On the Road - Part 1

This is EN-1, Mozambique's main national highway. Yep, this treacherous stretch of mud and pothole-ridden asphalt is the country's principal thoroughfare, connecting Maputo in the south to Pemba in the north. Ricardo and I braved EN-1 for over 17 hours on our way back to Chimoio on a trip that we split over 2 days.

How did we end up on this highway? Our housemate Patrícia bought a car in Maputo and asked us to drive it up for her. Up for an adventure, we agreed. I don't think we bargained for how much of an adventure it would actually be. Thankfully, Patrícia bought a Suzuki jeep called an Escudo that has 4-wheel drive and is quite a valiant little vehicle. That, combined with Ricardo's excellent driving skills, is the only reason we were able to make it through the mud.

Under any circumstances, EN-1 is terrible. But when it is raining and the road is under construction, it is even worse. Now don't be fooled into thinking that the muddy parts in the photo are because of construction in process. Nope. That's about as good as it gets.

Construction means that at some point there was funding for improvements so all the asphalt was torn off certain stretches of the highway and detours were put in place onto other, worse muddy expanses that pass as roads. The problem is that this is Mozambique. The road was horrible to start out. Funds are deviated and poorly distributed. There is no organization. For 6 months of the year there are incessant rains, putting a halt to any progress that might have been made in terms of resurfacing. The result is pathes of EN-1 are mud, others are a mix of dirt and leftover asphalt, others still retain most of their tar but are full of potholes a foot deep that are guaranteed to bust an axle if you land in them, and other stretches are all gravel.

The good thing, though, is that there are signs to point you in the right direction.















And to tell you when to proceed ahead...















Unfortuately, though, this is all you see for hours on end...

We were one of the few vehicles to actually make it through the mud without getting totally stuck...