Greg, one of our local South African guides, tells us more about one of Africa’s South Eastern paradises, which we like to call our MOa14 Mozambique and Kruger, Beach and Bush.
Recently I was privileged enough to guide my first tour in Mozambique, on the “Mozambique Beach and Bush” tour that Sunway Safaris offers. Starting the tour off we drove down from Johannesburg to Mkhuzi Game reserve down in the Kwazulu-Natal province in South Africa. There we managed to spot a mother rhino and her calf at one of the few waterholes in the reserve.
Moving on we spent three nights in Kosi bay, where we did kayaking, snorkelling and learnt the age old tradition of spear fishing with one of the local fishermen in the area. One of our clients managed to spear a fish which is quite difficult and we were treated to a great feast of a meal that evening. From Kosi Bay we moved into Swaziland where we visited Hlane National Park where we enjoyed an early morning walk looking at various birds and trees along the way. Finally the following day we entered Mozambique.
This was so exciting and unknown for myself having never been there before. The drive to Maputo the capital city was really interesting. The old Portuguese styled buildings along the road as well as people running small stalls selling fruit and vegetables. Once into Maputo we were in a different world. A little chaotic but a really great experience with motorcyclists riding past not wearing helmets and busses and taxis loaded to absolute capacity, it was a true example of a bustling African city.
We visited the massive central market in town where we found people selling various fruits, vegetables, fish, breads and other things such as shoes and clothing. Moving on from Maputo we had a long but beautiful drive north to the town of Inhambane.
Here we stayed 3 nights just outside the town at a lodge situated right on the beach front. Over the two days, our clients did various activities such as the ocean safari, where they got to snorkel on the reef as well as view the hump back whales from as little as 20 meters from their boat. Other activities they did were surfing, horse riding on the beach and wake boarding. I was fortunate enough to go scuba diving with a few clients who were doing it. Having never scuba dived before I had to do a short introduction coarse in the swimming pool where we learned the breathing techniques and just generally how to dive. After the pool it was time to take to the water where we dived down to about 10 meters to the reef to view another world of fish from lion fish, manta rays, stone fish, star fish, lobsters and many other colourful creatures. All this while about 100 meters away we could clearly hear the sound of the hump back whales for the whole 40 minutes of the dive.
The last evening we cooked up a feast of prawns and fish to go with the awesome 2 days spent on the beach and in the water. Moving from Inhambane we stayed one night at Bilene where we explored the lagoon and played football with the locals. The last two nights were then spent at Kruger National Park on game drives. There we spotted large heards of elephants, various antelope and a clan of spotted hyenas right next to the road near of camp at Letaba. All and all a spectacular tour with a real mix of beach and bush as the name states, and I hope to do it again in the near future.
