We couldn’t quite put our finger on it why Gorongosa Game Reserve was so amazing, then it struck us that this game reserve, whilst offering fantastic game viewing also had a tropical feel about it. The plants and trees were fan type palm trees as well as bush, scrub, grass and waste land plus of course the veld - this is where I wish I knew more species of trees!
We camped in the staff area - which wasn’t the best if I’m honest, and didn’t give us the bush feel we wanted, but learning about the great works they are doing to protect and encourage Pangolins, it was definitely worth the diversion to visit Gorongosa. We’ve never seen a pangolin and whilst it wasn’t in the wild, Im taking comfort from the fact, it was once - just as many others had been before they were bought in for rehab to be eventually reintroduced back into the wild as soon as this wonderful little creature was fit enough. It was great to see that only one person was able to handle the
pangolins, and whilst I wanted to be that person, his assigned carer was much better placed to see this little baby through rehab and make him strong and fit again.
Being shaken alive on the highly corrugated or washboard roads into and out of Gorongosa did little to prepare us for what was up next!
The main arterial road heading North to South was so deeply potted, we could have lost our small granddaughter in some of those holes - but Andi (aided by his careful handler, Steve) pulled it together and after 8 hours
driving we’d covered 200 km - feeling dirty and exhausted! It rained as we left Gorongosa and Andi took on anew look - less shiny, more a dull grey mud look which Steve thought made him look cool, and I just got fed up of having to wipe down anything that touched our mud splattered vehicle. To give you an example, the jerry cans of diesel on the side of Andi were completely covered in mud, as if being rendered on the side of a house.
Driving on that road wasn’t easy, but as the truck drivers had a mind of their own, and being the main road North to South there were lots of truck drivers! With the road itself not being the best condition (slight understatement), it was commonplace to divert off the road and travel along the side of the road instead, it wasn’t always any better on the verge, but if an oncoming truck driver wanted your side of the road, he took it! Or worse still, he might take your side of the verge and pass you on the underside. It was a bit mind boggling, but they were bigger than us, so had right of way.
Another eye opener was the amount of livestock tied to the top of piled high vehicles. Tethered down at the head they were almost unable to move except to balance themselves on their own legs as the trucks disappeared and reappeared from the monstrous pot holes. Not a good end to their life, but it was Mozambique life.
As the day dried up and the sun shone once again, out came the children. Little entrepreneurs in the making, who shovel sand into the holes on the road then had there hands out for food or a tip, of course we obliged. As we approached an open bridge up pops this little chap who quickly kicked the sand around, then put his hand out, causing us to laugh at his cheek. He’d obviously been sleeping on the job, under the bridge in the shade, then sprung up when he heard Andi trundle along.
A quick stop over, then we reluctantly tackled that road again the next day feeling less jaded and slightly refreshed as we plot a route to our first camp, Goody Villas in Inhassaro. Now this was worth the heartache, camping on a grassed raised area just a few feet above the beaches of the Indian ocean, we went to sleep and woke up marvelling at the scene of the changing blue water crashing against the white sandy beach, in and out as the tide turns. We opted to stay here for a few days and relished each day, sleeping deeply listening to the crashing waves and the morning wake up of birds singing.
Locals bought fish and cray fish for us to devour, and we did. The local bread, pao, is a small loaf or a large bread roll, it is freshly baked daily, so definitely worth getting some of that and it did become a bit of a routine for us to walk up to the bakery along the beach for our daily doughy indulgence.
We really wanted for nothing but we had a date - Vilankulos.
Anticipating we’d need a bit of a break for ourselves, very little camera work or drone work, just some ‘us’ time, we booked a chalet in a small complex which cited as ‘giving back to the community’ - this appealed to us.
Our little hut was small and fairly basic on the kitchen front, but the local people we met were friendly and amazing. Dalton is the Manager in charge and going shopping with him was a totally different experience, he sits in the car and winds down his window, whereupon the local sellers crowd around and he points to the items he wants to buy. He loves shopping and says he tries to spread the spend around. One night he promised to show us how to make coconut rice, after we’d seen one of the guys, Tony, shin up a coconut tree and throw the young fruit down for drinks. Next thing, we’re at the market buying two live chickens and a bunch of other ingredients to make our Mozambique bbq
There was no end to Dalton’s knowledge, he’s a local man from the capital Maputo, so knows a thing or two, in fact he told us about a quieter road to go around Maputo once we headed south again… he also taught us how to cook crab, and whilst very fiddly, tasted pretty amazing, and so fresh. Dalton seemed to know everyone and where to get pretty much anything.
Having a daily dip in the sea was no hardship either. Vilankulos beach had a large expanse of water, a shallow lagoon which spread out towards the ocean and was rarely above waist height. The sunshine reflecting off the water and the water dazzling in the sunshine - a partnership made in heaven, a heaven we were enjoying.
An expensive boat trip to the local islands was a bit disappointing, with little advise given in advance. Sadly we couldn’t wander across these beautiful islands as the sand was too hot to walk on, and the islands were beautiful if not a little touristy with multiple boats pulling into the same natural harbour to pitch an awning and provide food. Locals help locals as one boat wasn’t working, we suddenly had a full boat of other tourists join us on our now overcrowded boat, They then proceeded to drink our allocation of drinks
and push in front of us, the paying guests to get in or out first - there was so little courtesy with everyone out for themselves, it didn’t create the best atmosphere. A BBQ was prepared and brought to us of fish, prawns rice and a few other dishes. Sadly they ran out of soft drinks and water! On route to Bazaruto and Benguerra islands we stopped on a drop off reef and were given the chance to do some snorkelling. The sea was rough and they kept moving the boat meaning the swimmers had to catch up with them - and to top that the coral was grey and most likely dead with very little marine life (but maybe we’ve been spoilt when we lived in Papua New Guinea and did scuba diving each weekend)- it was such a shame when the glossy blue brochure promised so much and delivered very little - and cost a fortune in the process! But it had to be done and the two islands themselves were stunning - it was just the peripheral stuff that they added on, which made it not such a great trip. I’m sorry to be negative about these things, but we can only talk about what we experienced and as the trip the these beautiful islands is a thing to do, we want to be honest, based on our personal experience.
Back in Vilankulos, the local area and decent sized town provided pretty much everything, and we were so happy to find a tailor to make us three hammocks (sorry to our daughters for your spoiler present alert!) and a summer weight shift dress and matching hat for me. Salomao was good to his word and delivered them in quick time, just before we left this idyl.
Whilst we had spent about a week in our little hut by the beach, we were really ready to get in Andi and feel ‘at home again’ in our space, in our landrover.
The nice thing about camping is others tell you where they have been and meeting a couple of really friendly camping couples gave us good advise to visit and stay at Morrungulo, so that was our next destination, all the time heading south along the Indian Ocean - we weren’t quite ready to leave this warm stretch of water just yet!
A challenging path down from the hill top reception, probably a 4x4 road so Andi coped really well as he’d had plenty of practice of late! This campsite was stretched out along the oceanside in amongst tall coconut trees. Obviously we had to be careful where we camped with us having a solar panel on top of the roof, so we carefully selected a great little spot directly on to the beach. Each beachfront site had its own little grass hut shack, half open from the waist up and a concrete base, it was so nice to get the camping chairs out and just watch the world go by. We’d paid a bit extra to have an oceanside campsite but it was worth it. There was a bar and a restaurant up on the hill but once we’d done that road, we really didn’t want to venture back up again, so we again bought local fish and entertained ourselves. There wasn’t a shop nearby but luckily we stopped at a curio shop on the way in and the guy told us he’d bring us some tomatoes and a few other bits of fresh stuff - Steve paid him up front and we thought we’re not going to see him again - but faith in
humanity restored, as we did, he was true to his word and came along with a small selection of groceries. Of course we paid over the odds, but he put the effort in, so why not, we were in full holiday mode by then!
On arrival, we put our swimmers on and tested the Indian ocean once again - and guess what? It was just as good, a bit like taking the first bite of the first seasons ripe mango - oh, that aside, we were also lucky as it was mango season, so we did get that first bite mango feeling many times- too many times in my case as I ended up with Mozambique Mango belly -all self inflected of course!
As the sun sets the darkness descends, aided by the prolific tall coconut trees, so an early night to beat the mosquitoes is always a good idea as we drifted off to sleep once again being lulled by the ocean.
A quick swim before breakfast then as midday arrived, so did the locals for a weekly beach party - apparently the owner said they come every Sunday, leave shed loads of rubbish and can disturb the campers - so he employs extra security and patrols the grounds himself on a quad bike - quite noisy and not feeling as though we could enjoy the beach and sea that afternoon, we just people watched as we relaxed in our little hut.
A couples more campsites on route to South Africa before going through the Maputo Elephant Reserve, it was amazing to see these big beautiful creatures again, and we’re back into South Africa - to get back onto playing some golf!
Mozambique does have golf courses, we were told of two, but we were also told, not to bother as they weren’t great - and as the roads were testing to say the least, we weren’t so keen to take a diversion for something that didn’t sound very inviting.
Mozambique is beautiful, people come across as a bit miserable, but they don’t have much - that said they do the best charcoal - we saw pyres of stacked wood ready for making into charcoal which they sell by the roadside - its been the best charcoal so far so kudos to the locals. Roadside purchase could be made of cashew nuts, we bought a big pot in Vilankulos, mangoes - we wanted to buy a couple so I asked how much, and pointed to two - clearly a lack of understanding as we ended up buying a while pile of them - enough to fill a carry bag, no wonder I had Mozambique Mango Belly!
Mozambique is an experience we’d repeat again and again, but maybe we’d go back out of mango season next time!
Go check out our accompanying you tube video on Mozambique to bring this story alive with our real images and video.
1 comment:
Super Read loved it !!! Well done S & S lovely to read it this Sunday morning x
Post a Comment