Our visas are running out. That means we have to go to the border, which means we have to go to Maputo first which means getting up at 3 a.m. to catch the four o’clock bus and a seven hours bus ride. We are so looking forward to it! Leaving so early though has the advantage that we arrive in Maputo by lunchtime. Noleen, our friend and host from our last time in the capital (and of course we are staying with her again) picks us up from the hostel where the bus dropped us and offers us a ride to the border straight away, although her car had broken down the evening before and she was driving a friend’s car. So off we go, it’s a 45 minute drive.
Our angel Noleen – on the way to the border. 
Once there, Bill, Finn, Anik and me start queuing straight away. Noleen disappears and appears again a few minutes later, having her passport and the car sorted out and asking for our passports which get stamped without us. Only God knows how she managed that. So we head on, check into South Africa without any problems and drive to the next town for some dinner. After an hour we make our way back again through the South African border to Mozambique. Here Noleen finds someone who offers his help to speed up the process – for money of course. So our passports get stamped again, but no visas in there. What the? He’s trying to make us believe, that’s all we need as we had a visa before. But I don’t trust this guy. Nothing in the passport shows how long we are permitted to stay. We start questioning the process, an officer tells us to come back tomorrow, as we still have a day left on the old visa, but we insist on renewing now. It takes quite a while to get them working on it. Our helper has left the scene quickly with full pockets before we get a chance to give out to him. But in the end all is sorted, everybody is happy and we head back to Maputo. Early night tonight after that day! So long to one of the craziest border posts the world has to offer, till the next time.
The next day we can relax, get some supplies and repack, before we head back to Tofo the following day. It’s a mad journey as we get driven to the bus by taxis, then we have to wait till the bus is stuffed before we even head off. And this is called shuttle bus! It breaks down not even an hour before we reach our destination so we have to swap busses…. It all take time in Mozambique. Luckily we have it.