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Can anyone advise on the road to the Giriyondo border gate? Never travelled that before. Is is a worthwhile drive and is there much to see? Only got 3 days in the area so don't want to waste time exploring new roads if they are "dry".

Not that I think we would plan to but can we drive thru to the otherside and back again with only a passport (S.A.) and no visas?

GregH

The entire area is very dry at the moment, but the sightings are still good.

Use it, don't use it...your choice.

SA nationals don't need Visas, other countries I am not sure but I do think you need one if not from Southern African States.

Hi all, I hope there's someone out there who has recently traveled trhough the girriyondo gate to xai xai in mosambique. would like to know the passabilty of the road and if its worth missing the komatipoort border post. Any advice on reasonable camp sites in moz (either through giriyon or komatipoort) for an overnight stay to break travel to inhambane will be arechiated.
thanks
neels

With a 4x4, yes, towing a boat, komatipoort is the way. The road is not very good at the moment, even if they just opened up the Borderpost.

There is meant to be a tarred short-cut from Komati to South of Xai Xai, bypassing Maputo. Don't know if that is worthwhile. Will find out!

Xai Xai campsite was fine about 7 years ago!

The road through Limpopo NP is about 70km long (2 hours drive) and the first 30km has just been re-graded so this section is in very good condition - the rest is mostly in reasonable condition but there are some stretches which need work and one would travel slower on these areas. Ideally you should have a high clearance vehicle (4x4 not essential) for this road and there are many caravans and boats that travel this route although being a gravel road one should maintain to the speed limits and you would be ok.

Limpopo NP (part of the GLTP along with Kruger) has 2 camps (Albufeira and Aguia Pesqueira which means Fish Eagle and has lovely views over the dam) on this road, both with chalets and camping and if you want to use these facilities you can book through Heloise at Limpopo@wol.co.za - and you could also stay at Letaba on route as well.

Giriyondo border post is very pleasant and reasonably quick (always under 1/2 hour) so this is far less stressful than the other border posts. It is currently open from 8am - 3pm.

As for times: Phalaborwa - Giriyodondo - 2 to 2 1/2 hours (at the speed limit) ; Giriyondo border post (1/2 hour) ; Giriyondo to Massingir LNP Gate (70km - 2 hours) ; Massingir Gate to Macia (I think about 170km or 2 1/2 hours - there is a 60km stretch of road between Massingir and Chokwe which is badly potholed but the good part is that there are no traffic cops on this road) ;Macia to Xai Xai (60km or 3/4 hour)

Which route to go is your choice - if you are travelling from North of Jhb/Pretoria then I would go via Giriyondo as it is shorter - but if travelling from Jhb or Pretoria then I would say the southern route is quicker by an hour or two but you miss out on some relaxing travelling through KNP / LNP and you have a more stressful border crossing - so you can balance time vs stress as to what is more important

Hi,
next September we want to exit Kruger via Giriyondo and proceed direct to Bilene on the coast of Moz. Do we need 4x4 for the most direct route?
Thanks for any advice

From what I can see on Google Maps you won't need to, provided that you go via the 'normal' Giriyondo - Massingir road.

Thr road will be fine for non 4x4 vehicles in September. After rain, it gets little sticky, but that is unlikely at that time of year. There are some beautiful camps on the road through, with both chalets and camp sites. Just a word of warning on visas for Moz if you are not on a SA or SADC passport. The fees have increased enormously to, at present, around R560 per passport. If you need a visa I would advise obtaining from overseas or in SA at Moz high commissions/embassies. Some borders have the capacity to issue these new biometric visas, but did not see the equipment when last at Giriyondo. Anyone planning to get a visa at that border (or Pafuri) should check well in advance if they are still able to issue them. You can get them issued at Komatipoort and the two Swaziland borders.

3dogs, sorry to be a pain in the butt, but will you be spending a night or two in Kruger or just using it as a transit route? If it is the latter, please keep to a reasonable speed and slow down and even stop when you see other cars that are stationary at a sighting. Don't spoil it for the Kruger guests and enjoy your trip to Moz.

thanks for all the helpful replies! Sprocky - don't worry we are spending 9 wonderful days in Kruger first
The visa thing might be a bit tricky - will investigate further. Any Aussies passed through there recently who could advise further? Oh and one more question.. As we will be returning via the same route back to Phalaborwa, do I have to ask for a multiple entry visa for South Africa at OR Tambo when we arrive?
thanks everyone

Eleanor, that fixing usually lasts till the next rainy season, I have been doing that road for a long-long time, and I would for safety sake suggest a 4x4.

Hi All,

I have recently returned from a trip to Inhambane, Mozambique, where we overnighted at Tsendze before crossing over at the Giriyondo border. Below is some possibly useful info for anyone making the trip in future.

The border post is an absolute pleasure compared to Komatipoort and we were in and out in 20 hassle free minutes, in what feels like a Kruger Park reception rather than an African border post frontier.

Its about a 47km drive from Tsendze so we awoke early and got there early as it opened at around 8am. The whole time we were there, only 1 other car pulled up behind us. And so a nice easy welcome into Mozambique. Next stop Tofo and a week on the beach, near Inhambane.

Our route was Giriyondo - Massingir- Chokwe - Chibuto - Manjacaze - Chidenguele - Inhambane - Tofo. This whole journey from the border to Tofo took us 10.5 hours. Included was a fuel stop at Chokwe and a quick lunch break on the side of the road further on.

The route is supposed to be 4x4 only, and we did it in a Land Rover Defender, but I must say that normal sedans would be able to make it pretty comfortably. I can only assume that the roads get alot worse in the wet season (we did it in June). Never once came across anything worse than corrugation and potholes.

The sand road from Giriyondo to Massingir is corrugated but OK. Easy 2 hour drive. At first you see a few animals like zebra, giraffe and alot of ellie sign, and then a little later you see guys on bicycles and herd boys tending to their cattle still in the reserve.

After exiting the park I found the best place to re fuel and draw cash was Chokwe. Diesel and petrol were cheaper than South Africa. approx R9/l. The best way to get cash was to draw Metacais straight from the ATM in Chokwe where there are a couple of banks. The tar road from Massingir to Chokwe has numerous potholes and slight detours off the road, but was fine and you could travel 80km/h generally. All the other roads are better than this one even though they are sand. The only place you could potentially get lost is in manjacaze where you need to find the right sand road to Chidenguele. (info on that here http://www.barraresorts.com/index.php?pg=4&pgm=M&id=58)

Once on the EN1 - it is plain sailing to Inhambane. This EN1 road is now completely good all the way from Komatipoort to Inhambane (as we found out on our return trip). Nice to see the efforts being made to improve the mozambique roads.

Great trip all in all and would definitely recommend using the Giriyondo border, if you are not in a rush. (Komatipoort to Inhambane will be much quicker)

Cheers

Hi firefinch,

thanks a lot for the information. It is great to hear that the roadworks on the road from Komatipoort to Inhambane are finished now. The road was in a terrible condition last year.

Do you also know anything about the road further north from Inhambane to Vilanculos? Last year this road was even worse than the road between Komatipoort and Inhambane.