Inhambane Getting There & Away

Getting There & Away

By car From Maputo Take the EN1 highway north. The road is relatively good up to Xai-Xai (215km north), but then deteriorates rapidly: potholes. Drive slowly, unless you are one of those people who believe that potholes are best tackled at speed, in order to "soar over" them. Inhambane is a further 235km northeast of Xai-Xai. Beware of petrol attendants at stations along the way; they have been known to take advantage of your unfamiliarity with the metical. One trick to watch out for: the attendant starts filling your tank, but then the pump "blocks". He says he must restart the pump but since this will constitute a second transaction, he encourages you to memorise the first sum displayed on the pump's meter. He then restarts the pump from zero, clocking up a second transaction. Once the tank is full he makes a careless arithmetical error in adding up the two amounts. This adding mistake somehow seems to work out in his favour. Be careful and pay attention to speed limits, especially when approaching and leaving small towns on route. This is prime territory for traffic police who tend to demand unreasonable spot fines Remember to take 2 emergency triangles per vehicle or pay yet another spot fine if stopped and searched.