Zanzibar to Mozambique - drawing to a close

Ola!

For those who could not make out the last afrikaans posting, I'll summarise (I've added in more details as well) our trip from Zanzibar to Mozambique.

After our trip to Zanzi, Joe and I both felt like we were ready to return home, after almost 3 months of biking. Only 4000km from Maputo, it felt as though we were in the home straight (at least with some hard riding.)

Our first goal was to cross the Rovuma River in N.Mozambique, where the official ferry sunk a while back. We managed to bargain for a small boat to carry the 2 bikes, ourselves and a few crew to help lift the bikes. The crossing was shady to say the least, I don't think any insurance company would endorse the 'shipping' company we employed! We completed the crossing at 17:30 and had to camp on the river bank before crossing the Mozam immigration the following day.

We then raced on to Ilha de Mocambique where we were catch the spaniard biker, Fernando, whom we had met in Nairobi - our plan was to accompany him to Maputo. At this point Joe and I weren't really interested in any detours, both we and the bikes were feeling tired. Joe had a bit of a radiator leak and his back tire tread was starting to reveal itself more, with each km! My bike was suffering from an oil leak from the front sprocket and required an oil top up every so often. Fernando was quite keen to checkout Gurue which was a bit of a detour - after much negotiation we went off to Gurue which added to the adventure and was worth it. We then headed to Vilanculos approx 1400km in 2 days - full throttle. We had another day rest there - snorkelling on the Bazaruto reef and a picnic on the island. Next day we were back on the bikes and headed for Maputo, the last night as a team (Fernando,Joe and myself). All quite an abrupt ending as we arrived late in the evening. Saturday we were up at sparrows and Joe and I parted, separate ways. Thanks Joe, it was legendary bro, so many good times.

Update on Joe: he arrived back home late last evening, just in time for his house warming in Irene, Pretoria. The border crossing into R.S.A and his rear tire added to the adventure - he will have to fill in on that if he gets time.

I am currently in Swaziland at my folks place, I'll be here until the end of the week, before completing the final leg of the trip, back to Umdloti beach, Durban.

On behalf of the ysterperd soldate we would like to thank one and all for joining us on the trip. We do not take the opportunity we had for granted and are grateful for all of the experiences and things we learned. Hopefully we will be able to share it with you in more detail in the near future. Thankyou all especially for your prayers and support - on a number of occasions we experienced God's provision in difficult situations.