Blogs from Vilanculos, Southern, Mozambique, Africa

A taste is all we have time for now, with barely a week left before we would fly out of southern Africa. The trip from Nelspruit to Maputo was uncomfortable, a five hour haul with our knees wedged into the back of the seat in front of us, a stranger’s shoulder pressed firmly against my own, our packs across our laps, and the smell of 16 sweaty people crammed into a minivan. Nonetheless, this travel served such an interesting lesson on how certain parts of the world work, that I wouldn’t have changed a thing. During the five hour trip, we were pulled over at five or six different police checkpoints. Though maybe these checkpoints do have some larger macro function for law enforcement, at the micro scale, they are an opportunity for the police officers ... read more

Geo: -22.6, 35.1167Magueruque est la plus petite île de l'archipel-parc national de Bazaruto. C'est aussi la plus proche de Vilanculos. Même s'il est possible de faire le tour de l'île à pied, le but de la visite, comme le montre les photos, était surtout de voir les poissons en faisant du snorkeling près de l'île... L'eau n'étant pas très claire, nous n'avons pas vu grand monde (mais quand même un peu) pendant notre présence dans l'eau. Par contre, le repas a été agrémenté par la visite de quelques dauphins venant batifoler (et accessoirement aussi manger) entre les bancs de sable, tendant à disparaître avec la montée de la marée. Les sauts hors de l'eau, par banc, des poissons poursuivis était assez impressionn... read more

Geo: -22.6, 35.1167Plages de sable blanc et eaux turquoises, Vilanculos incite au farniente et il n'est du coup pas très difficile de se reposer, mais l'endroit vaut aussi la peine d'être visité et donc quelques balades s'imposent. Première d'entre elle, une journée vers l'île-parc national de Bazaruto pour sa dune de sable blanc et pour plonger à 2 miles reef. Un endroit réputé pour cette activité et qui nous a permis de découvrir la faune sous-marine locale. Les photos sous-marines devraient venir dans quelques jours...... read more

Firstly, apologies that I have not recorded a travel blog for well over a month- life here has been amazing over the last month and a half, but also very busy! I left Baobab on the 29th September to move into a beautiful apartment near the beach, with Francisco. He has also brought over some lovely pieces of furniture- most of them made by him- and we have loved creating a temporary home here for a couple of months! I can’t believe how quickly the time is going, and that I’ll actually be back in the UK in a few weeks for my Christmas visit, before returning to Vilankulos again in January. I feel extremely lucky to have discovered this wonderful community, as well as having the stunning beach on my doorstep, and teaching here is ... read more

My next destination after Tofo was Vilankulos, about 200 km up the coast, as the crow flies. I was told that this was an easy enough journey and that it shouldn't take too long. Having been in Africa about 8 months by this stage, I really should have known that this would not be the case. Nevertheless, I had a fairly easy morning after the full moon party the night before and got the bus from Tofo to Inhambane a bit later than I had planned. I wasn't worried about this though, because from Inhambane, all I had to do was get a ferry across to Maxixe and then get a bus to Vilnkulos, which should take somewhere between 2 and 3 hours. Going north from Inhambane, it makes a lot more sense getting a ferry ... read more