Inhambane is in Mozambique. It is a sleepy historic town some 485km north of Maputo. It has some great colonial architecture (in a low-key sort of a way) and is considered by many to be one of the prettiest towns in Mozambique. It is situated on a peninsula overlooking a bay, and also serves as a springboard to the coastal resorts around Tofo beach (some 30km due east, along a reasonably good road).

Get in

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By car
From Maputo
When entering Maputo on the toll road from Swaziland or South Africa Take the EN1 highway north. The off ramp is signposted Xai Xai. 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. The bad road is only as far as Chidenguele, some 64km north of Xai Xai. From here on the road is in good condition having been recently rebuilt. There are still two deviations as of 28th November 2006. The first is about 15km before Inharrime and the second is as you enter Inharrime which is 108km north of Chidenguela. The deviation takes you through the back roads of the town bringing you back to the main road just before the petrol station, which has both leaded and unleaded fuel. From here it is a further 65 km to Lindela where the road forks. The right fork takes you to Inhambane a further 37km.

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 favor.

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. Do not overtake on solid white lines. The stretch of road between Xai Xai and Chongogda is 19km and patrolled by a cop who preys on tourists. His trick is to use a decoy car, which travels extremely slowly up hills which have a barley distinguishable solid white line. Overtake through frustration and this cop seems to arrive from nowhere, speaks impeccable English and levies a handsome fine on you. I talk from experience as it happened to me in February and June 2004 and again in Jan 2006. If you feel you have done nothing wrong do not give him your drivers license, argue the point and he will let...