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Close encounters
A magical moment!You know that thought that crosses your mind when you are travelling or visiting a place and while you are there you think: So and so would love it here….. these friends would enjoy it here, next time we should invite these people, etc.
Well, we often had that thought while we were at Ponta Malongane on our own, so we have invited a few people over the years. But we all know the minute you invite others and carry on about how wonderful the place is, you are pre-empting disaster.
In 2007 we invited some dear friends, the Morris & Birch families to join us for a week, but at the end of the trip we wondered if it was a good idea, because it rained......non stop! At least, it felt that way. It was winter, but on a sub tropical to tropical coast the winters are generally mild. That year however, we must have hit a couple cold fronts straight after each other, clashing with other weather phenomena and it rained for days on end. I think the last day was probably one of our best days, with the sun peeping out. Not sure if our friends
Spectacular
There's a storm brewin' Harry! will join us on a trip again, because camping in the rain can be rather unpleasant. We were wet and cold with only a bare minimum of warm clothes, because we assured everyone that they don’t need to pack an over abundance of warm clothing – after all this is the tropics! Our tents were drenched, everything inside the tents were soaked and when the sun eventually came out we were thrilled that we could dry out a bit. On top of that our gazebo had collapsed because of the weight of all that water, causing poles to snap. Paul made a temporary repair that could last the rest of the holiday.
Each trip holds its own special moments, whether good or bad and that just adds to wonderful memories or at the very least makes interesting stories. On the whole, all our trips have been enjoyable, with just the odd moment here and there that was a bit challenging.
In 2008 we invited Dalene & Johan, my sister and brother-in-law and as a special treat Dalene could spend her birthday at Malongane. With Dalene and Johan being veteran campers, we weren’t too worried
about the weather with them. Once again we had a lovely time with no mishaps. It was great showing them around and looking at one of our favourite places through different eyes. Dalene's birthday started with us enjoying our first cup of coffee of the day on the beach, while watching the sunrise. I certainly wouldn’t object to starting my birthday like that and neither did Dalene.
In 2011 we invited other friends, Piet & Elize, who have wanted to come to Mozambique for ages. On this occasion one of the special moments were the bush babies that were so tame, but at the same time actually quite sad that a wild animal can become a nuisance because people attract them with titbits that are not part of their diet. Not that the bush babies were a nuisance and they actually scare quite easily, but monkeys can be a pest. In some places they have actually worked out how to get the food, even if it is hidden away. We always keep our food in a secure place, especially when we leave our campsite, so we try not to encourage them. They soon realise the easy pickings
when campers leave their food out for them to forage through.
After many years of doing their own thing, Jacques & Philip joined us again in 2009. It was great to have them both with us on holiday in Moz again. It brought back wonderful memories of other holidays spent together. One of the highlights of this trip was snorkelling with dolphins. What an amazing experience! We have been fortunate to snorkel with them before in Sodwana, on our way to dive, but they disappeared very quickly so we hardly had time to see them interact. This pod lingered a bit longer, so we could watch them for several minutes. Apart from me getting seasick….again!!!.... it was truly magnificent to be so close to them in their natural habitat, listening to them communicating with each other. Wish I knew what they were saying!
So, who's joining us next time?
Hope you'll enjoy the photos below and on the next few pages, as this is mainly a photo blog, because I am sure you will all get horribly bored with me telling you what a wonderful time we
Diving prep!
Paul & Rohan have every time that we have been to Ponta Malongane! Underwater photos are compliments of Jacques.
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