A Day in the Life of a Mozambique Bus Ride

As we mentioned in our last post, riding the buses in Mozambique is tough, probably the hardest traveling Chad and I have ever done. They are interesting though, and over the past week we have spent countless hours working our way north on buses of all sizes. One particular bus ride was extremely challenging and we took notes throughout the day as we thought it would be a good example to pass on to all of you. There are many moments we wish we could document with our camera on the trip, but out of respect for the people, we have to abstain. You can’t exactly snap a photo of a group of tired bus passengers and expect no one to protest, and others you do not want to advertise to that you have a camera.

On the day prior to the bus trip in the port town of Beira, we boarded a chappa (a local bus/taxi stuffed with 15 people) to the bus stand to buy tickets to our next destination, the town of Quelimane. You must buy all tickets ahead of time here, as all buses leave anywhere between 3am and 5am. The bus stand turned out to be in a ramshackle industrial building on the outskirts of town, not a great start and something that would foreshadow the day ahead. While buying the tickets we asked how long it would take, 12 hours he said. 12 hours is not that bad, but we had a horrid 11 hour bus trip the day before and our guide book said the trip should take 9. I had prepared myself for 9. No choice but to push through and buy the tickets. And so begins the bus ride from hell.

3:04 AM - Alarm goes off, we finish packing and head out the door to our prearranged taxi
3:36 AM - Arrive at the industrial park to find everyone else is already there. Turns out they all spent the night there because it is too dangerous to come that early in the day…..good to know.
3:37 AM - Catch first glimpse of the bus, a 30 seater. Not a minibus this time, an actual old school bus. They throw our backpacks on the top with the numerous jerry cans, tires, bags of vegetables, bikes, etc. that litter all buses here
4:15 AM - Board the bus and head to our assigned seat. We grab our 2 person bench (once again over the wheel well, we can’t catch a break) and wait to see how many people pile on. For a split second we think there might not be anyone in the isle next to us, but too late, the attendant places jerry cans in the isles between the benches so they can accommodate more passengers. (Again we are the only ‘blancos’ or ‘whites’ on the journey)
4:40 AM - Bus departs, they usually leave pretty on schedule here. Total count of the people on the 30 seat bus, 41, including 4 babies. We then stop to pick up a few more passengers as we exist town.
5:15 AM - The women on the jerry can next to me tries to share my part of the bench and my shoulder to sleep on. I put my head in Chad’s lap to try and get a little sleep and she see’s this as an opportunity to sleep on my back.
6:15 AM - Sunrise
6:45 AM - First break - here is where things get interesting on bus rides. People surround the bus selling everything you can possible think of: oranges, nuts, bananas, live chickens, eggs, dead chickens, bed comforters, brooms, everything! They shove things that do and don’t fit through the windows with the hopes of enticing a sale.
10:45 AM - Another break. We get off the bus to stand for a little and give our aching butts a break. An old women from the bus comes out of the bushes next to me with a pair of bloody goat legs. No idea where she bought those as we are in the middle of no where. Tries to take them on the bus, but gets denied, they throw them on the roof.
11:40 AM - Out of gas, sounds like a perfect time for everyone to eat lunch, and boy, is lunch interesting around here!
12:15 PM - Stop so people can change babies in the brush outside the bus, no diapers around here but they carry extra plastic bags in case they are needed.
12:40 PM - Bus breaks down for 20 minutes
1:15 PM - Arrive at the Zambezi River. Turns out they have been building a bridge over the river for years now and it is not done. We must take a ferry across which is shut down until 2:00. While we wait the driver loads huge bags of rice on the roof.
3:20 PM - Board ferry
3:30 PM - Exit ferry
4:00 PM - Bus stops to load 15 hot water heater sized bags of coal onto the roof
4:45 PM - Driver stops to sell said rice and coal in a local village
6:00 PM - Sunset…still on the bus…we have exited a total of two times during day light
7:15 PM - Arrive in Quelimane, our destination, and we let out a huge sigh of relief as we chug down the main street
7:18 PM - Bus breaks down 2 kilometers from the bus station. Our first instinct is to get out and hail a taxi (this city is known for only have bicycle taxis…not sure how the 90 lb kid will like pedaling the blancos with our huge bags) but the taxi is not an option as our bags are secured to the roof under produce, animals, jerry cans, goat legs, etc
8:05 PM - We still have not moved. Unlucky for us we broke down outside a bar (can’t enter as we need to watch our bags) and the locals are enjoying joking with all of us sitting on the bus although we cannot understand anyone and no one can understand us. English is not spoken here…the bar is blaring Enrique Iglesias on repeat and we sit and wait.
8:15 PM- After an hour of waiting, and nearly 16 hours on the bus with two breaks, a second bus arrives and tows our bus to the bus station…the tow rope only snaps once during this time.
8:35 PM- We arrive at our hotel with our bags. The hotel is way overpriced and full of mosquitoes but we are just happy to be off the bus. It is dark and too late to go anywhere safely so dinner is bottled water, crackers and peanut butter!

The bus rides in Mozambique are an attack on all senses. Others who have competed round the world trips have commented that the most difficult transportation they encountered was in Mozambique. The sights of live/dead/decapitated animals on the seats next to you, the feeling and smell of perspiration as people stick to you for hours on end, the sounds of babies crying and passengers arguing and the taste of the dirt road in your mouth. For these reasons most travelers hit up the capital city and the beaches in the south and then make the 2 day dash for the boarder with Malawi. We on the other hand hoped we would experience more of the genuine Mozambique by continuing northward. At the end of the day you almost have to just laugh, wipe the dirt from your eyes and nose, and be happy you have made it in one piece and have a roof over your head for the night. It has been tough, but extremely rewarding. We also had the destination of Ilha de Mocambique, the famed once capital of Portuguese colonial Africa, in our sights. It will take us 5 additional days to reach the island, and we are hoping for some rest and relaxation once we arrive.