Category Archives: Travel

Mozam life…

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So Flamingo Bay has a sister lodge, Barra Lodge, which is just around the corner and has direct access to the beach.  There are free shuttles every hour that will take you between the two (it’s only a 10min drive) and then you can make use of all their facilities.

Me in my element… right next to a shop!

I would say Barra Lodge has a more family friendly vibe.  Flamingo Bay is for couples looking for a romantic getaway, in fact children under 12 are not allowed.  But at Barra Lodge they cater for all ages.  Just look at the pool for example, it’s like a water based playground:

Pimpin’ pool… I like…

Then you can walk right onto Barrra beach which is a beautiful stretch of seemingly untouched coastline:

And you can chill at their beach bar for a bite to eat…

And cocktails of course!

From Barra we decided to WALK to Tofo.  For some reason Bjorn had it in his head that it was only about a 30 min walk (you see he had stayed on Tofo beach once before a few years back).  So I was like yeah why not.  It sounded like some good exercise, especially with all the food we were eating and this would be a great opportunity to check out the more scenic route.  But we knew we had made a very poor choice when about an hour in a local fisherman asked us where we were heading.  When we said Tofo he said “Tofo!?!  That’s really really far.  Are you really going to walk!?!”  Hmmm…  30 min hey… yeah right…  About 3 HOURS later we finally made it to Tofo.  I was proud that I didn’t try to drown Bjorn along the way in a fit of rage… but I seriously considered it though. ;)

Things were cool again after we settled in at Fatima’s for some lunch.  It’s a popular spot for locals & tourists alike and apparently a big party spot in the evenings.

A proper beach bar with lots of African flavour.

Then the Tofo market was just around the corner.  Here we bought delicious coconut breads (so yum!) and these super sweet small bananas:

A must try. I don’t really like bananas normally, but these were really cool

Not wanting to do the crazy walk home again, we asked some locals how to get back to Barra.  For the first leg of the trip we took a combi taxi which cost next to nothing.  It was quite amazing watching them fit up to 25 people into that thing at one point – small babies and all!  Then we had to wait for a connecting taxi – which is basically a dude driving back to Barra from Inhambane after work in a bakkie.  He then slows down and people just jump on.  It’s totally informal, but it works like a charm.

He even gave us the best seats, right up front.

The next day, back at Flamingo Bay, we did a catamaran trip to Pansy Island.  Check out our slick mode of transportation:

Here’s me trying my best “I’m on a boat” pose.  If you haven’t yet checked out that clip which was featured on Saturday Night Live, go check it out on Youtube.  It’s pretty awesome.

Oooh and check out how crystal clear the water was:

Our first activity was to pick up pansy shells on so the so called Pansy Island – which isn’t really an island, it’s more like a sand heap that happens to be visible at low tide. Hehe.  But it was cool to walk around and collect these pretty shells nonetheless.  For those who don’t know, this is what they look like:

Pretty incredible huh… I love the detail, it’s so perfect.

As our “island” disappeared with the incoming tide, we headed out again, passing some fishing boats along the way…

Then we stopped in what I’m calling “starfish alley” to do some snorkeling.  The incredible thing is that there are like hundreds and hundreds of these guys all chilling in one little area.  We were really bummed that we didn’t have one of those disposable underwater cameras, cause it was truly incredible to see.  This pic I tried to take from the catamaran as we started passing over them really doesn’t do it justice at all:

But at least you can kinda see how big they are.  They are big meaty guys, about the size of your face and they come in all different colours.  So cool.

On our way back Bjorn wanted to maximise his water time, so he got them to drag him behind the catamaran with a rope (like one does of course). :)

Boys will be boys I guess…

The next day we headed out for an ocean safari.  The goal was to see & swim with whale sharks – which I was reeeaaaally hoping to do… like I was crossing all toes & fingers.  But sadly it didn’t pan out.  You basically head out on a rubber duck and spend a few hours searching the ocean.  But as you can guess, it’s very hit or miss.  We did at least get to snorkel a beautiful reef and this time round we were clever enough to get a little disposable underwater camera at the shop before hand.  We just haven’t gotten around to developing the film yet.  But once we do, I’ll do a little post on our underwater adventure.

On our 2nd last day in Mozambique we did some quad biking.  I have to note that this was my first time ever on a quad bike (or any kind of bike for that matter – other than a bicycle).  So I was a bit nervous going into it.

Ready to rock & roll. But hoping I come out of it in one piece.

After some basic instructions on how to change gears and all that, we were off:

We crossed Barra beach, checked out the lighthouse, then headed through the little villages of the area, all the way to Tofo and back.  Along the way we passed lots of kids who would stand on the side of the path with their hands out so you can high 5 them as you come past.  It was so cute.  We stopped in one of the villages and this little guy totally stole my heart:
He walked up to us like he was the mayor of that town… hand sticking out for a firm handshake, checking us out and then giving us the nod of approval to pass through.  Soooo sweet.

Along the way we also got a close up look at a cashew tree and its fruit:

See that little bit at the top – that’s the part you get the nut from.  Cool hey?  I had no clue cashew nuts actually came from a fruit.

As we took in our beautiful surroundings, I got more comfortable on the quad bike and we picked up some good speed.

To peaceful…

Everything was going really well… until… I crashed into a tree!  Haha.  I was trying to turn, battled, put a bit of extra muscle into it, then over steered, panicked, over corrected, totally forgot about the breaks and wham…  Then just 10min after that I almost went off a cliff! (but luckily my fall was blocked by another tree)  For obvious reasons we took it very slow on our way back.  Bjorn now calls me “stuntie”.  He says I crashed like a pro. :)

My body certainly didn’t feel like a pro afterward.  I was covered in scrapes and bruises with this one stretching my entire calf muscle being the most impressive out of the lot:

Boom!  I’ve been thinking about starting a twitter account for it… it’s THAT BIG.

Anyhoo, injuries aside, I had a total blast.  Our week in Mozambique was the perfect blend of relaxation and adventure.  I can highly recommend this absolutely beautiful country to anyone & everyone.  And the fact that it’s so easy to get to from SA is a total bonus, I mean Joburg people simply drive up.  Easy peasy.

I’m hoping a return trip or two will be in my future.

xxx

Livin’ it up Flamingo Bay style!

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I’m going to hijack My love affair with Cape Town for a mini love affair with Mozambique. :)   I was recently lucky enough to spend 7 nights in this beautiful location, staying at the Flamingo Bay water village which is in the Inhambane area.

Mozambique to me had a bit of a Thailand feel, but with lots of African flavour of course.  It’s an absolutely stunning place with palm trees in abundance, a flawless coastline, warm water, great food and lovely people.  I would go back in a heartbeat…

Getting there was relatively simple.  Most packages only include flights from JHB, so we did a Kulula flight from Cape Town to OR Tambo, then from there we flew with LAM (the official Mozambique airline) to Inhambane which is about a 1 hr 40 min flight.  I did have a little giggle at something I found on our e-tickets though:

Say what?!

Now I’m sure that doesn’t actually mean “keep passenger alive”, but it sure as hell looks like it! ;)   I was like, yes please – that’s way more important than any special meal needs etc. haha.

The LAM plane is a bit old school with propellers and all… not gonna lie, that made me a little nervous.  I’ve travelled with African airlines before and they can be a little bit hairy at times.  But I’m glad to report that this was a relatively smooth ride.

Bjorn very excited to have landed safe & sound…

Now you know you’ve landed in a laid-back tropical destination when your airport looks like this:

Doesn’t that immediately make you feel like sitting back and having a cocktail?

Procedures at the airport are pretty manual still, so don’t expect super speedy service.  Just chill like everybody else and you’ll be fine…  A 45min bus ride from the airport then got us to the heavenly Flamingo Bay resort, our happy home for the week.

The main lodge area is fully kitted out with a bar, dining area, free WiFi, a TV room/lounge (no TV in the water cottages) and a pool with sun loungers and all that.

A nice thing to note is that they accept all major currencies at the resort:  SA rands, US Dollars, Euros & then their local currency, Metical.  When we were there it was about 3.4 metical to the rand.

So from the main lodge you then follow the wooden walkways to get to the 20 water chalets which are built in a little half moon shape some distance away from the main lodge, deeper into the water.  Just walking down the walkway we realised we were in for something quite special…  Check it out:

Side note:  If you get lazy, there are guys with golf carts who will take you from your chalet to the main lodge and back.  Very sweet, especially when the sun starts getting too hot.

Our water chalet was everything the website had promised.  Spacious, luxurious, kitted out with aircon and mosquito nets with a little deck area with deck chairs and of course direct access to the water.  Absolutely amazing.

Now the water village is built on an estuary which means you’re not on the open sea so there are no waves to worry about.  The water level however does change during the day as you hit high & low tide.  When we were there the water level could change from around knee deep only to about 2 and a half meters deep.  At high tide it’s totaly save to even do this:

Diving from your balcony… Bjorn was in heaven, him being a total “water baby”. I preferred to take the stairs.

The water is filled with all kinds of fish, even some tropical fish, but you don’t have to worry about sharks.  The closest we came to a shark was this guy:

A little fisherman’s boat with lots of attitude. hehe.

We were there over full moon, which obviously means the highest water levels which are pretty damn impressive.  So I would say that would be a good thing to aim for if you were booking for yourselves.

Evenings involved watching the beautiful sunset:

And then heading to the main lodge for dinner, which is 4 courses baby!  You’d normally start with a soup, then an entrée, mains (they normally have a red meat option, a chicken or fish option and a vegetarian option), followed by dessert.  Oh and if you’re a big seafood fan, do inquire about their seafood platter, it’s pretty insane.

In the mornings, breakfast was served buffet style – with a good selection of fruits, cereals, baked treats and hot options.  You ate so much at breakfast and dinner that lunch just usually ended up being a small snack somewhere.

Here is a little collage I put together of some of the food we had (by now you should know that I always photograph my food.  I’m weird like that. :) ):

The food standard is excellent btw.

Oh and a cute (and also slight cheesy – not gonna lie) thing is that there are always a few tables at dinner time with special decorations, like so:

Just in case you’re celebrating an anniversary or something or you’re just in a very romantic mood.

Some evenings they also have a musician there, playing some ambiance music.  Then on Fri evenings the dinner setup changes to a buffet (so get there early) and they bring in a marimba band with some “mini” dancers:

They were so cute.

It was cool cause it creates a very festive vibe.  But food wise I preferred the 4 course set menu over the buffet.

Oh and then just when you thought this place couldn’t get any better… they also have a spa!  We went for amazing massages, the perfect thing to de-stress just before a long afternoon nap. (ah the tough life)

The treatment room I thought was very pretty. They only use Africology products at the spa, something I’ve never tried personally before, but the massage oil they used had a heavenly scent…

Total cost per person was just over R13 000.  That included the flights from JHB, airport taxes, transfers to and from the lodge and 7 nights stay including breakfast & dinner.  Only lunch & drinks were excluded.  And then of course any excursions you book through the hotel (which I’ll still tell you about).

I booked our trip through a lovely girl named Keri from Barefoot Breaks.  They specialise in “chic and intimate beach hideaways” and they certainly made sorting out this trip an absolute breeze.  I would highly recommend them if you don’t have the time to shop around for flights, etc yourself.

Best time to go?  Well apparently you should only avoid Jan – Mar, that’s their monsoon season.  The rest of the year the temperatures are pretty constant.  When we were there it was about 28/29 degrees every day which was really pleasant, not too hot.

OK, that’s it for now.  I’ll show you guys what over cool stuff we got up to in my next post.

xxx

My soul is here right now… :)

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It’s been 8 months, 28 days and about 8 hrs since the last time I was out of the country…  As I’m a bit of a restless soul, for me this is a huge problem.  I need to go somewhere exotic, I need to explore… but most importantly… I need a tan! :)

My work schedule is a bit crazy this year.  I only have a one week gap at the beginning of May and then I basically won’t be able to take leave until maybe late Sep or early Oct.  So I have to take my gap now…

With only one week available to me I don’t really want to spend a lot of time on long haul flights.  So I figured somewhere closer to home would be best.  Bjorn is always going on about how incredibly beautiful Mozambique is and how that’s his “happy place”, so I figured it sounded like the perfect get away to get back into my very own “happy place”.

During one of my Google searches on Mozambique I stumbled upon this place called Flamingo Bay which has these insanely beautiful water chalets – yes, a total rip off of those resorts in the Maldives, but at a fraction of the cost.  Check it out:

One last picture for the boys – you’re welcome.

Freakin’ amazing right!?  I’m looking into prices, availability, etc. and still shopping around to see if there’s any other options that would possibly trump this one (doubt it though), but let’s just say this is where my mind is pretty much 90% of my day at the moment.

Can you picture it… waking up, going for a swim, having a breakfast of fresh fruits, getting your tan on, back in the water, enjoying some killer prawns for lunch, afternoon nap, more swimming, more tanning, candlelit dinners, gazing at the stars…  total bliss…

Anyhoo, just felt like sharing.  Hopefully it’s helped you escape your hectic day a little too. ;)

xxx

It’s official people – Cape Town is the best!

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So I dunno if you’ve heard this already, but Cape Town has been voted the nr 1 travel destination in the world on Tripadvisor!!!  How freakin’ awesome is that!?!  Then again, they’re really just confirming what Capetonians have known all along… :)

In your face bitches!!! Mwhahahahahahaha…

Now, who makes up the rest of the top 10?  In second place (just a nice way of saying “big ass loser”) we have Sydney.  haha.  Everyone knows South Africans love making fun of Australians (just some light hearted competition) – so this is just perfect!  Then there’s:

3. Machu Picchu, Peru
4. Paris, France
5. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
6. New York city, USA
7. Rome, Italy
8. London, UK
9. Barcelona, Spain
10. Hong Kong, China

I’ve been lucky enough to already see numbers 4 – 7.  Number 3 has always been on my “must see” list, and I’m thinking Spain will be my next overseas adventure.  So I’m gonna work my way through this top 10 in no time.

This news I’m sure is also a huge dent in the egos of all those annoying Joburg people who always try and put Cape Town down by saying stupid stuff like: “so what if you guys have a bloody mountain and the ocean… we have plenty of cool stuff as well”.  Um… no, you don’t… if you did, you would be on this list… seriously… now you can just shut the hell up.  You lose. haha. :)

So why do I love this city so much?  Well for one thing, this is what I get to wake up to every single morning:

View from my lounge! Yes, you can hate me now...

Then there are the world class beaches, the amazing restaurants & night life, the awesome shopping, the beautiful winelands, and the list goes on and on and on…  It’s simply everything your heart could possibly desire, all in one spot.  This is my home.  I might flirt with other cities and countries from time to time, but I will always know where I’m truly happy.  This is where I belong…

Ciao for now. xxx