15 June We left around 8am to go back through to Mozambique. We got to the border and exited Zimbabwe no worries, but when we tried to get through to the Mozambique side it proved impossible as a load of huge trucks had blocked the way through. We managed to find some of the drivers and eventually after about a wait of almost an hour being surrounded by huge trucks we were able to get through. On the Mozambique side we had to pay for news visas to last another 30 days and we were away. Today we are travelling up towards Caia and staying at a place called M’phingwe Camp which is at Catapu. The car started to give a few problems again with no power. We struggled our way on and finally made it around 4pm. After some charades; a lot of people don’t speak English we managed to check in. Portuguese is definitely a huge bonus out here. M’phingwe is a lovely little camp set in a forest, it’s a shame we only have one night as I am sure the birdlife is brilliant here and there are loads of lovely walking tracks all over the property. We phoned Kerry to see if there are any Toyota garages in Quelimane or Nampula that we can get the car checked out. We had a lovely dinner and then went to bed.
16 June Kerry phoned to say that there is a Toyota garage in Quelimane so we will call in there before carrying on north to Mocuba this morning. We arrived at Quelimane around lunch time which means that a lot of places are shut until 1.30pm. We were trying to ask the security guard at Toyota what time they would open and if they had mechanics there when he called over another guy who was walking past who could speak English to talk to us. We told this fellow that we had what we thought was an electrical problem with the car and he said that we had a friend who may be able to help us. He phoned and then jumped into the car and showed us how to get to the place. It turned out this Indian chap who was from Maputo had been up to Pemba to fix a couple of trucks and he had the computer that you hook up to the car to diagnose what is wrong. What luck, he said it would cost 5000 meticas which was fine especially to know if there were any problems and what they were. After an hour he arrived back from picking up the computer from his hotel room and hooked up the car. First off we needed to change the front brake pads, but it also kept saying throttle motor fault which sounded a lot more difficult. They proceeded to change the brake pads which were down to nothing, meanwhile they also changed the fuel filter as they say the fuel out here is terrible, very dirty. They also took off the throttle motor and gave it a good clean up and that is when we found a wire which was broken, this was duly repaired and when the computer hooked up again – no faults were found! Talk about luck and being in the right town at the right time. Since then the car has been running beautifully which is always good news. It was around 3.45pm when we left Quelimane for Mocuba and fortunately the road was pretty good all the way. We got to our guest house and after some discussion were told they were fully booked even thought we had a confirmation and knew that the booking was made on 2 May. I phoned Kerry and he was annoyed to say the least! He phoned us back and told us that he had managed to get hold of the manager who was on his way to see us. After a while Jotamo arrived and sorted out a room for us; it seems that they had sold our room so unfortunately we had to take what was available and to be perfectly honest it was pretty grotty! Mocuba is not really a place that you want to stay, but can be a useful stopover on your way north. Nevermind when you don’t have a choice you accept it and are pleased that it is for only one night. We had dinner and went to bed, but didn’t sleep so well.
17 June We woke up very early and went for breakfast which was a cup of coffee and a bread roll – very tasty! We were driving through to Nampula today, so I took the rolls for lunch. It has to be said that the bread throughout Mozambique is fantastic! I started out driving this morning and it took around 2.5 hours to do 56kms! I mentioned to Martin that it was probably one of the worse roads I had ever travelled on throughout Africa which is quite something I can tell you. There were a couple of stretches that were good tar road, but the majority was crap, pardon my French. We arrived at Bamboo Hotel around 2am and were very pleased to see that it was a 500% improvement from the Mocuba place. We had lovely hot showers and then Martin had a siesta while I read my book. There was a little vervet monkey in a cage so I got some dried fruit from the car and feed him. This place was huge and seemed to be run by Portuguese so pretty well organized. We had a lovely dinner and a brilliant night’s sleep.
18-22 June Today we are travelling to Libe Lula which means ‘dragonfly’ and is at Nacala Bay and a place that Kerry had found whilst on his dhow trip. The things you see whilst travelling along the roads in Africa never fail to surprise me, today I saw a guy who was dressed in an all in one pajama suit including the button down patch on the bum – very funny! What gets sent over here as aid and finds its way into the markets to be sold is so inappropriate at times. We were meant to be camping for 4 nights, but when we arrived it was a pretty tight squeeze to get into the camping area and our trailer is rather huge. Martin made the decision we would upgrade to the stone cottage instead. What a stunning setting overlooking the bay; Ian & PJ are great and made us feel very welcome. It was lovely to have more that a night before moving off. It gets really tiring when you are moving on every day. We have really been doing nothing except reading and relaxing whilst we have been here. We had intended to go diving, but it has been quite breezy since we arrived and we also have turned into wimps – it is too cold! I have been down to the beach twice which involves 100 steps down, Martin has been down once. Tomorrow we will be moving on again to Ilha da Mozambique.
Well at last I am fully up to date and will try my best to get some photos for you all as well. Love & kisses to all xxx
Monday, 21 June 2010
Sunday, 20 June 2010
10-13 June We meet Mike McNamara on the road into Gorongoza; he was on his way home to Zimbabwe. Mike is an old friend from Victoria Falls and is now the Tourism Development Consultant for Gorongoza. As our visas had not been extended enough for us to complete our trip around Mozambique we were going to have to go into Zimbabwe for a night after we left Gorongoza to be able to get a new 30 day visa and we would stay with Mike, Mignon, Tanya & Layla for the night in Mutare. I was really looking forward to it as I hadn’t seen them since just after they got married and had never met their 2 girls. We got to the gate and got our permit to enter, it is 18kms from the gate to Chitengo Camp and should take around 30 minutes as you are only allowed to go 40kms at the most, but we were doing it very slowly so we could see any animals and birds on the way in. We saw a big herd of sable probably about 30 odd which was lovely. Also quite a few wart hogs that didn’t do the usual thing and put their tail up and run away, they actually in some cases walked towards the car – lovely! Once we reached Chitengo we had to pay park fees and then met Rob who owns Explore Gorongoza with his wife Jos and where we would be staying for the next 4 nights. Kerry stayed at Chitengo the first night and would join us the next day.
Gorongoza is an absolute gem of a park and a huge surprise to me. I have always wanted to check it out, but didn’t realize how much wildlife was around and the birding is fantastic. It is also more about walking than game drives which makes a lovely change from sitting in a vehicle the whole time. We had 3 other people staying with us that first night and it was their first safari experience. We went for a game drive the first afternoon as it was getting a little late to be doing a walk. The elephants here are very nervous and some even still have bullets in them from the war days, which in reality only happened at the most 15 years ago so you have to be extremely cautious around them. Well of course we came across a herd of 40-50 of them and Rob stayed well away to see as he put it ‘who was around’. They were mostly grazing and seemed relaxed, but to our right a small group seemed to be a little on the nervous side. Elephants have long memories and the war was fresh in their minds. In this case one of the tuskless females was very agitated and started running towards us, Rob banged on the side of the car, but she kept coming so he started up and revved the car, but you guessed it she kept coming. We had to do a U-turn through the long grass and head for the track again; (all I could think of was – God don’t let there be a dead tree, rock or hole anywhere). She was screaming at us and keep coming and gaining on us, it almost made me cry as I have never seen an ellie react in this way before and made you realize how traumatized she must have been, it was pretty scary and she had it in her mind that she was going to get us. After we got back on the track she followed at speed for quite away before giving up. Not a very nice experience for first time safari goers it has to be said, but imagine the strife, killing and poaching that had been going on and is still taking place at times – what terrible memories these herds must have. Rob was saying that you don’t very often see them during the day as they stick to the thick forests and came out onto the flood plains at night. Rob had to report the incident as some elephants it seemed there was no hope for – they continually charged vehicles every time and probably unfortunately would have to be put down. Apparently the head warden/vet knew this particular elephant and it was not her first offense. It is such a shame that we humans had caused this grief and that in turn she would probably have to be euthanized because of us!
The rest of the game drive went without a hitch and the birding is just awesome, what we noticed were the huge numbers of waterbuck and wart hog; we have never seen so many all in one place before. The flood plains were spectacular with a lot of aquatic birds and animals. This park closes every year for about 4 months during the rainy season due to not being able to use the roads and a lot of the land being under water. We had a lovely dinner with good company and went to sleep with the sound of lions roaring in the distance. The next morning we were up at around 6.30am; due to the mist in the mornings it is best to start the walks later at about 7am. We walked out from camp and were following the river to see if we could spot any crocodiles or hippos, but also as you know looking at all the little things plants, insects and birds which is what the walks are all about. We had a lovely 3 hours walking and got back to camp to have a fantastic brunch! I then had a wonderful hot shower in the outdoor shower overlooking the river – beautiful.
Kerry joined us around 11.30am and we relaxed around camp, me flitting around the trees and bushes trying to take photos of all the birds. The other three people had gone back to Chitengo so there was just the 3 of us in camp – fabulous! Jos joined us for the afternoon/evening game drive which centered on the flood plains, river and little ponds/lakes. The aquatic birdlife is stunning and we watched for ages with gin and tonic in hand hundreds of birds returning to their roosting sites up stream. Another great feature here in Gorongoza is the night drives you can see civet, genet, porcupine and owls quite regularly. The next day we had another morning walk out towards the flood plains and then back through the forest along the river, then a drive in the afternoon once again. This park is huge so Rob was trying to show us as much as possible in the short time we had. Without trying very hard I notched up around 120 birds in my 4 night stay. That night dinner had been set up behind the camp so that we were under the huge African sky, but we were interrupted just before dinner by the guard shouting from the car park ‘lions’. Rob left us at the fire to check it out and the guard was in the game vehicle as the lions had walked right past him. Rob called us and we jumped in the car to see if we could follow them; it was 2 males and they were following the road with us duly following them. It was lovely to see them not at all bothered by us and just going about their nightly business. They turned off to go out to the flood plains and we returned to camp to a wonderful dinner. Apparently they had walked right in front of Kerry’s tent and along the track that goes to the car park and then out of camp and down the road.
The following day we went for a game drive to try and see some more of the far reaches of the park and got back for brunch and once again relax until the afternoon. We then drove out to one of the places where they set up a fly camp which has loads of baobab trees around and then had a small walk in the area before having sundowners and then returning to camp. Gorongoza is a wonderful park and well worth a visit, one day we saw the vehicle from Chitengo out on a game drive, but where else can you drive around in a park and see no sign of civilization? We would love to go back again sometime and see more of the park and do more walks.
14 June We were up at 4.30am this morning as Kerry was flying out from Chimoio at 9.10am and it would take around 2 to 2.5 hours to get there. Jos had a breakfast packed for us and they drove us back through to Chitengo. The guy wasn’t on the gate as requested the night before, so we started to off load our luggage through a hole in the fence while Rob went to fetch him. We got going and finally left at 6am. It took 30 minutes through the park to the main gate and then we were on the way to Chimoio. We managed to arrive at the airport at 8.15am and Kerry got checked in all okay. I spoke to Mike to let him know that we were on the way to see them in Mutare. It took about an hour or so to the border. We cleared the Mozambique side and got to Zimbabwe. There was a little ‘hitler’ woman there and I had to ring Mike for his physical address as it was needed before we could enter. Mike met us as we were leaving the border and we followed him to his place in Mutare. It was great to catch up with him and Mignon and to meet his 2 most beautiful girls. We had a lovely lunch and then Mike took us up to the botanical gardens in the Vumba Mountains. We spent about 2 hours or so walking around the gardens; we tried to walk around the tracks in the rain forest, but they are a little over grown and nonexistent in places. In its heyday it used to be an amazing place where you could walk through the rain forest and come out onto the most beautiful English gardens. It was nice to see that there was a lot of work being done to restore things. You can still see Samango monkeys wandering round and the birds are out of this world with a few endemic ones in the area. We had a lovely night catching up and thank Mike & Mignon so much.
I hope you are all fit and well as we are. It is almost impossible to get onto the net here so I am slowly getting things up dated. I will try and get some photos on as well. Love and hugs to all xx
Gorongoza is an absolute gem of a park and a huge surprise to me. I have always wanted to check it out, but didn’t realize how much wildlife was around and the birding is fantastic. It is also more about walking than game drives which makes a lovely change from sitting in a vehicle the whole time. We had 3 other people staying with us that first night and it was their first safari experience. We went for a game drive the first afternoon as it was getting a little late to be doing a walk. The elephants here are very nervous and some even still have bullets in them from the war days, which in reality only happened at the most 15 years ago so you have to be extremely cautious around them. Well of course we came across a herd of 40-50 of them and Rob stayed well away to see as he put it ‘who was around’. They were mostly grazing and seemed relaxed, but to our right a small group seemed to be a little on the nervous side. Elephants have long memories and the war was fresh in their minds. In this case one of the tuskless females was very agitated and started running towards us, Rob banged on the side of the car, but she kept coming so he started up and revved the car, but you guessed it she kept coming. We had to do a U-turn through the long grass and head for the track again; (all I could think of was – God don’t let there be a dead tree, rock or hole anywhere). She was screaming at us and keep coming and gaining on us, it almost made me cry as I have never seen an ellie react in this way before and made you realize how traumatized she must have been, it was pretty scary and she had it in her mind that she was going to get us. After we got back on the track she followed at speed for quite away before giving up. Not a very nice experience for first time safari goers it has to be said, but imagine the strife, killing and poaching that had been going on and is still taking place at times – what terrible memories these herds must have. Rob was saying that you don’t very often see them during the day as they stick to the thick forests and came out onto the flood plains at night. Rob had to report the incident as some elephants it seemed there was no hope for – they continually charged vehicles every time and probably unfortunately would have to be put down. Apparently the head warden/vet knew this particular elephant and it was not her first offense. It is such a shame that we humans had caused this grief and that in turn she would probably have to be euthanized because of us!
The rest of the game drive went without a hitch and the birding is just awesome, what we noticed were the huge numbers of waterbuck and wart hog; we have never seen so many all in one place before. The flood plains were spectacular with a lot of aquatic birds and animals. This park closes every year for about 4 months during the rainy season due to not being able to use the roads and a lot of the land being under water. We had a lovely dinner with good company and went to sleep with the sound of lions roaring in the distance. The next morning we were up at around 6.30am; due to the mist in the mornings it is best to start the walks later at about 7am. We walked out from camp and were following the river to see if we could spot any crocodiles or hippos, but also as you know looking at all the little things plants, insects and birds which is what the walks are all about. We had a lovely 3 hours walking and got back to camp to have a fantastic brunch! I then had a wonderful hot shower in the outdoor shower overlooking the river – beautiful.
Kerry joined us around 11.30am and we relaxed around camp, me flitting around the trees and bushes trying to take photos of all the birds. The other three people had gone back to Chitengo so there was just the 3 of us in camp – fabulous! Jos joined us for the afternoon/evening game drive which centered on the flood plains, river and little ponds/lakes. The aquatic birdlife is stunning and we watched for ages with gin and tonic in hand hundreds of birds returning to their roosting sites up stream. Another great feature here in Gorongoza is the night drives you can see civet, genet, porcupine and owls quite regularly. The next day we had another morning walk out towards the flood plains and then back through the forest along the river, then a drive in the afternoon once again. This park is huge so Rob was trying to show us as much as possible in the short time we had. Without trying very hard I notched up around 120 birds in my 4 night stay. That night dinner had been set up behind the camp so that we were under the huge African sky, but we were interrupted just before dinner by the guard shouting from the car park ‘lions’. Rob left us at the fire to check it out and the guard was in the game vehicle as the lions had walked right past him. Rob called us and we jumped in the car to see if we could follow them; it was 2 males and they were following the road with us duly following them. It was lovely to see them not at all bothered by us and just going about their nightly business. They turned off to go out to the flood plains and we returned to camp to a wonderful dinner. Apparently they had walked right in front of Kerry’s tent and along the track that goes to the car park and then out of camp and down the road.
The following day we went for a game drive to try and see some more of the far reaches of the park and got back for brunch and once again relax until the afternoon. We then drove out to one of the places where they set up a fly camp which has loads of baobab trees around and then had a small walk in the area before having sundowners and then returning to camp. Gorongoza is a wonderful park and well worth a visit, one day we saw the vehicle from Chitengo out on a game drive, but where else can you drive around in a park and see no sign of civilization? We would love to go back again sometime and see more of the park and do more walks.
14 June We were up at 4.30am this morning as Kerry was flying out from Chimoio at 9.10am and it would take around 2 to 2.5 hours to get there. Jos had a breakfast packed for us and they drove us back through to Chitengo. The guy wasn’t on the gate as requested the night before, so we started to off load our luggage through a hole in the fence while Rob went to fetch him. We got going and finally left at 6am. It took 30 minutes through the park to the main gate and then we were on the way to Chimoio. We managed to arrive at the airport at 8.15am and Kerry got checked in all okay. I spoke to Mike to let him know that we were on the way to see them in Mutare. It took about an hour or so to the border. We cleared the Mozambique side and got to Zimbabwe. There was a little ‘hitler’ woman there and I had to ring Mike for his physical address as it was needed before we could enter. Mike met us as we were leaving the border and we followed him to his place in Mutare. It was great to catch up with him and Mignon and to meet his 2 most beautiful girls. We had a lovely lunch and then Mike took us up to the botanical gardens in the Vumba Mountains. We spent about 2 hours or so walking around the gardens; we tried to walk around the tracks in the rain forest, but they are a little over grown and nonexistent in places. In its heyday it used to be an amazing place where you could walk through the rain forest and come out onto the most beautiful English gardens. It was nice to see that there was a lot of work being done to restore things. You can still see Samango monkeys wandering round and the birds are out of this world with a few endemic ones in the area. We had a lovely night catching up and thank Mike & Mignon so much.
I hope you are all fit and well as we are. It is almost impossible to get onto the net here so I am slowly getting things up dated. I will try and get some photos on as well. Love and hugs to all xx
Saturday, 19 June 2010
27 May Another beautiful day. Flavia N you asked about Baia Sonambula – well it was fabulous. Lovely friendly staff, good breakfasts, awesome views from the seaview rooms and extremely comfortable beds – I would definitely stay there if I was you – ENJOY! Well today our dive was at a reef called Crocodile Rock, the marine life here in Mozambique is quite extraordinary and all the dives so far have been stunning. Overall our stay in Tofo was magical and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It is a very laid back and relaxed place with plenty of things to do and see. We had dinner at Casa Barry as they seem to have the most comfortable dining chairs in town.
28 May Today we are off to Pomene Lodge which I am really looking forward to. We stopped about 3kms out of Tofo at the fuel station and there is a deli there called Chillies. They have the best coffee and cakes around; we also got some lovely filled rolls for lunch. It is run by Jenny & Gill and they do a great job. The road was up and down today, we had about 50kms or so of driving along beside the road until we got to the junction for Pomene. It was then a good dirt road for about 25kms to the gate of the reserve where we had to pay entrance fees. Then we hit the sand road for about 30kms or more, but good sand road the only thing is that it seems to mostly be a single track so you just hope that you don’t meet anything coming the other way! We arrived at the lodge and were welcomed by Oadie (the dog) English Setter, Neville & Wendy and Kirsty & Steve. We were staying in one of the water chalets, so asked if we could park in the campsite so that we could plug into the power for the freezer. Martin went to turn the car around to head back down to the campsite and duly got stuck! After a lot of tooing and froing we eventually got out and managed to park back in the campsite. This place uses a generator which runs twice a day for several hours which is plenty to keep the fridge/freezer going well.
29 – 31 May We went out the next day to Zambia Reef for a dive which was great fun. There seems to be even more marine life up in this region. When we first dropped down the first thing we saw was a manta ray which was so cool, there was also a reef shark, but I didn’t see it. We also went for a night dive in the estuary which was really great we saw seahorses which was just the best. This was the first night dive that I have done and has quite an eerie feel to it; we also saw a red baby octopus, baby zebra moray, baby firefish and loads of other things. All the things that you don’t usually get to see out on the reefs. Another excursion we did was a quad bike ride which was great fun to the old hotel, village and Pomene View Resort. The old hotel is reputed to be one of the most luxurious in its heyday, but like a lot of other places has fallen derelict after the war, it seems such a huge waste as it is a stunning location and the rooms and communal areas looked fantastic, but have been left to just rot and fall apart. We had a great time at Pomene, but tomorrow it is time once again to move north.
1 June We are on our way to Vilanculos today where we will be staying at Casa Rex for the first night. Once again the roads were a little up and down; once we rejoined the main road we unfortunately got stuck behind a truck doing 20kms an hour and as it was a one lane track at the side of the road there were no opportunities to pass for about 30kms or so – quite a long journey! Once you get to the good tarmac again the road was brilliant most of the way to Vilanculos which was appreciated. We arrived at beautiful Casa Rex and were welcomed by Mel & Suzannah. It is amazing how much the gardens have grown here; we stayed here 3 years ago and they had just planted a lot of new plants which have become trees now! We had a very late lunch when we arrived and then Dave from Sailaway came to see us and explain all about the dhow safari we would be doing tomorrow. He also told us about the boat trip that they had done which started in Fernao Veloso to pick up their new dhows; this was the same trip that Kerry did with him – quite an adventure and took much longer than first intended. We had a lovely dinner at Casa Rex and then packed our bags for our 2 day dhow safari before getting a good night’s rest.
2-4 June We arrived down at Sailaway at 8.30am for our dhow safari and we found that another Dutch couple would be doing the safari with us which is great; when you are together 24/7 you can run out of conversation as you are doing all the same things together. We set off for the island of Magaruque where we were to go snorkeling, walking around the island and having lunch. The dhows have a big box type thing at the back full of sand which they use as a fire place to cook the meals on, it works amazingly well and Alfredo was a fantastic chef! We decided that it was a little cold to go snorkeling so started on our journey back across to the mainland to Chigamane Camp which is north of Vilanculos on the mainland where we would be sleeping for the next 2 nights. We had a fabulous dinner and sat around the fire having drinks and talking until about 9pm (oh so late) before heading off to our tents for the night. We were up around 7am for breakfast and then we were due to sail across to the southern tip of Bazaruto Island; basically between Bazaruto and Benguerra Island’s to Two Mile Reef for snorkeling. Well what a bumpy trip out to the reef, but we were rewarded with great snorkeling. It is quite crazy to be snorkeling along behind a reef whilst there are huge big breakers (waves) the other side. We then pulled up closer to the island for lunch which once again was brilliant all once again made on board over the fire. We then sailed back to Chigamane Camp for the night. Dumas (the first mate) had a couple of handlines so I was trawling one of these the whole time on the ocean and managed to catch 2 lizard fish – it must be said that they are not good eating far too many bones! The last6 morning we got up and I had forgotten to take my pills for my hernia with me so was not feeling very good at all. We sailed out to Benguerra Island for some more snorkeling and to walk around one of the sandbanks that are exposed at low tide. We had lunch on the boat and then had to motor back to Vilanculos as the wind was not so good. We had a fabulous trip and great fun. Was also lovely to get back to Casa Rex and have a lovely shower and the beautiful gardens and views – just stunning.
I had a fabulous massage before getting our transfer across to Dugong.
5-9 June Today we are off to Dugong Lodge, although it is on the mainland it is easier to get to by boat which only takes around 45mins as opposed to driving which would take about 6 hours or so. There is about 80kms of bad sand road to get there. We were picked up at about 2pm by the boat and jetted off across to the lodge. Well what a stunning setting and oh so quiet. We were looked after beautifully by all the staff and in particular Wayne & Gail. We went fishing three days for a few hours and caught (well should I say I caught); a 7kg Bonito on the second day and Martin caught a 1kg bonito as well. The first day we got nothing and the third day I got another bonito only about 1kg again, but great fun! We also we for a drive up to ‘Worlds View’ in a golf cart with Wayne through the sanctuary – it is Vilanculos Coastal Sanctuary and has had some animals introduced over the last few years. We only managed to see a grey & red duiker, plus some great birdlife and the views were stunning. I went for a walk one day and Martin took a hobie cat out for an hour or so. We also did some snorkeling at the end of the jetty which is just teaming with reef fish as well as snapper, mullet and other varieties – great fun. The dolphins came around the jetty a few times over the 4 days which was awesome as well. One of the days out fishing we took a picnic lunch with us and stopped on Bangeu Island which was cool fun. On our last night we took a sunset dhow trip which was interesting. We stopped at a fishing village and had a bit of a walk around and then set off back to the lodge – the wind was up a bit and we all got a free shower on the way back! All in all we had a lovely relaxing time and great fun.
9 June Today we are making our way back to Vilanculos to Casa Rex for the night. Kerry will meet us and join us for the trip into Gorongoza National Park. We had a lovely crossing back and had a relaxing afternoon. Martin had his hair cut today as it was getting rather woolly like a sheep! Kerry and Dave met us and had drinks; Kerry said it would be best to leave at 5.30am the next morning so we arranged a packed breakfast and lunch to go with us. We had a great dinner and then went off to bed excited about the next day.
10 June Martin set out clock slightly wrong and it went off at 4.30am, so there will be no problem picking Kerry up at Dave’s place at 5.30am. In fact we got there 10 minutes early and Kerry was still packing his bag – very impressed to see us not only on time, but even a bit on the early side! We then went back to Casa Rex and hitched up the trailer and were away from Vilanculos at 5.30am. Martin started driving and Kerry promptly fell asleep in the passenger seat, whilst I as usual didn’t want to miss anything was taking in the countryside from the most comfortable back seat. We stopped at 7.30am for breakfast and a wee break. It was lovely having a coffee and bacon roll although the mist was still hanging around quite thickly. Kerry took over the driving and the roads were mostly good, we stopped off for coffee and then I took over the driving then. It was great to get off the pot holed tar road and onto the good dirt road into the park.
Oh my goodness please let this go through it has been very difficult to get onto the internet throughout here. Love and hugs to all xxx
28 May Today we are off to Pomene Lodge which I am really looking forward to. We stopped about 3kms out of Tofo at the fuel station and there is a deli there called Chillies. They have the best coffee and cakes around; we also got some lovely filled rolls for lunch. It is run by Jenny & Gill and they do a great job. The road was up and down today, we had about 50kms or so of driving along beside the road until we got to the junction for Pomene. It was then a good dirt road for about 25kms to the gate of the reserve where we had to pay entrance fees. Then we hit the sand road for about 30kms or more, but good sand road the only thing is that it seems to mostly be a single track so you just hope that you don’t meet anything coming the other way! We arrived at the lodge and were welcomed by Oadie (the dog) English Setter, Neville & Wendy and Kirsty & Steve. We were staying in one of the water chalets, so asked if we could park in the campsite so that we could plug into the power for the freezer. Martin went to turn the car around to head back down to the campsite and duly got stuck! After a lot of tooing and froing we eventually got out and managed to park back in the campsite. This place uses a generator which runs twice a day for several hours which is plenty to keep the fridge/freezer going well.
29 – 31 May We went out the next day to Zambia Reef for a dive which was great fun. There seems to be even more marine life up in this region. When we first dropped down the first thing we saw was a manta ray which was so cool, there was also a reef shark, but I didn’t see it. We also went for a night dive in the estuary which was really great we saw seahorses which was just the best. This was the first night dive that I have done and has quite an eerie feel to it; we also saw a red baby octopus, baby zebra moray, baby firefish and loads of other things. All the things that you don’t usually get to see out on the reefs. Another excursion we did was a quad bike ride which was great fun to the old hotel, village and Pomene View Resort. The old hotel is reputed to be one of the most luxurious in its heyday, but like a lot of other places has fallen derelict after the war, it seems such a huge waste as it is a stunning location and the rooms and communal areas looked fantastic, but have been left to just rot and fall apart. We had a great time at Pomene, but tomorrow it is time once again to move north.
1 June We are on our way to Vilanculos today where we will be staying at Casa Rex for the first night. Once again the roads were a little up and down; once we rejoined the main road we unfortunately got stuck behind a truck doing 20kms an hour and as it was a one lane track at the side of the road there were no opportunities to pass for about 30kms or so – quite a long journey! Once you get to the good tarmac again the road was brilliant most of the way to Vilanculos which was appreciated. We arrived at beautiful Casa Rex and were welcomed by Mel & Suzannah. It is amazing how much the gardens have grown here; we stayed here 3 years ago and they had just planted a lot of new plants which have become trees now! We had a very late lunch when we arrived and then Dave from Sailaway came to see us and explain all about the dhow safari we would be doing tomorrow. He also told us about the boat trip that they had done which started in Fernao Veloso to pick up their new dhows; this was the same trip that Kerry did with him – quite an adventure and took much longer than first intended. We had a lovely dinner at Casa Rex and then packed our bags for our 2 day dhow safari before getting a good night’s rest.
2-4 June We arrived down at Sailaway at 8.30am for our dhow safari and we found that another Dutch couple would be doing the safari with us which is great; when you are together 24/7 you can run out of conversation as you are doing all the same things together. We set off for the island of Magaruque where we were to go snorkeling, walking around the island and having lunch. The dhows have a big box type thing at the back full of sand which they use as a fire place to cook the meals on, it works amazingly well and Alfredo was a fantastic chef! We decided that it was a little cold to go snorkeling so started on our journey back across to the mainland to Chigamane Camp which is north of Vilanculos on the mainland where we would be sleeping for the next 2 nights. We had a fabulous dinner and sat around the fire having drinks and talking until about 9pm (oh so late) before heading off to our tents for the night. We were up around 7am for breakfast and then we were due to sail across to the southern tip of Bazaruto Island; basically between Bazaruto and Benguerra Island’s to Two Mile Reef for snorkeling. Well what a bumpy trip out to the reef, but we were rewarded with great snorkeling. It is quite crazy to be snorkeling along behind a reef whilst there are huge big breakers (waves) the other side. We then pulled up closer to the island for lunch which once again was brilliant all once again made on board over the fire. We then sailed back to Chigamane Camp for the night. Dumas (the first mate) had a couple of handlines so I was trawling one of these the whole time on the ocean and managed to catch 2 lizard fish – it must be said that they are not good eating far too many bones! The last6 morning we got up and I had forgotten to take my pills for my hernia with me so was not feeling very good at all. We sailed out to Benguerra Island for some more snorkeling and to walk around one of the sandbanks that are exposed at low tide. We had lunch on the boat and then had to motor back to Vilanculos as the wind was not so good. We had a fabulous trip and great fun. Was also lovely to get back to Casa Rex and have a lovely shower and the beautiful gardens and views – just stunning.
I had a fabulous massage before getting our transfer across to Dugong.
5-9 June Today we are off to Dugong Lodge, although it is on the mainland it is easier to get to by boat which only takes around 45mins as opposed to driving which would take about 6 hours or so. There is about 80kms of bad sand road to get there. We were picked up at about 2pm by the boat and jetted off across to the lodge. Well what a stunning setting and oh so quiet. We were looked after beautifully by all the staff and in particular Wayne & Gail. We went fishing three days for a few hours and caught (well should I say I caught); a 7kg Bonito on the second day and Martin caught a 1kg bonito as well. The first day we got nothing and the third day I got another bonito only about 1kg again, but great fun! We also we for a drive up to ‘Worlds View’ in a golf cart with Wayne through the sanctuary – it is Vilanculos Coastal Sanctuary and has had some animals introduced over the last few years. We only managed to see a grey & red duiker, plus some great birdlife and the views were stunning. I went for a walk one day and Martin took a hobie cat out for an hour or so. We also did some snorkeling at the end of the jetty which is just teaming with reef fish as well as snapper, mullet and other varieties – great fun. The dolphins came around the jetty a few times over the 4 days which was awesome as well. One of the days out fishing we took a picnic lunch with us and stopped on Bangeu Island which was cool fun. On our last night we took a sunset dhow trip which was interesting. We stopped at a fishing village and had a bit of a walk around and then set off back to the lodge – the wind was up a bit and we all got a free shower on the way back! All in all we had a lovely relaxing time and great fun.
9 June Today we are making our way back to Vilanculos to Casa Rex for the night. Kerry will meet us and join us for the trip into Gorongoza National Park. We had a lovely crossing back and had a relaxing afternoon. Martin had his hair cut today as it was getting rather woolly like a sheep! Kerry and Dave met us and had drinks; Kerry said it would be best to leave at 5.30am the next morning so we arranged a packed breakfast and lunch to go with us. We had a great dinner and then went off to bed excited about the next day.
10 June Martin set out clock slightly wrong and it went off at 4.30am, so there will be no problem picking Kerry up at Dave’s place at 5.30am. In fact we got there 10 minutes early and Kerry was still packing his bag – very impressed to see us not only on time, but even a bit on the early side! We then went back to Casa Rex and hitched up the trailer and were away from Vilanculos at 5.30am. Martin started driving and Kerry promptly fell asleep in the passenger seat, whilst I as usual didn’t want to miss anything was taking in the countryside from the most comfortable back seat. We stopped at 7.30am for breakfast and a wee break. It was lovely having a coffee and bacon roll although the mist was still hanging around quite thickly. Kerry took over the driving and the roads were mostly good, we stopped off for coffee and then I took over the driving then. It was great to get off the pot holed tar road and onto the good dirt road into the park.
Oh my goodness please let this go through it has been very difficult to get onto the internet throughout here. Love and hugs to all xxx
Thursday, 27 May 2010
25 May Woke up to another beautiful day and today we are going diving. We sorted out all of our gear; wetsuits, fins, masks and cameras then headed down to the dive shop – Diversity to see how they went this morning. We have decided to do the 11am dive slots as it is a much more civilized time as well as being the shallow dives opposed to the deep dives at 7.30am. We were told that they had a good dive and it wasn’t as bumpy going out today which is great news. We went to the site called Salon which was only 10 minutes off shore and was alive with life. We saw thousands of fish and it was a fabulous dive. Martin took the camera and has realized that his eye sight has deteriorated so badly that he couldn’t really see very well. We will have to get him a prescription mask once we get home. As we had only 12 litre tanks we only had a 30 minute dive. We will order the 15 litre tank for him tomorrow. We got back and had some lunch and then relaxed in the afternoon.
26 May Once again another beautiful day. We will go diving again today at 11am. The site was called Arena this time and took 20 minutes to get there. As it is around the corner and quite close to shore there is surge from the waves, but still a fantastic dive. Lots of crocodile fish, lion fish and the list goes on and on! Martin got a 15 litre tank today and we both had our weight correct so a more comfortable div e. I have written down our tank sizes and weights so that we remember for the next time. I had a 45 minute dive and Martin stayed down for about an hour this time. They had over filled his tank so he had plenty of air. We got back and had lunch, relaxed, read books and then went to Casa Barry to a talk on Manta Rays from Dr Andrea Marshall who runs a project here in Tofu. Very interesting and hopefully she will manage to get some of the areas protected so that these incredible animals will survive in this region. We then had dinner and made our way back to our lovely comfy bed!
I will try again to upload some photos, but will not hold my breath as it seems to be impossible to get any on! Hope all is well with you all, love and hugs xxx
26 May Once again another beautiful day. We will go diving again today at 11am. The site was called Arena this time and took 20 minutes to get there. As it is around the corner and quite close to shore there is surge from the waves, but still a fantastic dive. Lots of crocodile fish, lion fish and the list goes on and on! Martin got a 15 litre tank today and we both had our weight correct so a more comfortable div e. I have written down our tank sizes and weights so that we remember for the next time. I had a 45 minute dive and Martin stayed down for about an hour this time. They had over filled his tank so he had plenty of air. We got back and had lunch, relaxed, read books and then went to Casa Barry to a talk on Manta Rays from Dr Andrea Marshall who runs a project here in Tofu. Very interesting and hopefully she will manage to get some of the areas protected so that these incredible animals will survive in this region. We then had dinner and made our way back to our lovely comfy bed!
I will try again to upload some photos, but will not hold my breath as it seems to be impossible to get any on! Hope all is well with you all, love and hugs xxx
Monday, 24 May 2010
The roads out here so far have been shocking, especially from Xai Xai north which is the main road (highway) north. It was sand or should I say mud for around 60-80 kms and you really have to watch out for the buses and trucks as they don't move for anyone! Quite an experience and scary at times!
We had dinner at Casa de Comer which was lovely, there is an elderly French lady staying at Baia Sonambula as well so she joined us for dinner as she didn’t want to walk around after dark on her own.
24 May We woke up to a lovely morning, it seems as the rain may have finally departed and there are not so many white caps out on the water today. We had breakfast overlooking the ocean which is always so special. We then decided to check out the car and trailer since our very wet trip up! I have spent most of the morning drying out money (gives laundering money a whole new meaning)! The safe that we keep it all in had about 4 inches of water in it so I could literally wring out the bundles of money before towel drying it all. We also found that the bottom of the trailer had accumulated a bit of water as well, so had to sponge it all out. I know it is hard to imagine, but the rain was seriously so hard and heavy that I am surprised that the car and trailer are not completely flooded. We have just had lunch and now Martin has gone to check that the battery compartment in the trailer is not flooded as well. We have once again ordered our dinner in advance and are looking forward to this evening’s meal. The quality of seafood and fish is absolutely fabulous out here and Martin is in his element, while I am definitely taking advantage of all the fish! We are hoping to organize a mangrove walk at some stage which sounds like good fun, as well as some diving and fishing. For the most part we are relaxing and enjoying Tofo which is a fabulous relaxed, friendly little town.
Okay I will once again try and upload some photos for you all. Take care love and hugs to all xxx
We had dinner at Casa de Comer which was lovely, there is an elderly French lady staying at Baia Sonambula as well so she joined us for dinner as she didn’t want to walk around after dark on her own.
24 May We woke up to a lovely morning, it seems as the rain may have finally departed and there are not so many white caps out on the water today. We had breakfast overlooking the ocean which is always so special. We then decided to check out the car and trailer since our very wet trip up! I have spent most of the morning drying out money (gives laundering money a whole new meaning)! The safe that we keep it all in had about 4 inches of water in it so I could literally wring out the bundles of money before towel drying it all. We also found that the bottom of the trailer had accumulated a bit of water as well, so had to sponge it all out. I know it is hard to imagine, but the rain was seriously so hard and heavy that I am surprised that the car and trailer are not completely flooded. We have just had lunch and now Martin has gone to check that the battery compartment in the trailer is not flooded as well. We have once again ordered our dinner in advance and are looking forward to this evening’s meal. The quality of seafood and fish is absolutely fabulous out here and Martin is in his element, while I am definitely taking advantage of all the fish! We are hoping to organize a mangrove walk at some stage which sounds like good fun, as well as some diving and fishing. For the most part we are relaxing and enjoying Tofo which is a fabulous relaxed, friendly little town.
Okay I will once again try and upload some photos for you all. Take care love and hugs to all xxx
Sunday, 23 May 2010
11 May Well we had a lovely relaxing morning, I managed to get some washing done and Martin had a wee nap! We went off for a game drive around 3pm and had a lovely time. The scenery once again up here is different again and there seems to be a lot of elephants around which is really cool.
12 May Up quite early this morning as we are making our way to the Giriyono border into Mozambique. Had a lovely drive through to the border and then crossed into Mozambique. They would only issue one month visas here so will have to try and get an extension once we get to Maputo. Driving through Limpopo National Park there is lots of evidence of elephants although we didn’t actually see any. We saw impala, steenbok and zebra. The road goes from good to slightly bad and we decided to stay at Campismo Aguia Pesqueria (Fish Eagle Camp) which was beautiful – stunning views over the lake which is made up from Massingir Dam. The birdlife around here is amazing and the sunset beautiful.
13-15 May We drove through to Xai Xai (pronounced Shy Shy) where we will stay until Kerry arrives back from his boat adventure. Kerry Butler is a good friend also from NZ who has been living and working here in Maputo for around 15-20 years I think. He has a company called Mozaic Travel which obviously deals with travel throughout mostly Mozambique, but also SA. We arrived at Xai Xai beach and tried to find a nice place to camp, but it seems that most of the places are now very run down so we opted for the Xai Xai Caravan and Camp which seemed to be the easiest to access. A young boy called Jack helped us choose a site (with power, although the power stopped that evening) and set up camp. He then went home to bring his curios for us to see, so we bought a fridge magnet and ashtray. There seemed to be an abundance of stray starving dogs around who all wanted to protect us! There were two in particular whom I decided to feed whilst there – very skinny and sad and I hate to see animals suffer. We ended up staying 3 nights here in Xai Xai and on our last night we had heard about a good place to eat from a missionary called Mike. It was at a SA run place further along the beach road called Chongoene Holiday Resort and the food was great. We also found a lovely bakery in Xai Xai town and a good market; there are also plenty of ATM’s and good fuel stations. We rang Kerry on Saturday evening and he arrived back home in Maputo on Friday so we will make our way there tomorrow.
16-19 May We got directions from Kerry on Sunday morning and started to make our way to his place at Costa da Sol. We also put Costa da Sol into the navigation system and it took us through the back way to his place instead; which Kerry informed us is the quicker of the two ways anyway. We arrived at out 2pm so had some lunch and a great catch up with him. He cooked prawns on the braai for dinner which Martin loved and I had boerwors instead. After talking with Kerry about where we should go and what we should do whilst in Mozambique, we decided to get him to make up an itinerary for us. It is a fantastic trip and is about 56 days. We had a fabulous time at Kerry’s place; had a dinner out at Zambi one night; I cooked dinner one night and then Kerry cooked up some beautiful beef on the braai one night. We also heard all about his dhow trip which he had just done from way up north towards Pemba, just south from Fernao Veloso and he jumped off at Quelimane and flew back. Sounded great fun, but also quite hard work as well, especially with all the little problems they encountered along the way.
20 May Today starts our big adventure through some of Mozambique and I didn’t want to miss the opportunity of doing a little fishing along the way. I haven’t done any fishing since I left New Zealand so first thing in the morning we went off to GAME to big some rods and reels. We managed to find a couple of good rods and reels and other bits and pieces to get us started all with Kerry’s help who is an avid fisherman. We got to the check out also with some adapters for Mozambique as well and then the fun began! Firstly she kept telling me my card would not work, so I was trying to explain it was a chip and pin so she needed to put it in the machine differently; it is all so much hard work if they don’t speak English and I don’t speak Portuguese, but we got there in the end. Then Kerry had got a gaff for fishing which didn’t have a bar code on it so they were saying he couldn’t buy it, he told them it was on the shelf and therefore for sale so find the price now. Finally we got that all sorted and then one lay took one of our adapters and took off somewhere else in the store. We asked the other lady where she was as we wanted to leave and we had paid for it – we finally found her and got our adapter back, but have no idea what it was all about – AWA (Africa Wins Again)!
We got back to the house said our goodbyes and proceeded north towards Xai Xai again. We managed to get out the back way again, although at one stage Martin said this is wrong I’m going to turn around, but I said keep going as I trusted Kerry directions, we duly got to the tarmac road and were on our way. About 45kms north of Xai Xai we had our turnoff to the sand road (11kms) to Nascer do Sol which was right on the coast. We had a self catering chalet which was set above the restaurant overlooking the ocean – the view was amazing. We decided to eat in the restaurant the first night as all of our meat was frozen. We had a lovely meal and then an early night. Martin had to sleep in the lounge as the double bed had an end on it which made it tiny and he couldn’t lie flat.
21 May Got up and had breakfast and then went for a walk along the beach. It had been raining through the night and still looked threatening, but was a lovely walk. I decided to get out the rod and reel and try my luck at fishing. I found a guy who would show me where to fish, got me bait and also show me how to use my new toy. I had never used a reel like the one we got, but unfortunately neither had he. We went along the beach and he baited the hook and then cast, bang we got a fish – cool this is going to be great fun. I had a go at casting and apart from not casting as far as he had but did okay, got a wee bit of a birds nest, but all okay. Then I got a bite, but didn’t manage to get the fish. He then rebaited the hook and tried casting again, well he got a hell of a birds nest and then after an hour of putting it right cast again and you guessed it another bird’s nest! He put things right for me and said Mrs you try. So I cast and got it near perfect each time and caught another fish. I think he was a little put out that I could cast without messing up the reel so he kept trying and kept getting birds’ nests galore. Nevermind I was very excited about the two fish and was looking forward to fishing my way through Mozambique. As so happens with fishing, sea air and all I was knackered that night and we had a braai then went to bed.
22 May Today we are meant to be doing a couple of exploring days. Up just outside Quissico there is a 4x4 bush camp which Kerry told us to go and explore and camp there, so we started off and about half an hour to an hour into the journey the heavens opened up and the rain came down. If you have never experienced a tropical down pour it is hard to appreciate how much water falls so quickly. It turns roads into rivers and puddles into lakes at the blink of an eye! It was at this point we quickly realized our car leaks like a sieve! Not good. I was sitting in the passenger seat with my good thick waterproof from UK over me and still getting really wet. It started in one place and then spread throughout the car, although the driver’s seat managed to keep very dry. We got to our turnoff and made our way about 11kms through the coconut plantations over the bridge across the lagoon and to the campsite which appeared to be deserted. There was no way we could have made it on the road to the beach bar so we made the decision to turn around and go back to the main road and carry on to Tofo which was our next port of call. Well by this time the roads were definitely rivers and at least 6-8 inches deep, but in places up to a foot or more. It also meant that the edges of the road as it was sand was collapsing along the way and it seemed like the road was 6 inches lower than when we came in. At one stage a small truck (Tata) fill with people on the back came the other way and refused to back up. It was easier for him than us with a big trailer, but the guy obviously couldn’t drive properly and so after a lot of shouting on my part and getting even wetter (how is that possible) we eventually backed up and pulled over for him to pass us. At this stage there was 3 vehicles one way and 2 the other. We were scared that he was going to slip into us as he was a terrible, but with some good luck we managed to get by unscathed.
At this stage wet and cold and definitely with humour failure I just wanted to get somewhere dry with a hot shower. We drove onto Inhambane sometimes having to pull off the road as the rain was so hard you couldn’t see the road let alone anything crossing it or coming the other way. We phoned Kerry who informed us that it was a lovely sunny day there in Maputo and asked him to see if we could book into Baia Sonambula 2 days early. We found an ATM in Inhambane and made our way out towards Tofo. Kerry phoned back to say that it was fine and we made our way towards a lovely hot shower. Got a little lost in Tofo as we couldn’t find any signs for our accommodation, so phoned them and got directions. We finally arrived and unpacked in the rain to our lovely room. Martin went to turn the car around and got the trailer stuck so after a little encouragement and having to drive onto the beach we had it back in the parking spot ready for our 6 nights in Tofo. Hopefully the rain will stop so that we can get some diving and fishing done. Had a lovely shower and then went across the road to Casa Barry for dinner. We arrived at half time of the Bull v’s Crusaders game which we lost (boo hoo) and then also watched the Waratahs v’s Stormers game as well. A lovely meal and great game and then back for a well deserved sleep.
23 May Got up and had a lovely breakfast up on the balcony overlooking the ocean which was great. We met a South African couple who had been travelling since December up to Egypt and back. Very interesting hearing their tales and stories. It is not such a nice day again although the rain is not as heavy and very intermittent today. We went to the dive shop to ask about any advance weather reports and it seems that Wednesday the weather should improve – so hopefully we will get some diving done. We had a walk around town to find out where the best eating places are and ordered our dinner in advance so that you don’t have to wait for hours when you get there. We also had the best sandwiches in town at an internet café. We have just been watching from our verandah a family take their goat (yes I said goat) for a walk along the beach!
The roads out here so far have been shocking, especially from Xai Xai north which is the main road (highway) north. It was sand or should I say mud for around 60-80 kms and you really have to watch out for the buses and trucks as they don't move for anyone! Quite an experience and scary at times!
I will try and upload some photos, but are not holding out much hope.
Love, hugs and kisses to all xxx
12 May Up quite early this morning as we are making our way to the Giriyono border into Mozambique. Had a lovely drive through to the border and then crossed into Mozambique. They would only issue one month visas here so will have to try and get an extension once we get to Maputo. Driving through Limpopo National Park there is lots of evidence of elephants although we didn’t actually see any. We saw impala, steenbok and zebra. The road goes from good to slightly bad and we decided to stay at Campismo Aguia Pesqueria (Fish Eagle Camp) which was beautiful – stunning views over the lake which is made up from Massingir Dam. The birdlife around here is amazing and the sunset beautiful.
13-15 May We drove through to Xai Xai (pronounced Shy Shy) where we will stay until Kerry arrives back from his boat adventure. Kerry Butler is a good friend also from NZ who has been living and working here in Maputo for around 15-20 years I think. He has a company called Mozaic Travel which obviously deals with travel throughout mostly Mozambique, but also SA. We arrived at Xai Xai beach and tried to find a nice place to camp, but it seems that most of the places are now very run down so we opted for the Xai Xai Caravan and Camp which seemed to be the easiest to access. A young boy called Jack helped us choose a site (with power, although the power stopped that evening) and set up camp. He then went home to bring his curios for us to see, so we bought a fridge magnet and ashtray. There seemed to be an abundance of stray starving dogs around who all wanted to protect us! There were two in particular whom I decided to feed whilst there – very skinny and sad and I hate to see animals suffer. We ended up staying 3 nights here in Xai Xai and on our last night we had heard about a good place to eat from a missionary called Mike. It was at a SA run place further along the beach road called Chongoene Holiday Resort and the food was great. We also found a lovely bakery in Xai Xai town and a good market; there are also plenty of ATM’s and good fuel stations. We rang Kerry on Saturday evening and he arrived back home in Maputo on Friday so we will make our way there tomorrow.
16-19 May We got directions from Kerry on Sunday morning and started to make our way to his place at Costa da Sol. We also put Costa da Sol into the navigation system and it took us through the back way to his place instead; which Kerry informed us is the quicker of the two ways anyway. We arrived at out 2pm so had some lunch and a great catch up with him. He cooked prawns on the braai for dinner which Martin loved and I had boerwors instead. After talking with Kerry about where we should go and what we should do whilst in Mozambique, we decided to get him to make up an itinerary for us. It is a fantastic trip and is about 56 days. We had a fabulous time at Kerry’s place; had a dinner out at Zambi one night; I cooked dinner one night and then Kerry cooked up some beautiful beef on the braai one night. We also heard all about his dhow trip which he had just done from way up north towards Pemba, just south from Fernao Veloso and he jumped off at Quelimane and flew back. Sounded great fun, but also quite hard work as well, especially with all the little problems they encountered along the way.
20 May Today starts our big adventure through some of Mozambique and I didn’t want to miss the opportunity of doing a little fishing along the way. I haven’t done any fishing since I left New Zealand so first thing in the morning we went off to GAME to big some rods and reels. We managed to find a couple of good rods and reels and other bits and pieces to get us started all with Kerry’s help who is an avid fisherman. We got to the check out also with some adapters for Mozambique as well and then the fun began! Firstly she kept telling me my card would not work, so I was trying to explain it was a chip and pin so she needed to put it in the machine differently; it is all so much hard work if they don’t speak English and I don’t speak Portuguese, but we got there in the end. Then Kerry had got a gaff for fishing which didn’t have a bar code on it so they were saying he couldn’t buy it, he told them it was on the shelf and therefore for sale so find the price now. Finally we got that all sorted and then one lay took one of our adapters and took off somewhere else in the store. We asked the other lady where she was as we wanted to leave and we had paid for it – we finally found her and got our adapter back, but have no idea what it was all about – AWA (Africa Wins Again)!
We got back to the house said our goodbyes and proceeded north towards Xai Xai again. We managed to get out the back way again, although at one stage Martin said this is wrong I’m going to turn around, but I said keep going as I trusted Kerry directions, we duly got to the tarmac road and were on our way. About 45kms north of Xai Xai we had our turnoff to the sand road (11kms) to Nascer do Sol which was right on the coast. We had a self catering chalet which was set above the restaurant overlooking the ocean – the view was amazing. We decided to eat in the restaurant the first night as all of our meat was frozen. We had a lovely meal and then an early night. Martin had to sleep in the lounge as the double bed had an end on it which made it tiny and he couldn’t lie flat.
21 May Got up and had breakfast and then went for a walk along the beach. It had been raining through the night and still looked threatening, but was a lovely walk. I decided to get out the rod and reel and try my luck at fishing. I found a guy who would show me where to fish, got me bait and also show me how to use my new toy. I had never used a reel like the one we got, but unfortunately neither had he. We went along the beach and he baited the hook and then cast, bang we got a fish – cool this is going to be great fun. I had a go at casting and apart from not casting as far as he had but did okay, got a wee bit of a birds nest, but all okay. Then I got a bite, but didn’t manage to get the fish. He then rebaited the hook and tried casting again, well he got a hell of a birds nest and then after an hour of putting it right cast again and you guessed it another bird’s nest! He put things right for me and said Mrs you try. So I cast and got it near perfect each time and caught another fish. I think he was a little put out that I could cast without messing up the reel so he kept trying and kept getting birds’ nests galore. Nevermind I was very excited about the two fish and was looking forward to fishing my way through Mozambique. As so happens with fishing, sea air and all I was knackered that night and we had a braai then went to bed.
22 May Today we are meant to be doing a couple of exploring days. Up just outside Quissico there is a 4x4 bush camp which Kerry told us to go and explore and camp there, so we started off and about half an hour to an hour into the journey the heavens opened up and the rain came down. If you have never experienced a tropical down pour it is hard to appreciate how much water falls so quickly. It turns roads into rivers and puddles into lakes at the blink of an eye! It was at this point we quickly realized our car leaks like a sieve! Not good. I was sitting in the passenger seat with my good thick waterproof from UK over me and still getting really wet. It started in one place and then spread throughout the car, although the driver’s seat managed to keep very dry. We got to our turnoff and made our way about 11kms through the coconut plantations over the bridge across the lagoon and to the campsite which appeared to be deserted. There was no way we could have made it on the road to the beach bar so we made the decision to turn around and go back to the main road and carry on to Tofo which was our next port of call. Well by this time the roads were definitely rivers and at least 6-8 inches deep, but in places up to a foot or more. It also meant that the edges of the road as it was sand was collapsing along the way and it seemed like the road was 6 inches lower than when we came in. At one stage a small truck (Tata) fill with people on the back came the other way and refused to back up. It was easier for him than us with a big trailer, but the guy obviously couldn’t drive properly and so after a lot of shouting on my part and getting even wetter (how is that possible) we eventually backed up and pulled over for him to pass us. At this stage there was 3 vehicles one way and 2 the other. We were scared that he was going to slip into us as he was a terrible, but with some good luck we managed to get by unscathed.
At this stage wet and cold and definitely with humour failure I just wanted to get somewhere dry with a hot shower. We drove onto Inhambane sometimes having to pull off the road as the rain was so hard you couldn’t see the road let alone anything crossing it or coming the other way. We phoned Kerry who informed us that it was a lovely sunny day there in Maputo and asked him to see if we could book into Baia Sonambula 2 days early. We found an ATM in Inhambane and made our way out towards Tofo. Kerry phoned back to say that it was fine and we made our way towards a lovely hot shower. Got a little lost in Tofo as we couldn’t find any signs for our accommodation, so phoned them and got directions. We finally arrived and unpacked in the rain to our lovely room. Martin went to turn the car around and got the trailer stuck so after a little encouragement and having to drive onto the beach we had it back in the parking spot ready for our 6 nights in Tofo. Hopefully the rain will stop so that we can get some diving and fishing done. Had a lovely shower and then went across the road to Casa Barry for dinner. We arrived at half time of the Bull v’s Crusaders game which we lost (boo hoo) and then also watched the Waratahs v’s Stormers game as well. A lovely meal and great game and then back for a well deserved sleep.
23 May Got up and had a lovely breakfast up on the balcony overlooking the ocean which was great. We met a South African couple who had been travelling since December up to Egypt and back. Very interesting hearing their tales and stories. It is not such a nice day again although the rain is not as heavy and very intermittent today. We went to the dive shop to ask about any advance weather reports and it seems that Wednesday the weather should improve – so hopefully we will get some diving done. We had a walk around town to find out where the best eating places are and ordered our dinner in advance so that you don’t have to wait for hours when you get there. We also had the best sandwiches in town at an internet café. We have just been watching from our verandah a family take their goat (yes I said goat) for a walk along the beach!
The roads out here so far have been shocking, especially from Xai Xai north which is the main road (highway) north. It was sand or should I say mud for around 60-80 kms and you really have to watch out for the buses and trucks as they don't move for anyone! Quite an experience and scary at times!
I will try and upload some photos, but are not holding out much hope.
Love, hugs and kisses to all xxx
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