Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
To transport your vehicle on the train (about US$100), you'll need to load it the night
before and arrange a guard. During the journey you can ride with the car.
Mandimba
Mandimba is a small, bustling border town and transport junction. If you get stuck here,
Bar-Restaurante Ngame
(Senhor Liton's; d Mtc500)
, near the transport stop, has basic
rooms looking out on a small courtyard, and does meals with advance notice.
About 1km along the road to Cuamba, on the opposite side, is
Bar-Restaurante
Massinga
(d Mtc1200; )
, which has double 'chalet'
rondavels
with air-con in a separ-
ate, pale pink, compound 500m beyond the restaurant along the main road.
Vehicles go daily to Lichinga (Mtc250) and Cuamba (Mtc250). Expect to pay Mtc30/
50/100 for a bicycle/motorbike/taxi lift to cover the approximately 4km from Mandimba
to the border, and Mtc50 for a moto-taxi across the 1500m of no-man's land to the Malawi
border crossing (although frequently the moto-taxi drivers will stop in the middle and de-
mand that the price be 're-negotiated').
Lichinga
271 / ELEV 1300M
Niassa's capital is pretty, low-key Lichinga (formerly Vila Cabral), which sits at about
1300m altitude, with an invigorating, cool climate and quiet, jacaranda-lined streets. It's
worth a day or two in its own right and is also the best jumping-off point for exploring the
Lake Niassa. The surrounding area - home mainly to Yao people, as well as smaller num-
bers of Nyanja and Makua people - is dotted with pine groves and ringed by distant hills.
