesthouse had phoned the bus company the previous day to pick me up at 5:15AM, though it then went to the bus station to wait for more passengers.  Rather a hot journey, and the road until Xai-Xai (i.e. the first 5 hours) was in poor condition.  The first stop in Maputo was at the Juntos bus terminal.  I had no idea where it was going after so, when a guy came on and quoted me M300 to get to my intended hotel, I accepted it.  Probably worthwhile checking if your bus is going to terminate right in the centre of town, meaning a cheaper taxi ride. 

Maputo

• Well worth booking your accommodation in advance, as it's in short supply and is expensive - the first place I tried could only give me a room for 1 night, then I plodded around on foot to 5 further places before finding one that could take me for the rest of my stay.
• Yet another place in Mozambique that I was told was unsafe to walk around at night, though it seemed busy enough then that I couldn't really see how you could come to any harm.
• It's illegal to photography government buildings, so be careful what you point your camera at - I heard enough stories about policement on the make trying to extract bribes from careless photographers. 
• There's a decent craft market on Saturdays in Praca de 25 Junho.  I paid M900 for a scary face mask supposedly from Nampula (though it looked Congolese) - it started at M1,800 but I have no doubt I still overpaid.
• It cost M10 per minute to call the UK from a TDM (some telecoms firm) office.

2nd September 2009 M300 Taxi from Juntos bus terminal to Residencial Hoyo-Hoyo, taking just under 15 minutes.  The guy opened at M350 then immediately accepted my offer of M300, hence the real price must be less than that.
2nd September 2009 M1,250 Nightly rate for a private ensuite room at Residencial Hoyo-Hoyo, including aircon, hot water, a towel, and breakfast.  No mossie net (but mossies!)  The rooms are advertised as having TVs but mine didn't.
3rd September 2009 M1,350 Nightly rate for a private ensuite room at Pensao Martins, including aircon, hot water, towel, TV, and a free, fast Internet terminal in the lobby (though obviously you're competing with all the other guests to use it).  Mossies but no mossie net.  The rooms are advertised as having fridges, but mine didn't.  The staff are friendly but incompetent.
5th September 2009 M33 Stamp for postcard to US/Europe
8th September 2009 M1,650 (New) nightly rate for my room at Pensao Martins
8th September 2009 M795 Postage for parcel to UK (2kg).  This was pretty expensive compared with other countries I've sent stuff home from, though it did go via airmail (I didn't necessarily want airmail but I wasn't given any other option).  Note also that you must take your parcel unsealed to the PO because staff will want to inspect the contents first - you'll then need sellotape to seal it.  The PO will supply a box if necessary.  On the plus side, the staff are helpful and I never went into a Mozambican PO that had more than a handful of other customers in it.
9th September 2009 M150 Taxi from Pensao Martins to where the Swaziland-bound minibuses depart from on Ave Albert Luthuli (near the Ave de 25 Setembre end).
9th September 2009 R80 Minibus from Maputo to Manzini in Swaziland, leaving at about 8AM.  Apparently these minibuses only leave between 7AM and 9AM.  I was given the option of paying either M350 or R80 (South African rand) - at the time, R80 was worth slightly less.  (As mentioned at the beginning of this Mozambique entry, make sure you use up as many of your meticais as possible before you leave!)  Don't allow anyone to try to tack on an extra charge for luggage.  Interestingly, my minibus had a small trailer on the back so there was no luggage inside the minibus.  A guy came round at the beginning and took everyone's passports, but he soon returned them (I'm guessing he must have been checking that everyone was going to be able to get into Swaziland.)
Reached the Goba frontier post in about 1 hour 15 minutes, which was a fairly new frontier that was almost deserted - one consequence being that there were no money-changers there.  The toilet costs 50c (South African cents), but the attendant accepted M3.  See the Swaziland entry for details of the rest of the trip.