ESWATINI TO MOZAMBIQUE
The £4 bus that cost me £700. I am purely writing this post for reference to anyone who searches the internet for “bus Manzini to Maputo.” I couldn’t find anything and just had to take the plunge and hope there was something early in the morning for my afternoon flight from Maputo.
WHERE IS ESWATINI?
ONE BUS, SHOULD BE EASY?
I had little time to spare, arriving in Maputo to catch a flight to Angola and meet the family in Joburg. Sounds complicated? You don’t want to know the half of it!
EARLY START
I had spoke to my hotel and they mentioned buses leave from 6:30am which was early for me but better early that late. There was one catch: the bus only leaves when it’s full. If this were home, it would take days for some buses to leave. I hoped the Mozambique route was popular.
THE BUS STATION
The bus station, a car park and market, had hundreds of small minivans common in this part of Africa. There is little to no organization or rather that’s what it appears to the likes of me but this part of Africa hasn’t been made with tourists in mind. I found a red Mercedes Sprinter and trailer, a safer option than the other kobis, after asking a few drivers.
THE START
I arrived just after 7 where there was only a handful of people waiting so there was likely to be a little wait to fill the 22 seats. My flight isn’t until the evening so there was plenty of time but I for sure wasn’t getting my hopes up.
“SOON SOON”
It has now been 3 hours and I have no idea what’s going on. It seems a lot of people have arrived at different times and left their passport. I have no idea how many people around are waiting for this bus or a another.
I asked the driver, and he predictably replied, ‘soon, soon.’ Patience isn’t my strong point so I’ll have to soldier on and pray and hope.
7 HOURS LATER
Just as things were looking promising, there was a dramatic turn of events. A group left with their bags, leaving us 10 people short. I’m tempted to buy the rest of the seats!
After 7 hours we are finally off. That’s 7 HOURS! SEVEN FU*KING HOURS – the journey should only take half of that!! I’ve tried to take this as a lesson for Africa and will no doubt be expecting it for the remaining 45 countries I need to visit on this continent.
THE BORDERS
Well it was going to be tight to make it and the border created more problems. Leaving Eswatini was easy, but entering Mozambique was a nightmare!
The customs officer idly waited while we pleaded for him to sign our paperwork. Eventually I was invited in and I could not believe what he done. I was going through my bag to get my passport and had found a small local denomination. For the first time he perked up and immediately took it from my hands and said, “is this a gift, thank you.”
CORRUPTION
Now, normally I would be straight up and take it back but just remember I’m in a rush and I haven’t yet had my papers signed so I let him keep the money, it was only a small amount! The girl who was due in after me was refused entry for some reason and was now in sticky situation between two borders without any transport in sight. This is not the position you want to be in as it means going back to the original border and hoping the visa process is an easy one.
We finally made it to the bus station noticing the vendors almost climbing through the window to get at me I decided to befriend another passenger. He offered to take me to the airport, but my flight was leaving in 20 minutes.
The bus station was chaotic with 15 people trying to sell me stuff, but a local helped me. But we jumped into a rickshaw and bolted to the airport.
I missed check-in by 15 minutes; an earlier bribe might have helped!
FINAL THOUGHTS
This experience will likely recur in Africa, so I should get used to it.
The first part of my trip is finished, read my South Africa reflection post here and then.
NEXT UP
Day 1 in Botswana and the scare of my life! Click to read
SAFE TRAVELS, DS x
121/229
This post is part of the Southern Africa Series, click to explore or for episode 1 click here.
To watch the video of my trip, head to my highlights on my Instagram.
