Inhambane

We spent 3 nights at Mango beach on just up from Tofu beach which was a really awesome quiet location. My mom arrived safe and sound although said she nearly decided not to get on the tiny plane with pilots younger than my youngest sister.
We had 2 lazy days and then headed across to Barra where we stayed in a little chalet at Barra Reef. It was right next door to Barra Lodge which is where I decided to do my Open Water One. It was the most tiring 4 days. Considering I had hardly done ANY physical exercise for probably this year it really took it out of me, then I still had to head home every night to do my theory. But I loved it. Rohan was there for my first dive which was really special. Although with all my nerves I got seriously sea sick after the dive. The wind was pumping and my stomach was not loving the motion of the ocean. The next day I was dreading my dive as I did not want to get on the boat, but this time I seemed to manage much better. The dives were just awesome. I could rattle on and on about what I saw. Lion Fish, Scorpion fish, crocodile fish, Flute Fish, Stone Fish...it was so awesome better than diving in an Aquarium. Rohan did dive with Manta Rays. There was a guy on his dives that had a camera, so check the site out for Pics and a pic of me on my first ever dive....lucky!!
While I was off trying to exhaust myself my mom explored the mangroves and generally relaxed. Besides diving, there is not really much else to do around inhambane besides go walking and lie on the beach. Unless you are of the type to bring you 4 wheelers and jet ski’s and harass the locals and tourists with no respect for anything or anyone. It is unbelievable to see. Makes you angry and how they are going to stuff the place up....
After an awesome week and loving the fact that we could unpack and stay in one place for a while we got on the Road back to SA via the Transfrontier National park into Kruger.

Gorongosa National Park

We finally arrived at gorongosa national park so find that we did not really have enough fuel to actually drive IN the park, so made the 200km round trip to Chimoio to get fuel. This town is about 100km from the Zim border and we saw plenty guys there doing their shopping. As for a place to see is was really a non event so we fuelled up and headed straight to Gorongosa.
Gorongosa is in the process of being re stocked and re developed. During the civil war it was in fact the base camp for the frilimo forces and the unsuspecting game were the main course. An American by the name of Greg Carr has injected something like $40 million to reinstating the park to its original glory as a premier African game park. The people working here are very proud of what is being done and a pleasure to talk to. The park has already employed around 1000 locals and as the park progresses this number is sure to grow.
Granted we went on a game drive and never saw any big cats but the park is still in its very early stages and where the animals are not in quarantine, they are still very shy due to previous poaching. Gorongosa has an agreement with the Kruger National Park with animal exchanges. It was really something to see a game park being rebuilt in this way and we would definitely love to head back in a few years to see the transformation.
Unfortunately due to the rain that arrived with a vengeance quite a lot of the park was closed due to the roads being flooded, so we only spent 2 nights before heading into Vilancoulos.
On arriving in Vilancoulos we drove around, I managed to get the wrath of Rohan as I thought I would park under a nice shady tree and forgot the height of the cruiser and almost manager to remove the roof rack with the trunk of the tree. Mmmm....enough said!!
We stayed at a place called Blue Water which was an amazing location on the beach away from the bussling little town and had the most awesome swimming pool just before the beach. In the next year is going to be flattened and there is a developer coming in to build a hotel. Will be interesting to see.
The next morning we took the road to Inhambane where my mom was flying in to meet us...

Northern Mozambique

Enthusiasm for the website began to wane just as we arrived at some of the most amazing beaches we have ever seen. Southern Tanzania and northern Mozambique has really been more than what we expected. White beaches with turquoise water and spectacular snorkelling. Rohan has already been for a beach entry dive and just loved it. After speaking to some divers and a doctor they all said that shallow dives on Larium/Mefliam is not a problem as long as you wait a few days after taking your tablet.
From Dar we drove to Kilwa in Southern Tanzania. Kilwa’s history is in line with that of Zanzibar as being a port dating back before the slave trade. The ruins there are something to see. Forts and palaces with a campsite for the traders. From there we drove towards to the Rovuma to Mtwara. We decided there was no real reason to spend the night and drove to the Rovula Marine Reserve and camped there for 2 nights. It was awesome. The campsite is right on the beach under the palm trees and snorkelling was amazing. First time I have seen coral like that close to the beach. The place is run by a Belgian and his wife, from the Congo. Very interesting people.
Crossing the Rovuma was quite an experience. It was only an hour’s drive from the campsite and we got there for 9 sharp as the ferry is tidal and 9 was high tide. Customs was a breeze; they were rushing us through so we could get to the ferry. Anyway we got down there and found that you basically drive down the river bank and onto the ferry. The ramp of the ferry did not sit exactly plush on the sand, so we managed to get a little stuck. In fact the chassy was pushing the ferry deeper into the Rovuma. Check the photos. Not a problem though, after 5 min of digging, and a tree trunk, the car was safely on the ferry. Then we waited about an hour as the guy realised he was out of fuel and we had to wait for another car to come to bring the diesel from the border post. Why they could not have just sent it with us is beyond me. Anyway around 10 we finally get moving and started the 45 min sail to the other side. Unbelievable how wide the river actually is. Then it was time to drive off and once again it was up and over the river bank again. This time the guys got off and at least dug a bit of a ramp. Lucky for us this time it was quick and easy. Getting to the Moz border, which we nearly drove right past as it is just a hut about 20km from the river. The guys spoke no English and would only deal with Rohan; I had to wait outside while the legalities were dealt with. It was the first border post where they searched the car. Lucky they just checked the cab and we only had to open 2 ammo boxes. Then drove through a dry river bed, which was the road out of town. Not sure why that surprised me. We spent the night at a terrible campsite called Chez Natalie at Mocimeoa da Praia. It had the basics but the shower was literally a bucket and jug. We would have been better off bush camping. Exchanging money was something of an adventure though. The bank was owned by ABSA, but only after all the paperwork was filled out and every note we wanted to exchange was photocopied and Rohan had to sign next to each note were we then sent to another teller who then checked each note under a scanner and did the exchange. This entire process took an hour. To think we usually just draw from an ATM. Crazy. And if you are wandering why we did this was because there are no ATMs before Pemba in Northern Mozambique.
From there we headed to Pangane. We stayed at a campsite at the tip of a palm lined peninsula. It is run by a local who works at a fish factory which comes in handy as they cook you the most amazing fishy meals. We spend 2 nights there, meeting 2 couples. 1 from Sweden and 1 from Zim. The zimbos were sussing out Moz, wanting to buy some land and build a lodge. We really had a great time with them. We hired a dhow and went snorkelling on a reef nearby. Again it was really amazing for me to see. They told us about a really good lodge in Nacala called Bay diving, so it became our next destination.
Bay diving was everything we expected. Really awesome campsite owned by 2 South Africans. They have established the bay as a marine reserve after some serious hard work and when you dive there you can see the benefits. It has become a nursery for so many fish. Snorkelling there is something I doubt I will see anywhere else. I felt like I was in an aquarium. Just seeing everything imaginable, I actually got the fright of my life when a huge bat fish just suddenly appeared in front me. It was here that Rohan did his dive. The wind was pumping so they just went off the beach as the bay is protected. He said it was totally amazing. This is definitely a place to I would recommend to anyone passing through. It has amazing views of the bay, the best food and great company. Sundowners on the veranda of Mary-Ann’s cottage (the chef) was just the perfect way to end a day.
Together with Mary Ann and Wouter who we met at Bay divers, we headed to Ilha da Mozambique. We had a great day wondering around the town seeing the fort and museum. In the fort is the oldest western structure in the southern hemisphere, a church. If you did not already know, Ilha is actually an island with a very long bridge that connects it with the mainland. An amazing little trip if you ever get the chance. There is only a very small channel that looked deep, but besides that you could almost walk right across at low tide. From there we drove to a dreary town called Mocuba where we spent the night before crossing the Zambezi at Caia. We got there exactly at 12 which is the exact time they stop the ferry for 2 hours to have lunch. As usual our timing was impeccable. We met a guy from Maputo while waiting it out and he recommended this place we are stayed at. By the time we got through the ferry it was 3:30 and too late to even attempt to get to Gorongosa National Park. It is in a forest about 30 min from the ferry and cheaper than our hotel room last night. They are in the process of building a bridge across the Zambezi which is ahead of schedule and due to be finished in 2009. Apparently this bridge is going to really unify Mozambique as there is a definite north south divide like they were 2 separate countries. It will be interesting to see.
From here we are heading to Gorongosa National Park towards Beira then onto Vilancoulos and Inhambane where my mom is meeting us for the week. From there we will probably head into SA via Kruger and from there is still undecided.
Till next time.....