TravelTips24 : Africa : East Africa : Mozambique : Central Mozambique : Cahora Bassa
Cahora Bassa
This dam in Mozambique is large hydro electric scheme that supplies electricity to grids as far as South Africa. The nearby town is called Songo.
Travel to Cahora Bassa & Visa Requirements
From Tete take the road back towards Zimbabwe, turning off at the Songo turnoff. Then just follow your nose - the road is good quality and will take you into Songo itself. If going by chapas, they leave from outside the TDM office on Av de Liberdade. It costs around 80,000 meticais and will take 3-4 hours. The drive up through the mountains is pretty spectacular.
On Route
An alternative route is to drive north along the Zambezi River bank along a dirt track. This takes you through numerous picturesque villages. The road is in bad condition with many bridges washed out, most probably due to the floods in 2000 / 2001. A four wheel drive vehicle is recommended or a vehicle with high ground clearance. The track joins the main Tete-Songo road approximately 50 km south of Songo. A highlight of the tour is an old monastery, church and school on the way. The church is in bad condition and will, most probably, decline with time. It is used today as a secondary school. Catholic church service is on Sunday mornings which will have to be attended to view the church from the inside.
Tours & Getting around Cahora Bassa
Songo was established in 1969 to house the workers for the construction of the dam. Today, it is still devoted to the Cahorra Bassa dam. It is entirely unlike any other in Mozambique in that there's no formal city centre - it's more a series of loosely connected barrios. Nor are there any chapas running around the town. This may sound like a nightmare, but in actual practice it doesn't matter an awful lot - there are only a couple of places you can stay and the best thing about Songo itself is the walking, which is pretty spectacular.
Cahora Bassa attractions and sightseeing
The hills and the dam. The former are easy enough - just look around you. The latter takes a little more effort, but isn't difficult. You can't just turn up - Cahorra Bassa is a secure site and you'll get turned away at the gate even if you do walk the distance between Songo and the dam. Fortunately the owner of the O Sitio restaurant in Songo is head of the public relations so head there and ask him about visiting.
Cahora Bassa city tours
Fishing, angling, water-skiing.
Cahora Bassa souvenirs & shopping
There are no shops in Songo.
Cahora Bassa Restaurants: cheap, moderate and expensive
'O Sitio' restaurant in Songo. Ugezi Tiger Lodge has A La Carte restaurant.
Cahora Bassa nightlife, bars, clubs & pubs
Cahora Bassa cheap and luxurious hotels, youth hostels & lodging
Ugezi Tiger Lodge is situated near the town of Songo. It also has a camp site with flood lights and security. Used by local construction workers, so can get a bit noisy on weekends.
Get out
This is trickier. Due to the lack of a centre, chapas heading back to Tete drive round Songo picking people up, so you need to arrange this in advance. It's best to ask the driver who brought you there and he'll let you know the score.
This page was last edited at 16:01, on 10 June 2007 by David. Based on work by Herman Badenhorst and Nic Roets, Wikitravel user(s) Cacahuate and Jazzie129uk and Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel.
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