Chinde, Mozambique

With a population of just 16,500, Chinde is a sleepy backwater on the Mozambican coast that offers little to entice foreign residents. Once a vital hub for British colonial trade, the town's fortunes have faded as larger ports like Beira have eclipsed it. Bureaucratic headaches are a persistent problem, as the town's infrastructure struggles to keep up with the relentless erosion of the soft sands it's built upon. While Chinde may hold some appeal for those seeking a remote, laidback lifestyle, the trade-offs in terms of amenities and reliability are simply too steep for most.