Beaches, Beaches, Beaches - Southern Mozambique!

After three long days travelling down from northern Mozambique, we were excited to relax at Vilankulos, the gateway to Mozambique's southern beaches.

We spent our first day taking a dhow trip across to Magaruque Island, in the Bazaruto Archipelago.  We enjoyed food cooked in the sandpit built into the dhow – tea on the way across, fish for lunch and some popcorn on the ride home.

We shared the dhow trip with the Bolognese family – a lovely couple and their two daughters from South Africa.  The following day we took a diving trip to Two Mile Reef, a protected marine sanctuary off Bazaruto Island, and were again able to enjoy the Bolognese family’s company – who were generous enough to later invite us to a great dinner out!

The diving on Two Mile Reef was quite good with wonderful visibility and we saw many devil rays, huge groupers (1.5m) as well as a number of large turtles sleeping in cavities under the reefs.  Megan was jokingly disappointed in the “lazy turtles” who had no interest in swimming around for her!

The highlight, however, would have to be the view from the top of the sand dunes on Bazaruto that we climbed after having lunch.  The dunes, which tower over the coast, provide a vantage point from which the color of the water and beauty of this archipelago can be fully appreciated!

Our final day in Vilankulos was spent wandering the markets and enjoying the bustle of this ‘boom’ town.  Mike, in need of a haircut, ducked into one of the barbers off the side of the road.

After a few hours of sleep, we rose at 12:30am to catch the 1:30am bus down the coast to Maxixe, we then caught the first ferry across to Inhambane at 6am, and enjoyed our most crowded Chapas yet from Inhambane to our final destination -Tofo.