Day 223: Chidenguele to Marracuene

We would have loved to stay longer, but they were expecting a big group and all 5 current campers had to leave. This place was thus by far the most popular campsite that we have stayed at.

We were packed up before 08:00 and then went to the beach. We told Jared and Jen that we’ll meet them again at Jay’s Beach close to Maputo. The beach already looked more like South African beaches, gone are the days of palm trees, white sand and calm water.

We left by 09:20 well before Jared and Jen. The nail infested tyre didn’t deflate during the night, but we decided to get it properly fixed in Xai-Xai anyway. After driving up and down the main street stopping at dodgy roadside stall we found a proper tyre fixing place with the correct machines.

After taking an hour to patch four of the holes. Hugo noticed that there was still one nail clearly sticking right through the tyre. It took another 30 minutes to patch that hole as well. Luckily there was a bar right next to the tyre place where we ordered chicken and tjips from for lunch. Hugo also noticed that one of the CV boots were leaking badly and that the other rear wheel tyre also had nails in it. We decided to get both fixed in South Africa rather.

By this time Jen sent us a WhatsApp that they got stranded next to the road close to Macia which is past Xai-Xai. By the time we got there some locals had helped them off the road to an empty yard and even diagnosed their problem. Worn bushes on their alternator and thus no power in the battery to keep the fuel line open. Jared went to Macia with a taxi and the mechanic to buy new parts so Jen was alone with the Jeep and Caravan. She bought some Meticais from us and send us on our way.

We got to Marracuene at 17:00 and then had to cross the bridge across the Rio Incomati. The bridge requires a toll fee of 50 Mt, but after the bridge, it is a rough gravel road to Macaneta, there we turned left to Jay’s Beach on sandy tracks. We managed to get to reception without needing 4×4 as we didn’t want to use it unnecessarily with the CV boot leaking. We were the only campers, but since they classify the long weekend as the high season we had to pay a whopping 500 Mt. In the campsite itself, we got stuck in the thick sand so we had to use 4×4 for the last 100m to the site we wanted.

We set up the tent and then went for a nice hot water shower. While Caro made food Hugo set up office next to the vehicle in the thick sand. Just as we started to work Jared and Jen arrived. The local mechanic had managed to fix the alternator and charge the batteries and they got back on the road four hours after breaking down. They had quite a challenge to position the caravan in the sandy and small campsite. Jared did a 50-point turn to reverse the caravan into the site.

Back at our campsite, we worked until everything started getting wet from the mist. Since we had a lot of work to do and didn’t fancy sitting in the sand like this for more days and nights we booked an AirBnB room in Maputo for the next two nights.