Cahorra Bassa dam

Songo is a town in Central Mozambique. The nearby dam, called Cahora Bassa, is a large hydroelectric scheme that supplies electricity to grids as far as South Africa.

Get around

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. Songo is one of the most attractive towns in Mozambique. It does not seem to have been very affected by the war and general decay of time. The stakeholders of the dam have in someway contributed to the upkeep of this town. Well worth a visit.

See

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. However, if you ask around in town, you may be able to find someone who can arrange a visit for you.

Cahora Bassa dam

To get to the dam 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 will take 3-4 hours. The drive up through the mountains is pretty spectacular. 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. 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.

Do

Tiger(fish) fishing. Also vundo, bream and other species available. Ugezi Tiger Lodge offers boats with experienced skippers for the avid fishermen and sightseeing on the dam. Guided tours can be arranged to visit the dam wall to see the hydro electricity plant in action.

Fishermen with own boats please take note. Some of the Lodges are very far from fishing spots, and as there are hundreds of nets belonging to local fishermen about, you sometimes have to travel far in order to get to the spots. From Ugezi Toger Lodge you have to travel more than 30 km (19 mi) to get to the main fishing spots and this makes it difficult if you are wanting to fish early in the morning or later afternoon as this traveling cuts into good fishing times. Moringa Bay Lodge is a much better fishing option and is right on the main dam, you couldn't get closer to the fishing action. They have beautiful new self catering serviced accommodation units and can arrange food if you request, easy access to fuel, bait and ice, they also can arrange fishing boats for you on request. It's a tar road except last 20 km (12 mi) on good dirt road. (Another benefit: Moringa Bay does NOT have mosquitoes.)

It is not a good idea to stay near the dam wall as there are no fish for nearly 30km and the area is full of local fishing nets that also stop you fishing in this area. You need to get to the main dam area if you want to catch tigerfish. Make sure you do you homework to see where the main fishing happens. The best fishing opportunities are on the house boats which travel up to the main dam and at Moringa Bay Lodge.

Buy

There is a reasonably well stocked supermarket and market.

Eat

• Ugezi Tiger Lodge has an A La Carte restaurant and offers the best full bream and bream fillets money can buy.

Drink

Ugezi Tiger Lodge has a well stocked bar which is popular amongst the locals.

Sleep

• Nhenda Camp. A bush camp on the banks of the Lake Cahora Bassa 

• Ugezi Tiger Lodge. Situated near the town of Songo, Ugezi has 15 chalets and 4 self-catering rooms, all air-conditioned and a camp site. The entire lodge is fitted with flood lights and has security at night. 

• Moringa Bay Lodge (past Songo), ☏ +258 844 085785. Very comfortable and clean new accommodation (Fully Serviced), which is reasonably priced. Right on the main dam and NOT in the gorge near the wall which means you don't have to travel far to fish for tigerfish, fuel, bait and ice all available, You just couldn't be closer to the fishing action, don't waste your time traveling 30km everyday to get to the fishing spots, rather stay where the fish are. 

Go next

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.