Hey everyone! Just wanted to provide some extra information to help others that might be visiting: - The easiest way to avoid any immigration scams would be to simply get the visa from a Mozambique embassy in your home country if available. That way you will have the visa in your passport already and you can bypass the people that we had to deal with. We didn't do this since we haven't been in our home country in 5 months. - Unfortunately both the people that had pre-approved e-visas and the others that were getting the visa on arrival were still getting charged the double price of $100 just like us and they also couldn't do anything about it. It is important to note that the e-visa is just a pre-approval of your documents, it is not the actual visa so you still have to deal with the same people we dealt with and pay for it there. In some countries when you apply for an e-visa you actually pay for it online and you get the visa sent to you by e-mail which is not the case with this country. Obviously don't do what we did which could possibly set you up for an even rougher ride like ours. Based on what other people said, the corrupt officials will be looking for any reasons to get further money out of you. - Apparently there are some anti-corruption numbers you can call if you are having issues there: +258-800 222 222, +258-828 002 222, +258-848 002 222. Hope this information helps!
Thx for showing the bad with the good. I’ve traveled a great deal and have never personally came across a situation like yours. However after many trips to Italy I was personally scammed twice on one trip to Rome. When using your credit card overseas….ALWAYS GET A RECEIPT TO DOUBLE CHECK THE CHARGE ..WHILE STILL IN FRONT OF THE CASHIER.
As a mozambican, I want to extend my apologies for this situation. The corruption in our country is embarrassing even for us. I had a gun pointed to me while pregnant because we seated in our car in front of the beach during covid. We all have horror stories with authorities and is very sad indeed.
Mozambique is beautiful. I visited Inhaca Island in 2014. Mozambique has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Sand dunes plunging into the ocean. Stunning. However, the immigration officials are very sketchy. I also got my passport stolen on the border with South Africa.
@@ngana8755 I doubt that. There are plenty of other beaches around the world that are just as stunning including French Polynesia, Hawaii, Philippines, Thailand, Dominican Republic, Australia that I rather visit and have visited. Why the hell would I subject myself to this nation's blatant corruptions upon entry. Hardly welcoming and it would leave a horrible taste in my mouth to point I couldn't get past it. Not worth the headache.
So frustrating and annoying when this kind of thing happens! Sure it wont keep you down for long as you are both resilient characters. You have shown those officials up and yes it is good to show the down side that can happen to your viewers. May you continue in joy and happiness.👍✌️
They only mentioned the extra 100 again at the end, which is when we mentioned the embassy and then they resolved it quickly lol. Im surprised that they had already gotten 100 out of us on the first day and still dragged it on for 3 days to try and get more :/
I really hope they get their *stuff* together. It's a beautiful country with opportunities but the corruption really puts a sour taste in your mouth. I experienced it 25 years ago working for NGO travelling to visit the projects that we were funding. Most angry I am about is for the kids of the orphanage who had made full program for us but we were detained on border for bogus charges and money claims the whole day. It still boils my blood.
I am so sorry you had to deal with this. Unfortunately, there is still a lot of corruption in some institutions. There are many good people here, but they get overshadowed by those in power who choose to use their position to take advantage of others.
I hope you will show some of the good things in Mozambique. Friends who live in Jo'burg ZA go annually to the beach in Mozambique. This must be worth while or they wouldn't that. I hope you will get to experience that. Save travels!
I arrived yesterday to maputo from Johannesburg for a connection to vilanculos and had a completely different experience. First me and the 3 other western tourists got personaly picked up infront of the aircraft and they guided us via the visa counter (10 USD the visa) through the diplomatic imigrarion desk up to Terminal 2 for the re check in. Whole process took 15 minutes, everybody was super friendly.
Yeah they just had a bad luck. It’s not like it happens to everyone. I myself travel a lot and I also have bad experiences in some other countries but I am sure it’s not everyone that goes through the same bad experiences. Don’t generalise this
I'm sorry you had to go through all of those problems. My name is Michel, I'm Mozambican and reside in Maputo. I've done a fair bit of traveling myself, and I understand how such an experience can be off-putting. However, I want to emphasize that it's not always like that. I've had many friends from other countries visit, and they've had relatively smoother experiences. I'd like to extend my help if you decide to give Mozambique (Maputo) another chance. Whether it's organizing a pickup or being there with you at the airport in case something similar happens, I'm here to assist. Mozambique is a beautiful destination, and Mozambican people are incredibly loving and welcoming (I might be biased, of course). Again, I'm really sorry for the terrible experience you had. Please consider giving it a second try. For anyone discouraged by this video, remember that millions of people have visited Mozambique and had a different, positive experience. If you need any advice or assistance, feel free to reach out to me. I'm happy to help with any questions or concerns about visiting Mozambique. Michel
I'm actually glad that you created a video featuring how corrupt the immigration process was in Mozambique. I'll scratch that country off of my list. 😒
Don't scratch the country please... you'll miss the beauty of the country... we travel to African countries regularly and corruption is something that can be controlled and dealt with if you go prepared..... Awareness and knowledge are the key❤
This reminds me of the Dutch RU-vidr ItchyBoots who recently had her gopro running when a couple of police officers in Nigeria asked her for money, and then there was another video on YT where both of the officers were marched into a tribunal, stripped of their badges, and fired for their actions.
@@JumpingPlacesEven there is no video proof it is clear that those immigration officers should be punished for the bureaucracy and promoting bad reputation of the country
I’ve seen the ItchyBoots video but not the other one. Where can I find it? I’m glad that these days there are so many people documenting life their experiences. Perhaps it will put stop to those criminal behaviours.
I want to apologize for this type of behavior by some Mozambicans. This type of situation means that we have few people visiting our country. People here who always see people of different colors think they have a lot of money. Enjoy your trip, we have a lot to offer. Tente fazer amigos
mozambique is specifically known to be extremely corrupt because of a lot of political issues that has lead to this country being extremely problematic.
I really like seeing prices of things. In case Id want to travel their too. Although I think Ill pass on Mozambique. Very silly and frustrating. Not very good for tourism.
Mozambique is off our list. Really enjoy your videos, thanks for the transparency. You have opened our eyes and added many places to our bucket list thanks to you. Safe travels!
whole of Africa is like that, if you not willing to bribe stay away, even South Africa which before 1994 was so safe ,but now since 1994 its a hell hole,
You can cross most countries off your list since you are going to be scammed pretty much in every country one way or another. There is just no way around it. Even when everything seems fine you will be overpaying for a lot of things as a tourist.
Thank you so much for having the courage to expose this behavior. I have visited over 70 countries worldwide and never experienced anything like this, thank God. Keep it up and enjoy the rest of your trip. Roger
This is terrible. Those officers MUST be charged and also fired from their positions. Countries like Mozambique need to realize if they want tourist money, they have to tackle with such corruption. Diplomatic corruption is especially embarrassing for a country.
same here, we planned going to Tofo for diving. We've heard nothing but horror stories, mainly about arrival and being on the road in Mozambique. It is too much of a risk and we rather spend our money elsewhere
This is very common in Mozambique, this is nothing new having to pay bribes, and the fact that you can speak Portuguese makes it easier for them to ask for money/bribes from you as you can’t turn around and say you don’t understand. Unfortunately as a Portuguese South African I have experienced first hand this corruption, in fact most South Africans that travel through Mozambique will budget for paying bribes, they will also take cheap bottles of alcohol with that look expensive to give when asked for bribe money to try and deceive the deceiver.
For every one of you, there are 200 happy campers. Oh, did you just say you support the corruption in Moz? So you are a corrupt person yourself, otherwise you wouldn't propagate it!
It's absolute corruption and poverty in that country. Be safe and keep in touch with your embassy. Be careful not to venture too far out. It's not a place you want to explore, it's not worth it! Never go out at dark. May God bless and protect you both.
20 yrs + ago I, as a South African, also experienced the greed and corruption in Mozambique. I took a job there, bit due to the fact that corruption was the basis and way of operation for the project I came to work on, I lasted 8 days and left. Thus country has been given over to the enemy...it's a dangerous country, I pray you will both be safe there and see with clear vision - be wise! May GOD protect you both.
You can all be as loud as you want on how terrible Moz is. Yes, there are some problems, but thousands of expats are living here peacefully, so ya'all just keep singing........🙂
Well that country is on my “do not visit” list now. If that is the way they treat you coming in, there is no way I’m going to give the people of the country my time and money. Too many other places in the world with kind people to bother with this one.
I knew that Southeast Asia would encounter bad custom houses, but I didn’t expect that Mozambique’s was even worse! Their custom houses has brought shame to their country, and the number of tourists will definitely decrease in the future! Fortunately, their chocolate croissant, grilled chicken and samosa look delicious, haha! I hope you will not be affected by them, be happy, and continue to enjoy your travel! I believe your valuable experience will be of great help to future travelers there, thank you for sharing, still great job! 👍😍🙏
@@eisbeinGermany okay i get it so since South Africa got political independence ,which is not real indepence as in economical ,monetary independence its all gone worse thanks Adolf ,thats great mate
You both are incredibly patient. I had this experience going from Zimbabwe through Zambia and back but no bribe was asked. I don't think I would have stayed in that country after what they put you through. Blatant corruption. Mozambique is a hard pass so thanks for the heads up.
That's what I was thinking!....Chris and Carole are WAY more patient than I ever would have been. I would have just got my passport back and left! ❤ Good for you guys!
We thought about leaving but there was also no more flights out that night and we wanted to get out of that immigration room as soon as possible. Luckily the next videos from here are great 😊
Worst case scenario to be held captive for hours at immigration without your passport and having them try to extract more $. I am sorry to hear but looks like smooth sailing from this point on. @@JumpingPlaces
I love the way you guys stay calm and collected even though you are going through a nighmare situation. We watch you because you do such a great job and your calm demeanor, so many youtubers talk so fast its not pleasant to watch. Keep up the good work!
I definitely will not go to Mozambique. It's a shame that you were treated unfairly. Chris you handled yourself so maturely and patiently, I would have been so mad and probably lost my temper! You sir, are a professional! Have safe travels. (the videos are awesome)!!
I have been to Mozambique 10 - 12 times before. I used to live just 100 Km away from the border. I have been scammed several times before by traffic police - they grab your drivers license and don't give it back unless you give them cash. Very sad for tourism.
Yes, the police steal your driving licence and hold it for ransom. Now I have a copy which I give the police and show them the original. If they demand the original I refuse and tell them that last time the police stole it. Then I just ask how much do they want, negotiate the bribe and go.
This is kinda similar to our experience in Mexico. One of the employees at the car rental shop in Cancun tried to scam 1000 $ out of us. 1000 $! We had to argue with him for about an hour until he finally gave us the car. There were so many people who tried to milk us for money it was insane. And mind you we are budget travelers, we don’t have much money to spend in the first place.
@@JumpingPlaces The Europcar employee insisted that we needed to pay additional 1000 $ for car insurance. But we already had payed for everything including the car renting fee, the deposit and all the insurances. We had made all the payments online back in Germany, our home country. We had booked everything before flying to Mexico. We argued with him about an hour, showing him the receipts, e-mails and everything. He was still insisting to get the money from us. In the end we told him that we would call the support hotline in Germany and ask them if they know why he is demanding the 1000 $. Then all of a sudden he gave us the car keys and another employee showed us the car and let us finally leave. It was all very strange. We looked up "Europcar scams Cancun" later on Google and it seems like this is a common scam tactic there.
@@JumpingPlaces The Europcar employee said we needed to pay additional 1000 $ for insurance. But we had already paid for everything including the car renting fees, the deposit and the insurances online, back in Germany our home country. We had already booked and paid for everything before we were flying to Mexico. We showed him the receipts and e-mails, but he still insisted on getting the 1000 $ from us. After arguing with him for about an hour, we told him that we will call the Europcar support hotline in Germany and ask them why he is demanding additional 1000 $ from us. Then all of a sudden he gave us the car keys and another employee finally showed us the car and let us drive off. It was all very strange. We looked up “Europcar Cancun scam” on Google later, and it seems like it is a common scam tactic there.
As a mozambican I can confirm that here if you don't bribe you don't get anything (eg. If you get 100% on your driver's exam but don't bribe your examiner you fail the exam)
It takes much courage to visit such countries, I think the mention of the embassy made things easier for you. I guess you posted this video after you left the country
Yes only posting it after we left. We should have probably mentioned the embassy on the first day since they seemed to resolve everything so quickly after we said that
If the grifters...I mean the government officials, had know they would be featured on RU-vid, maybe they would think twice. Nah...I won't be heading there anytime soon.
Welcome to my country, corruption here is a normally, but before you arrive in Mozambique you had looking for a friend or native to guide you....my apologies 😢
Thank you for airing this. It would’ve been easy to skip it and other people will just be getting hammered just like y’all were but now exposing It is good.
Why are you guys still in that country? I would have packed up and moved on - why promote a country like this? The bad players representing this country is doing their people a disservice
Hopefully this video helps with this kind of issue, the next videos get much better and the locals need all the help they can get which you will see soon. It is horrible that people like this destroy their countries reputation :/
Horrible! I am so sorry that you guys went through that😢 I don’t know if these countries realize that they are losing tourism when they try to scam tourists. Smart countries understand that you don’t scam tourists because they are your source of income. Smart countries understand the tourists have to be treated properly and respectfully because that will make them come back and increase their economy. Bad move on their part. As a person who travels both for work and leisure 300 days a year, I will never set foot there. I’m gonna spend my money elsewhere, where honesty and integrity exists. Sending you guys some positive vibes for happy future travels.💕
Olá Chris e Carolina, sinto o que lhes aconteceu! Felizmente vocês agora se encontram bem. Desejo uma ótima Páscoa para vocês e os seus. Espero que vocês produzam novos vídeos em nosso país, aonde a variedade cultural e belezas naturais são fascinantes. Material rico para programas turísticos. Como sempre, seu trabalho é excelente e profissional.
Hi everyone, It's sad, here in Mozambique we have problems that need to be solved, and corruption is one of the biggest. As for taxis, I think you were not scammed, there are 2 main types of them: 1. The yellow ones or those with a sign that says "taxi" on the roof are generally expensive because they have a fixed place where the wait for incoming customers that they call a "praça", so they charge to drop the customer off at their destination and return to their "praça" and the price vary, it is decided by the driver, and is negotiated orally at the time of request... 2. those taxis available through Yango app are more accessible because the application locates nearby cars and the drivers takes a customer to the destination and park there, waiting for another customer, thus reducing fuel costs for , hence the price of the trip is reduced... Sorry for your unfair 1st experience tho
It is definitely unkind to accuse the airport authorities of wanting a bribe when the did not ask for one. That is slander. They could be sued for it. This post should be removed.
@@MozBizResourceswake up and smell your coffee. Did you even watch the youtube? Ripped off at the airport. Ripped off by the "uber". When the fee says 50 and they are charged 100 - that's bribery and corruption.
I cannot believe it Chris how you and Carol kept your composure, unreal... Your situation was utter BS! What a waste of your time and money... I would have never been able to remain calm... I'm sure those countries have a lot to offer in Africa, but no way on God's green earth my wife and I would ever travel there... Those people who treated you and Carol are wicked and evil. Unfortunately, it's happening to foreigners a lot in these countries... Be safe you two!
Yeah the country has massive potential which you will see soon In the following videos, it’s a shame the people in power positions are destroying its potential
Cape Town is like a foreign planet compared to most African destinations. My family has been here since the 1700s. The closest I've been to Mozambique is Bazarutho Island. Moz is super sketch and dangerous.
I will never forget the fishes under the water, it is like someone went around with fluorescent markers and painted everything... this coming from a lifelong aquarium fanatic... was not expecting nature to blow all of that in one day... Also sneaked a few cool shells away in my underpants... (the area is a conservation place, you are not supposed to take stuff, but try and tell that to a collector.@@JumpingPlaces
Bazaruto island is a mozambican island, nothern moz to be precise. Yes mozambique is dangerous place like most places in the world. Remember we have an active war in the nothern province of Cabo Delgado. We don't know who is funding but we do know that is funded from outside. So double or triple check everyone is not bad idea. Have been in america as a foreign visitor? Moz migration and customs used to be more suspicious to everyone who comes from Brasil, since there are lot of drug issues related to passangers from over there. Once again multiple checks are good ideia. A yango ride from the airoport to down town should be charged USD5. to USD8.0 from my own experience, depending on how good the car is. May be they did charge you the skin tax. You will be fine, just be respectfull white people. Enjoy Moz and you will be back soon.
@poepflater very narrow minded, you should explore Mozambique it's beautiful, every country has their bad areas, many tourists haven't even heard of Cape Town, they just think whole of south Africa is crap. Just drive along the M5 in Capetown, you will see ganglands and poverty. Compared to rich areas in cot
so is the Bahamas a very popular tourist destination with first class facilties,a medium income country and after barbados is the the richest country in the carribbean ,with many ,many muti millionaires a banana republic ,i dont think so mate so lets get this right pal ,so everywhere in the southern hemisphere thats not australia and newzeland is most likely a banana republic.okay ,right, .got it how revealing
All the interesting and exciting places are almost always "banana Republics", so if one needs to be on the sterile, safe side, stick closer to the generic West. Personally, I prefer experiencing the World, with its good and bad. To use a single unfortunate incident to overgeneralize about a country isn't healthy.
@@ajwango478 exactily its important to highlight some of the pitfalls and negative things to give people the heads up and make them aware so they can avoid uneesssary aggrovation ,or navigate potential pitfalls infomation and knowldge is crucial and balance is most definitely important however there are alot of people ive noticed with fake accounts with an obvious agenda who haved jumped on the bandwagon to discredit the entire continent on the back of one negative experience in one country .
It is a shame that this happens because the country is beautiful and the locals really need all the help they can get With tourism. We have some great videos coming up from here soon :D
Glad you fought the corruption and didn't let them get away with blunt scam. Glad you shared it and most of all, glad you guys are safe. As for me, I've learned that perhaps I'll take a cruise instead of land travel in certain countries or places. I'll be turning in on your next video.
It is good that you show also the bad things. Hope you could enjoy your trip further. That is such a shame for this country to have these official people working at the airport for wellcoming tourists that way, ... as well as the taxi scam.
Obrigado pelo vídeo, já tinha ouvido falar de casos semelhantes, mas nunca que demorassem 2 dias. As autoridades moçambicanas têm que pôr mão nisto, pois está a dar um mau nome a um país que precisa urgentemente do dinheiro do turismo. Não é algo que me surpreenda, pois Moçambique está a ter um problema com terroristas islâmicos que estão literalmente a controlar partes do país e Moçambique recusou ajuda externa, como se o presidente estivesse corrumpido ou então a favor.
So sorry that you both experienced this. It had to be scary. Just wanted to let u know that I enjoy your videos. They take me away for a bit. Soothes my soul! 🤗
Realise it is incredibly frustrating and very bureaucratic. But you did kind of bring it on yourselves. Either do e visa or arrival visa. Don’t do both and confuse the situation
Guys why going to those countries which are making your lives unbearable? What’s the point? Do you really enjoying to suffer and have your holiday ruined? Pls go to the welcoming countries! UAE, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, Japan
so sorry and sad to see that this has happened to you. thank you for posting this and it will be helpful for travelers. sad that corruption is the first thing that people will remember of the beautiful country, an that it only takes a few people to ruin it for the entire place. travel safe and I still hope that there will be good natured people will be around to help you guys.
i was born in mozambique as a white in 1973 before independence so therefore i have no rights whatsoever even though i was born there. i have portuguese citizenship because that was the colony that was the default country that i had to get the citizenship. Very very corrupt country I would never ever visit. 😮
@@JumpingPlaces 3 years old. My mother who is white received expulsion as well as my father both lost her land, her house and all the money she earned until her early 20s. Had to start a new life from scratch in Portugal in 1976 as a “retornado” the portuguese RTP covers some rare footage of white refugees from Mozambique in 1975/76. Mozambique then became a communist style revolutionary nation under the frelimo leader Samora Marchel that’s featured in the meticais notes. He died suspiciously in 1986 in a plane crash. Mozambique’s beaches have always been magnificent the seafood outstanding and the current mozambique people have little idea what took place for their independence so i don’t hold anything against anyone 50 years or older. The revolutionaries are now in their late 70s and older they can tell you everything but in secret with their identity blurred.
I wonder if thats the same situation in Angola there tones of portuegese in Angola and many have been relocating in Angola for business opprtunties which i saw a documentary on
I think you made a mistake by applying for e-visa and then going to the airport to get the visa on arrival. That's technically 2 visas and these guys took advantage of that I feel. Should've just gone with the visa on arrival to make matters simple. Having said that, charging double for the visa is definitely a scam and I'm not surprised because corruption is so embedded into their DNA here in Africa. It's a sad situation.
Yes we definitely screwed up with that, it was mainly because the information online is confusing with this country. Some sites said that we had to do an e-visa and others said it was fine to get one on arrival, so we thought we were playing it safe which definitely backfired. Unfortunately they were charging basically everyone the double fee though from what we saw and nobody could do anything about it just like us :/. Our situation just gave them one more extra chance to try and get the double fee once again lol
In Southern africa only South africa, botswana and Swaziland are recommended for tourists. Once you go to cross over to the others like Mozambique you better be traveling with an agency or else you pretty much setting your self up for misary. These countries ruin everything for themselves with corruption and greed.
@@JumpingPlacesI believe both should be fine as especially Namibia. I feel bad for you guys about Moz as we South Africans actually have websites to prepare you for the corruption especially qhen driving cross border. Simple things like making copies of all your documents and handing them.ovwr in police stops. We actually travelled with two wallets as well, one with a small amount of cash and one we hid in the vehicle with our holiday money in it. Once you get to your destination its a amazing place, but not worth the hassle in my opinion.
I had this happen to me in Singapore. You were correct when you said they were hoping you'd just accept the price and keep moving. Many traveller's would have just paid whatever they asked for to reduce their stress and save time.
Hmm, Singapore has the most incredible airports, with excellent immigration, I have never even heard of problems in Singapore with Government officials, I have been visiting for almost 30 years.
My beautiful Mozambique ❤🇲🇿🥺 It's not the country it's the police and the government officials please don't hate Mozambique ❤ It's the people running it 😢 Go and visit it but get your visas from your country in a Mozambican embassy to make it easy You will surely enjoy our cuisine, beaches , islands and the people will welcome you with so much love🇲🇿❤️🙏
