I have just spent 4 days in Mozambique. My brother is building a holiday home there and needed to check up on the building process so he offered to take me with.
It took us about 9 hours to get there by car. Most of the journey was very pleasant but we traveled through a lot of small villages and encountered a large number of goats and cows in the road which we had to be careful of hitting. We eventually got to the South African border post near Kozi Bay. My brother had to file the relevant papers for the car so I went to get our passports stamped. Then it was a 10m walk to the Mozambique immigration counter. Both operated from small container units and we were the only ones there so it was quick and easy.
This was the last time we saw a tarred road. My brother had warned me that you needed a 4×4 vehicle and he wasn’t kidding. The town we were going to was about 18km from the border – Ponta Malongane. It took us about 40 minutes to get there – not quick on a sand track – single lane only. So you have to watch out for oncoming traffic (not that there is much) as one of you then has to back up until you reach an impasse where one of you pulls over while the other one passes.
We eventually reached what I can only describe as a cross roads – the one and only – straight on to the estate he was building in (at Ponta Malongane), right to Ponta Do Ouro or left to Ponta Mamoli.
We drove straight over the cross roads into the estate. It was absolutely beautiful. Still no tarred roads but it felt slightly more civilized than what we had just come through. We got to the house we were staying in – another holiday home belonging to a friend of my brothers. I stepped inside and was just blown away by the scenery – here are some pictures taken from the patio – it was late afternoon so the sun was behind us.
I then got the tour of the house – it was very comfortable indeed.
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| Room I was staying in |
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| My bed |
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| My bathroom |
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| Lounge |
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| Kitchen |
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| Entrance Hall |
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| Entrance Hall |
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| Dining Area |
And the best of all was that this is what I would be waking up to in the morning – picture taken sitting on my bed:
We took a quick walk to the building site (his future holiday house) – not much to show at this point so I wont show you the rest of the building site:
That night we went to Ponta Do Ouro which is about 8km away and had dinner at the local fishmonger restaurant – it was dark when we got there but I took this picture the following day
The following day my bother took me for a drive and showed me all the sights:
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| Drive down the main road ( the only road) |
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| The bank (the only bank) |
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| One of the tented units in an upmarket dive camp |
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| A curio shop – there were loads of them and they all sold the same thing – this is also what most of the shops looked like |
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| Local grocery store – there was a big one near the fishmonger restaurant but that burnt down about 18 months ago |
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| Bakery – the one and only – they sell a bread called Pao which is like a large bread roll |
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| another picture of the main road |
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| local restaurant – we had dinner there one night – you sit on the benches outside |
My brother also took me to one of the bars – apparently a famous bar called the R&R – well know for a drink called the R&R or Rum and Raspberry – they keep beer mugs filled with ice in the freezer and you are given one. They then half fill it with rum and then fill it to the top with sparberry sparletta. I managed to drink about half a mug full but as I am not a big drinker – I was already beginning to feel light headed so pushed it aside.
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| R&R Bar |
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| R&R Drink |
We took a drive to Ponta Momoli on the last day – not much there except for a very high end resort called the White Pearl. It was absolutely beautiful. They typically do not allow day visitors but we managed to pull a favor and they let us spend the afternoon at the pool.
As you can see the views are absolutely breathtaking.
Food supplies are limited – there is nowhere to buy any fresh fruit and vegetables although you can find the odd shop that sells a few potatoes or onions and if you are very lucky, a tomato. Restaurants typically serve chicken or prawns and you are lucky to have anything more than this on the menu.
All in all – I had an amazing time. We spent a huge amount of time just driving around and seeing the sites. The whole region caters for dive camps and is all very rustic and minimalist. There is little or no crime, no buses or taxis, no shopping centres, no hotels (although there was a motel which I probably wouldn’t be caught dead in). The local shops like to be paid in Rands (South African currency) as the closest shopping centre to buy any decent supplies from is over the border in South Africa.
I was all just breathtaking – I managed to wind down and the only thing that could have made it better was another few days there.
