Cahora Bassa | Laranja sem Amarelo é Vermelho

Our trip officially started at Cahora Bassa… and what a kick-off!

Cahora-bassa represents an important landmark in the kick-off of Mozambique’s economy. With limited investment after the civil war, Cahora-bassa was without a doubt a very important asset for the country.

Handed back to Mozambique in 2006, Cahora Bassa is today a big pride to this young economy.

Like us, you can access the site by car. Plan a 2 hour (~150km) drive from Tete. The dam is situated in Songo, a very nice village where you will find nice accommodation and food (Ugezi Tiger Lodge, Centro Social HCB). Alternatively you can sleep in Moringa Bay Lodge in Estima (~40km).

Once there you can easily spend 1 or 2 days. You can visit the site (But remember to book in advance +258 25282157). Or just enjoy the breathtaking view from the top.

You can also rent a boat at Ugezi Tiger Lodge and drive in the lake where you will find crocs and hippos.

The Hidroeléctrica Cahora Bassa capacity (2075MW) is above the country needs. HCB exports most of the energy produced to South Africa (~1300 MW) and Zimbabwe, weighing more than 10% of overall country’ exports. To connect Mozambique to the Appolo station in South Africa there are 2 parallel lines covering 1,400 km, of which 900 km is in Mozambican territory. Because there is yet no transmission line between the dam and the south of the country, the energy is then “re-imported” to Maputo. The Zambezi river has additional hydro potential but further developments are constrained by the current transmission capacity. CESUL, a transmission line that will connect the north to the south is for these reasons, and among others, one of the most important infrastructure projects currently on the pipeline.

We left Songo towards Tete. The road is in very good conditions but you should be careful with the animals crossing the road. (This applies to all the country).