Dec 8, 2012 - day of Relaxaztion at Massinga Beach lodge

Saturday, December 8th - day of Relaxaztion at Massinga Beach lodge Today was a day of pure relaxation...sleeping a little late, okay we still woke up at 6am, and a nice coffee on our deck. After breaks we hiked down the cliffs to the pool/lunch area to enjoy the pool and the beach. The beach was desolate with an occasional local fishing off the beach just using a solo line and no fishing rod. Large boulders dotted the beach and the waves were even higher today than yesterday reaching about 5-8ft...Marks dream come true. Although there was...

Dec 7, 2012 - Vilanculos to Massinga

Friday, December 7th - Vilanculos to Massinga It was the last morning to soak it all in prior to leaving. It was a very cloudy morning with storms out over the islands. We watched the storms rolling out to sea but never actually made it to Vilanculos. I will miss my beautiful multiple blue hues of the ocean water balcony views and my favorite balcony swing. Our driver arrived in the morning to drive us from Vilanculos to Inhabane ( Massinga Lodge). initially I had a LAM flight booked for that leg but the flight was canceled and the airline...

Dec 6, 2012 - Free Day in Vilanculos

Thursday, December 6th - Vilanculos - Free Day A crazy storm literally poured tons and tons of rain throughout the night....lightening, thunder, and periods of no electricity which meant no fans. The wind was fiercely blowing and knocking the coconut trees in front of the lodge back and forth like it was a tropical storm...we thought for sure it was going to be a rainy day spent at Casa Babi. Still rainy during our breakfast, our Dhow Sailing/snorkeling trip was canceled. It was actually a blessing in disguise because it gave us an...

Dec 5, 2012 - Snorkeling 2 Mile Reef - Bazarato Island

Wednesday, December 5th - Snorkeling 2 Mile Reef - Bazarato Island It was a great hot morning and a great day for our snorkeling trip to Bazarato Island to snorkel the archipelago of Two Mile Reef! We were taking it thru the Odeseyea Dive company (owners of our lodge). About 8 divers and 3 snorkel ears climbed on a small motorized dive boat and set out full speed ahead to Bazarato Island. It was about a 45 min ride to the island. The ride was very bumpy with large waves crashing into our tiny boat. I was hanging on for dar life on the boat...

Dec 4, 2012 - - day in Villanculous

Tuesday, dec 4- day in Villanculous Ay 3:45am I wasn't awakened to hippos or lions but rather men shouting...ha! It was the fisherman getting ready to set sail during high tide as the sun rose at 4:00am. I wanted to watch the sunrise but figured I would do it another day and rolled off to sleep in today...till 6:30! Ha! It was great getting up to see such beautiful view and the water sparkling for the morning sun. I even have fantastic views of the water and beach in the reflection of the bathroom mirror while I brush my teeth! A relaxing...

Dec 3, 2012 - Johannesburg, South Africa to Vilanculos, Mozambique

Monday, dec 3rd - Johannesburg, South Africa to Vilanculos, Mozambique Up early again but this time with a hair dryer! Yea! My pet peeve is a hotel that says they have wifi, you buy time on it, and the connection is too weak to use it....and that is what happened this morning. I had to resort to using my " intl package" I bought from AT&T that evidently does not apply to ANY of the countries I visited, my phone has been officially shut off! so, that was not a nice call to them this morning...I think its time to scrap the idea of blogging in...

Aug 1, 2012 - Day 41 Vilanculos to Chimoio - still in Mozambique

Peter is boiling water for coffee. Getting out of bed and headed for Chimoio today 470 km, we connect with the busy Beira road. Our last view of a beautiful beach sun rise here in the Lagoon. The beaches in Mozambique have been very different but all stunningly beautiful. This remains still such an under developed country. Long long drive - again after arriving in Chimoio we were surprised by Sadik's extended family and have great lunch packs for tomorrow. Early night tonight as we have a long drive over 600 KM tomrrow By Thomas

Aug 1, 2012 - Day 39 Xai Xai to Inhambane - Barra Beach Lodge

We left Xai Xai at 9 Am drove through flat landscape for about 260 to arrive at Barra Beach Resort – the first place we have been that reassembles Kenya a bit – Yes here we have the hungry sales men on the beach – all other places we have ben had been our own – but that’s over we are now sharing. We are staying in a shack type thing on the beach – not fantastic but we will survive for the night. By Thomas

Aug 1, 2012 - Day 37 Ponto Do Ouro to Maputo - Blue Sky

The weather had cleared up a bit so we had booked a dolphin tour in the morning – we all got up at 6.30 to be there for 7 AM – We got our instructions and off we went in the rocky sea up the coast about 20 km and we saw nothing – we were told that there was a nice reef and jumped in the water to see nothing and then headed back – Not much of an excursion other than a bumpy boat ride. We packed up at the house and headed for the ferry at Catembe across from Maputo – about 40 KM’s in deep sand was some kind of an experience, but we managed...

Aug 1, 2012 - Day 38 Maputo to Xai Xai Paradise Villa

Early Breakfast at Blue Anchor enabled us to reach Xai Xai so we could enjoy most of the day on the beach and what a beach as the pictures shows – We had massive waves and was thrown around in those like nothing else. The children really had a good time We stayed in a nice villa just behind the dunes and Peter had made friends with the owner so we enjoyed a nice early dinner whale watching from the restaurant deck overlooking the sea. The local owner and his friend kept the children busy teaching them how to play pool – We all had...

Aug 1, 2012 - Day 40 Inhambane to Vilanculos

We left Barra Lodge after breakfast at about 08h00am, i had been woken up at 05h45am by a door which had opened in the night and was banging in the wind!..it had been quite windy here since we arrived. The drive to Vilanculos (actually now spelt Vilankulo after independence ) was about 320kms, via Maxixe, Massinga, and we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn (for the second time on this trip but in the opposite direction!). Driving through each small village or town the speed limit was reduced from 100kph to 80 then 60..we were stopped by police...

Jul 12, 2012 - Greeting in Vilakulos- a little more than expected

I wake up to the sunrise to take pictures and catch up on my blog. There is no wifi so I will have to post them later. Hopefully. It is an incredible morning... If you were describe they best morning you have ever had, that was mine. I was in a place both physical and spiritual that I never wanted to leave. I'm outside with my coffee press and decide its time to gather my things. I walk inside, Over to my luggage and what do I see-- ANTS. Everywhere. In my clothes. Wait I have no food, how the hell? Crap. The steak. I left the steak fat...