Where
to meet up
To
meet up with your fellow travelers, please go to Twana Lodge,
42 Boschkop Road, Swavelpoort, Pretoria, 012 8090102 on the day
of your booking, which is on a Sunday each time. This day can be spend
exploring Pretoria and/or Johannesburg. The departure to Swaziland
will be Monday morning. Please note that an airport pick up can be arranged.
Climate
From April to September Mozambique a pleasant climate:
warm and usually dry, cooled down by the ocean winds. During
the rainy season, from January until March, there’s
a high humidity with average temperatures of 28°C along
the coast. In South Africa and Swaziland it is usually mild
and sunny during the day. However, in the months of July and
August it can cool down considerably at night time.
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Transport
and accommodation
Transport is carried out in a 4x4 safari truck, 20
seater, especially designed for overlanding. The truck is
equipped with cooking utensils and 2 man dome tents, has storage
space for food and baggage and even has an extra compartment
for storing diving gear (if not exceeding the standard gear of a suit, BCD, regulator and mask/fins).
You are seated high up and the roll up sides guarantee you
a good view, which is great for game viewing. |
In
the truck we have a library, a bar, a radio, intercom, in and outside
lighting, a freezer and bolted safes. In this trip we make regular
use of bedded accommodation, like indigenous beehive huts,
chalets etc. In case of small groups, the trip will be run in alternative
transport and one crew member will join.
NB.
The roads have deteriorated severely over the past year and
a lot of road construction is in process. Please expect delays
on traveling days.
Included
Included in the trip is the transport by truck and
use of the truck equipment, all entrance
fees, all accommodation in tents or otherwise, Kruger Park,
2 guides/driver/cooks with extensive experience in Africa. |
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Not
included
In the trip we have not included the flight. You must make your own way to the meeting point mentioned above. Every person has his/her own personal budget and spendings
differ greatly from person to person. It’s hard to estimate
how much you should take into account for let say, drinks, souvenirs,
excursions. In the past, people spent approximately €200pp on personal spendings, apart from the diving. Dive expenses are
explained on the dive page. The food kitty
is €175pp. This covers all meals from Sunday evening until the night we go out for dinner in Pretoria. This money
is payable cash in Euro (or the equivalent in ZAR or US$) before departure and is
not refundable. Other costs would be a visa for Mozambique; obtainable
at the border for ZAR172, travel insurance (compulsory), vaccinations,
optional excursions. Currency exchange rate, click here.
Moneys
The local currencies are South African Rand and Mozambiquan Meticais. Especially the
Metacais is not a hard currency and subject to inflation. In Mozambique
it’s only possible to change cash Euro's, US$ or Rands. Traveler
cheques or credit cards are hardly accepted, or at very high costs.
Therefore we recommend cash only for Mozambique.
In South Africa credit cards, traveler cheques and foreign currencies
shouldn’t be a problem. As the amount of cash money seems
to add up on this trip we do recommend you make use of the safes
on board and money belts worn under your clothes.
Health
We recommend you consult your GP about the required precautions
concerning health issues. Also, if you click
on health you can get more specific details on tropical diseases
in this area. On board of the truck we do have a medical kit.
However, we still advise to bring your own plasters, iodine,
salt solutions, Immodium, Paracetamol, vitamins, tweezers, band
aids etc. Tap water is not always drinkable. We usually have
clean water on the truck, but some people will still respond
simply because it’s different to the water at home. You
can try to prevent this by drinking bottled water, boiled tea
or coffee or by bringing purification tablets. |
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Malaria
Malaria occurs on almost the whole continent. Therefore,
we advise you to consult your doctor for prophylactics. Bear in
mind that this will not give you 100% protection, but it does slow
it down, which is good in Mozambique where medical aid is not always
at hand. But the best is to try to prevent by taking prophylactics,
cover up at night time and use repellent. For information and advice,
check Care Plus.
Baggage
Please bear in mind that baggage space is limited and try not to take more than 12 kg with you. This excludes dive gear, should you bring any. Excess baggage can be stored in Pretoria. We do have extra locker space for diving equipment. The storage space on the truck also works on 20 kg per person. It is better to not use suitcases or packs with an outside frame. Doing laundry or having laundry done shouldn’t be a problem. A daypack is handy for small items and valuables
What
to bring
- warm sleeping bag
- mattress
- towels
- pocket knife (optional)
- torch
- batteries
- alarm
- sun glasses and spare glasses
- contact lens fluid
- light shoes, like sandals
- closed shoes
- toiletries, like sun screen, lip balm, tampons, repellent,
razor blades
- music
- bathing suit
- binoculars, if you have any
- camera/ memory card
- earplugs (optional)
- water purification (optional)
- diving gear (optional as can hire)
-
pills for motion sickness
Please bring a warm fleece and wind proof jacket as it can
sometimes cool down considerably.
And don’t forget the hat to protect you from the sun.
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Crew
This trip is run by a Dutch company and the crew can be Dutch or of local origin. Some passengers will fly in and others will board in Pretoria. The crew is Dutch/English speaking. The crew will do their best to make this tour as enjoyable as possible; drive the truck, handle the accommodation and cooking and help you with any problems. They will also inform you of any do's and don't and all activities. The truck has a library with different books on additional information like wildlife, history etc.
Expectations
This is one of those trips where, no matter how much you plan, things can and will go wrong at times. Roads can be bad, we might have a puncture, we might have to dig. The hot water may run out, the boat leaks a bit. Delays can occur due to an officer who got out of the wrong side of the bed, but maybe also because we spot a river and decided to go for a swim. We ask you to be flexible and pack your sense of humor and positive attitude as well as your toothpaste and camera. We will also ask you to give us a hand at times, changing tyres, shopping, watching the truck, dishes, building a fire etc, etc. If we all take it as it comes, you’re in for a brilliant, true African experience.
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A
little bit for a good cause
During this trip we visit a little local community
of 550 souls outside Tofo to have a closer look at the Mozambiquan
way of life. In this community, initiatives to improve sanitary
conditions and schooling keeps stranding in bureaucracy and
poverty. For years, they have been trying to get a water pump
installed to supply the locals with clean water. Compass Travel
decided to help these people and raised money to get the pump
in place.
Compass
Travel started a new project in 2006. Swaziland has
the highest HIV an Aids rate in the world, now resulting in
a mere 70.000 Aids orphans. Allow me to invite you to have
a look at Young Heroes.
Compass Travel is asking you to adopt a family or make a donation. We also collect clothes (especially for kids), school materials and toys for an orphanage in Swaziland. If possible, we try to visit the orphanage during the tour. We can use all the help we can get. Should you wish to create some space in your backpack and leave some goods behind, please leave it with us and donate. We also try to raise money to install a permanent teacher for the children. Compass Travel will supervise any projects and publish the results on this website. |
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