Trip to Mozambique

It has been a while since we wrote something on this page. Not because we did not want to, but because we did not find the time to write a story. At this moment I am sitting in our little office with a big cup of coffee and long trousers and sleeves: Autumn is showing itself her in SA.

First let’s have a look back to the month March. After receiving several guests and having a completely fully booked lodge on the 13th of March, we left early the next morning and headed for Mozambique. We entered the KNP (Kruger National Park) via the Phalaborwa gate and drove slowly all the way south to Crocodile Bridge enjoying the wildlife. Exiting KNP at 16.00 we turned on our GPS to find Marloth Park, our first stay for the night and the place where we would meet our fellow travellers.

The campsite was simple, but had a very nice view on the border of KNP. On our camp spot a green rang rover with trailer caught our eye and behind it a face with a big smile; Alwyn and his wife Lisanne. We decided to visit a local restaurant so we could learn a little bit more about each other. It turned out that they were nice people and that we all looked forward hitting the road to Mozambique.

The next morning we left early and up we went to the border post of Komatipoort. With the help of a local guy we managed to get our visa’s within an hour and off we went, heading to Xia Xia. Xia Xia is a little town on the coast of Mozambique, north of the capital city Maputo. Alwyn is a guy who likes to plan ahead, so the whole route and all the camp sites were arranged. He even bought all the food and made the whole menu for the week, from breakfast till dinner :). All we had to do was share the costs and join the trip. The road towards Xia-Xia was beautiful and we enjoyed the scenery. We did not have any problems with traffic cops (so different from our former trip to Moz in March 2008 and reached our destination when the sun was still shining. The camp site turned out to be a bit different then the pictures on the website. It was very small, run down and the toilets and showers were horrible. It turned out that everybody walking on the beach and the staff of nearby sites where using it as a public toilet. We decided to put up our tent and trailer for at least that night and discuss what to do the next morning. The men made a good fire and we enjoyed dinner and the company of a very well behaved lovely looking dog. The next morning the dog was still around waiting for us to get up. After breakfast we decided to stay one more night, use the shower and toilet at the neighbours and head for the beach to do some snorkelling. It was a sunny day and we had a really good time. Back at the camp the dog was there again behaving like he knew us for years. We met the owner and he told us he was looking for a new house for the dog. The locals were afraid of the dog en he could not guarantee the dogs safety anymore. We looked at each other and decided to give him our telephone number. We made the arrangement to fetch the dog at the other side of the boarder in Komatipoort at the end of March. Unfortunately we have not heard from that man since.

From Xia-Xia we drove down towards Maputo and took a little boat to the Isle of Maganeta. When we arrived at the island we find out that there was only one road to the camp site and that road was washed away because of the rain. Two trucks were stuck in the mud and our guys made a strategic plan how to handle the mud pool. Well, to make a very long story short: air from the tyres got released, our Chuck got stuck and Alwyn pulled us out, then Alwyn got stuck and Chuck pulled him out. During the whole operation the ladies decided to walk along the way and make pictures. Very dirty but with big smiles on their faces the men and us arrived at the camp site. It was a lovely camp site with good and clean toilets and showers, near the beach and with a swimming pool. We stayed there for 2 nights, took the same road back (which was easier because the mud dried up) and headed for Maputo to take a ferry to get us on the way to Ponta do Ouro.

The ferry should have saved us a 3 hour drive, but it turned out that that was a mistake. The ferry does not sail on time and to put all the cars, motors and passengers on board is a hell of a mission. Then when you cross the river and want to leave the Ferry it takes a while to get off. Alwyn and his wife got stuck, because there were cars already entering the ferry for the journey back, while he was still on the boat. It is a very small road where you cannot pass each other, so several cars had to reverse and it took them more then half an hour to get off. They were offcourse not happy and with all the hours we lost, their mood changed. We decided to skip staying a night at Ponto Malongane, stepped on the gas (if that is possible on a sand road with a tyre pressure less than 1,5 bar) and arrived in the dark at Ponta do Ouro. To see a smiling Patrick and Marie, surprised to see us arrive one day earlier then agreed, was great and we soon forgot about the very long hours on the road.

We had an amazing 5 days in Ponta do Ouro. We met so many interesting people, relaxed, enjoyed the beach, the food, the partying and the accommodation. We did some diving and again Mozambique showed his/her beauty. We had dives on beautiful corals, saw lots of fish, dolphins, turtles, hammer head sharks , Zambezi sharks and grey reef sharks. Pray do Ouro Sol is a great place to stay and definitely worth when going back! Alwyn and Lissanne drove back on Monday and we stayed until Wednesday. Then we went back to SA, stayed 2 nights at a camp site in Badplaas and arrived back in the Lowveld on Friday the 26th. We loaded ourselves with enough energy to welcome new guests.