"You like/speak French" ...

Eh??? Last time I was there, they all spoke Portuguese!!! Has something happened that I don't know about???

In answer to the OP's question: NAM is easier to get around than MOZ. But MOZ is more exotic, the coast's prettier than NAM and the seafood is better (arguably...).

I can't really give a balanced opinion as we took the Namibia route, and I know little of Mozambique, but Namibia was possibly my favourite country, I highly recommend it.

To give you a better idea of the place here's a blog I just got round to writing about our trip through, and here's a .

Some of the best parts for me were:

Away from the main tarmac roads the gravel riding is brilliant. Uniform enough to enjoy some pace while having your mind blown by the unique scenery.




Free camping feels safe and private:




A "Living Desert" tour leaving from Swakopmund was fantastic:


You can visit the world's largest meteorite (Hoba Meteorite):


Sossusvlei and Deadvlei are impressive:






Kolmannskuppe the ghost mining town is pretty cool:




I'm sure Mozambique would be great, but I don't think you'd regret heading through Namibia.

These pics say it all and there is more .

margaret

Hi there,

Really depends what your expectations are...

Namibia is a magical land indeed, the riding can be pretty rough ( well, at least when you are cycling ) but the desert-type landscapes are mind-blowing. By African standards it is a very easy place to travel, the country being geared up for tourism, even in its most remote corners... People are nice enough but to me it felt a bit un-African. Don't expect Namibians to come greet you and chat with you as soon as you step off the bike, you will have to break the ice first. You will have more interactions with the locals in the unfenced north than in the sparsely populated south.

Mozambique is completely different. I only rode in the north ( coming from Malawi and exiting in Tanzania ). Roads/tracks are rather rough and there is an absolute lack of tourist infrastructure away from a few places along the coast. Communicating with people ( and cops ) can be a problem if you don't speak a fait amount of Portuguese, but Mozambicans are a friendly bunch and will strike up conversations as soon as you stop, at least in the rural areas. There is an absolute lack of street food. You will have to wild camp or ask around for places to stay.

You could actually visit both if you take the time. Say, drive up to Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and southern Malawi, then across the border to Moz. From what I have been told the Moz visa is actually rather easy to get in Malawi or right at the border and the political problems/ambushes have subsided with the recent general elections.

Hope that helps,

Levelo.

You're right of course, I guess my mind was somewhere else when I wrote the post. I edited the post above.