Maputo
We started with a night in Maputo, Mozambique's capital and a city still shaped by its Portuguese colonial past. It's leafy and relaxed, with wide avenues lined with jacaranda trees and an easy, almost Mediterranean feel. Maputo has a great dining scene. Sadly we arrived a bit too late to make the most of it, but we popped along the road to a lovely spot in a private garden serving beautiful fresh fish with an Italian twist.
Machangulo
The next morning we headed down to Maputo's port to catch a boat across the Maputo bay to the Machangulo peninsula. The crossing takes about an hour and a half, following the coast out of the city before rounding the corner of the bay to Machangulo, a beach paradise of calm, shallow water and palm-lined sand. The boat stops at a few islands along the way before dropping you right on the beach in front of Machangulo Beach Lodge. It was a pretty rough ride to begin with, but the calm when we finally reached the bay was worth every wave.
Machangulo is the last lodge on the beach. Walk round the corner and there's nothing but untouched dunes and wild coastline running off into the distance. The lodge is made up of beautiful little private villas, none of which overlook each other, so it feels wonderfully secluded. They're decorated with lovely fabrics and sea shells, and are comfy and welcoming. Ours was high up on the hill, with an incredible terrace for taking in the view, and we woke each morning to the whole ocean spread out in front of us.
You can do as much or as little as you like there. We spent a lovely morning kayaking through the mangroves to find the flamingos and pelicans. The beach at the foot of the lodge is made for running and walking, and if you follow it all the way to the far end you reach an old wreck, slowly being taken back by the sea. In between, meals are served on beautiful terraces, there are comfy chairs everywhere, and the views make it very hard to get up and do anything at all.
Tofo
From Machangulo we went back through Maputo and caught a short flight up the coast to Inhambane. A quick drive later we pulled up at Kumba Lodge, just outside Tofo. It was our final and longest stop of the trip, and the perfect place to soak up as much Mozambican beach chill as possible.
Kumba is wonderfully calm, with whitewashed lodges and a lovely dining and pool area high on the dunes overlooking the sea. Spend even a few minutes admiring the view and there's a good chance you'll spot whales offshore. At its heart is a big yoga shala with a woven roof, open to the sea, even better residents can attend the yoga sessions free of charge. Tofo town is a twenty-minute walk along the beach, and for most of that walk you have the sand to yourselves. Then suddenly you're in a busy little village full of bars, restaurants, surf schools and dive shops, with everyone padding about barefoot.
We'd really come for the diving, and spent three days out with Liquid Dive. The mornings settled into a routine we grew very fond of: a fresh breakfast at Kumba, a walk along the beach while it was still quiet, then the dive briefing with our brilliant dive leads. Getting out to sea turned out to be half the fun. The boats launch straight off the beach with the help of a tractor, you jump on and hold tight, and the skipper takes you out through the surf. It's a pretty thrilling way to start the morning, with plenty of squeals and a few white-knuckle moments.
We started on the gentler garden reefs before heading further out. This coast is famous for its ocean giants: whales, sharks and rays. On our second day, within minutes of surviving the beach launch, we came across a humpback mother and calf breaching in the deeper water just outside the bay, right beside the boat. Later that day, on the way back from our two dives, our sharp-eyed skipper spotted a shadow in the water and shouted at us to grab a snorkel and get in (but not too splashily). Right below us was a giant oceanic manta ray. We gave it a fright with our inelegant entry, but it was curious and came back for another look, rising to within a few metres of us and flipping over to give us a beady eye before slowly swimming off into the blue. It was a truly amazing experience and one I'll never forget.
Alongside that there were huge schools of fish, reefs to explore, sharks appearing out of the gloom, moray eels, rays of every kind and the constant hope of a whale shark (sadly, my whale shark curse struck again). Between dives there was fresh fruit and snacks on the boat to keep us fed and hydrated.
We headed back into Tofo town for lunch every day, where there are plenty of places serving fresh juices, generous salads and baked goods to refuel. Afternoons were slow. A sun lounger at Kumba, sometimes a yoga class. A few afternoons we had surf lessons in the bay, which is gentle enough for complete beginners. We were not naturals, but there's something very satisfying about finally standing up, and a lot of laughing before you get there.
In the evenings we either ate at Kumba, where the food leans Asian and was delicious every night, or walked into town for sushi at Sumi Bar and Kitchen. Sumi is a great spot, full of surfers, travellers, locals and the large expat community who've made Tofo their home, and after a few days it was easy to see why they stayed. We had a full moon while we were there, and the walks back along the beach afterwards, under a huge African moon and a sky full of stars, were the perfect way to end a series of very active days.
One morning we got up early for sunrise yoga in the shala. Locals and guests side by side, the light coming up over the water and the sound of the waves underneath everything. It was one of our favourite hours of the whole trip.
Back to Maputo
We finished where the beach part of the trip began, with a last night in Maputo. This time we stayed at the Polana Serena Hotel, and it was a wonderful way to end.
The Polana is one of the great symbols of Maputo's Portuguese past. It stands high on the hill looking out over the bay, and walking in feels like stepping back in time. There's real old-world glamour to the place: classic lifts, beautiful rooms, and a choice of restaurants and bars that made it very easy to linger over a final dinner and a drink. After all that dust, sand and salt water, it felt like a fitting farewell.
Looking back, it was the perfect mix for an African adventure. The wild quiet of Mana Pools, empty dunes at Machangulo, mantas and moonlit walks in Tofo, then a little glamour at the end.
If that sounds like your kind of adventure, get in touch and we'll help you plan your own.
Email Vicky@farsideafrica.com
