Mozambique Island Escape: Bazaruto

January 8, 2015

Bazaruto Archipelago as seen from the air.

Our trip to Mozambique was not really a trip to explore Mozambique. Sounds strange, I know, but it's important to clarify that while most of our trips are about seeing and doing as much as we can to really get to know the people and the place we're visiting, this trip was entirely the opposite: it was about doing nothing. You'll notice from the date at the top of this post that we did this trip shortly after our Madagascar trip. In fact, we left four days after returning from Madagascar. Why? Well, early January is a very quiet time work-wise in South Africa, and before we left for Madagascar we were planning out our trips for the coming year and realized if we didn't do it now, we likely wouldn't be able to fit it in. Also, Canadians are required to obtain visas in advance in order to visit Mozambique, and you're required to already have your accommodations booked when you apply for the visa. So, it isn't really a place we could decide to go last minute.

The Bazaruto Archipelago consists of five islands, with most of the archipelago protected as the Bazaruto National Park. The islands are off the coast of the middle-southern part of mainland Mozambique, and are known for their turquoise waters, great snorkelling, and untouched beauty. We stayed at the Pestana Bazaruto Lodge on Bazaruto Island, as it looked to provide the main things we were looking for: an easy flight from Joburg (to the mainland city of Vilankulos) and a small resort with accommodations right on the beach.

As with most things, there were a few surprises. What we didn't realize at the time of booking was that the only way to get to the island is via private charter plane (yes, some research would have avoided this...hindsight is 20/20...). We looked into every possible way around this, but alas, there really were no other options. Turns out, Trip Advisor is peppered with comments about this for Pestana; they do not assist their guests in getting to the island, despite the fact that there is no other form of transport available (the other two resorts on the island provide transport options to their guests). Anyway, this isn't a review for the hotel per-se, but worth knowing if you ever find yourself considering a vaca off the coast of Mozambique in the stunning archipelago of Bazaruto.

This was one of those situations where I'm actually glad I didn't know about the transportation "challenges" before booking, as it likely would have dissuaded me from booking. This would have been a real shame, because in the end (despite having to close my eyes and hand over our credit card in order to get us there), it was a breathtaking island that I am so glad we were able to experience.

View of the sand bars in the archipelago from our flight to Bazaruto Island.

Stunning seas.

Island shores.

The tip of Bazaruto Island.

Dolphin Bay- a 20 minute walk up the beach from the resort.

January is considered to be the rainiest month in Mozambique, so we were a bit skeptical about the weather. On our first afternoon the sun was shining through a few moody clouds, so we beelined for Dolphin Bay to squeeze in some beach time just in case the rain decided to take over the remainder of our trip. In the end, we only had a few cloudy periods and one windy morning during our stay. We were very happy about this.

In front of our little A-frame hut, on the way to breakfast.

Our lil' hut.

View of our beach at low tide.

Pestana Bazaruto.

Being deserted on the beach- a 4x4 dropped us off at the northern part of the island and left us to explore the coral gardens in the ocean.

 classic beach shot. Had to.

Happy snorkeler in Mozambique.

Shallow warm waters.

It's hard to be original when you're a palm-tree-lined cove, but really, there is no need for originality when you're this gorgeous.

Dinner. A fisherman disembarked the dowh that was about to take us out for a sunset boat ride, armed with a fresh catch.  

 Sunset dowh cruise.

View of the resort and the local lighthouse from our evening boat ride.

Skipper.

Dowh.

Beach braai.

One of these things is not like the others...(for interest's sake, I'm told that the 2M was the winner of the Mozambican beers that M sampled).

While I generally prefer the ocean to a pool, this was a pretty hard pool to pass up. 

This was a pretty standard view for us over the course of our trip: M swimming, while I read my book. Happiness.