Changing South African Rands to Meticas at Zimbabwe - Moz border

Hi,

can I change South African Rands into Meticas at the Zim - Moz border on the
road to Tete ? And can I change Rands in Tete ? Where ?

How difficult would it be to change Rands at the border and at Tete ?

Can somebody recommend a cheap and safe place to stay in Tete, either
camping or hostel / hotel ?

Regards,

Loic

I would strongly reccommend that you do NOT try to change money at the
borders of Mozambique. I have seen too many people ripped off. Even
the most astute foreigner can be ripped off. There are several ways
you can lose your money.

1) The most common way is to undercount the money. The money changers
crowd around you, shouting and waving. They might also try to hurry
you up by telling you that the cops are watching etc. By the time you
actually do a proper count of your money you might have only half (the
counter folds the money in half, and counts each note twice), or you
get 10% of what you should (the counter counts in 10,000's instead of
1,000's.
2) They can give you a completely wrong exchange rate.
3) They can grab your money and run off
4) They take your Rands, are about to hand you the Meticais, and then
a "policeman" arrives and "confiscates" the Rands.

Either way they do it, your money is gone, and you won't get it back.

You can change money safely at a bank or BDC in Tete. I don't
specifically know of any BDC in Tete, but there is almost certainly
one there.

I have always stayed at a small hotel (sorry, can't remember the
name), on the left-hand-side of the main road, just before you get
into the main area of Tete, comming from the South (ie. from
Gorongoza, Mozambique). If I recall correctly it is about $15 - $20
per person. I think they also allow camping, as they have quite a
length of river-front property.

BTW, Tete has the reputation of being the hottest place in Mozambique
- with good reason. :-)

On Fri, 17 Sep 2004 17:20:07 +0200, "Ynot Ant"
wrote:

Hi,

can I change South African Rands into Meticas at the Zim - Moz border on the
road to Tete ? And can I change Rands in Tete ? Where ?

How difficult would it be to change Rands at the border and at Tete ?

Can somebody recommend a cheap and safe place to stay in Tete, either
camping or hostel / hotel ?

Regards,

Loic

I would strongly reccommend that you do NOT try to change money at the
borders of Mozambique. I have seen too many people ripped off. Even
the most astute foreigner can be ripped off. There are several ways
you can lose your money.

1) The most common way is to undercount the money. The money changers
crowd around you, shouting and waving. They might also try to hurry
you up by telling you that the cops are watching etc. By the time you
actually do a proper count of your money you might have only half (the
counter folds the money in half, and counts each note twice), or you
get 10% of what you should (the counter counts in 10,000's instead of
1,000's.
2) They can give you a completely wrong exchange rate.
3) They can grab your money and run off
4) They take your Rands, are about to hand you the Meticais, and then
a "policeman" arrives and "confiscates" the Rands.

Either way they do it, your money is gone, and you won't get it back.

You can change money safely at a bank or BDC in Tete. I don't
specifically know of any BDC in Tete, but there is almost certainly
one there.

I have always stayed at a small hotel (sorry, can't remember the
name), on the left-hand-side of the main road, just before you get
into the main area of Tete, comming from the South (ie. from
Gorongoza, Mozambique). If I recall correctly it is about $15 - $20
per person. I think they also allow camping, as they have quite a
length of river-front property.

BTW, Tete has the reputation of being the hottest place in Mozambique
- with good reason. :-)

On Fri, 17 Sep 2004 17:20:07 +0200, "Ynot Ant"
wrote:

Hi,

can I change South African Rands into Meticas at the Zim - Moz border on the
road to Tete ? And can I change Rands in Tete ? Where ?

How difficult would it be to change Rands at the border and at Tete ?

Can somebody recommend a cheap and safe place to stay in Tete, either
camping or hostel / hotel ?

Regards,

Loic