Being a Travel Agent I have always had the job of
planning our family holidays, but to my absolute horror in April 2016 my
husband smugly announced this year he had everything covered and we were going
to Mozambique.... Mozambique, the
country where you get harassed by Police Officers all the time wanting bribes and
the country that is infested with Mosquito’s and you will probably end up catching
Malaria. Needless to say I was not
impressed.
Well the holiday drew nearer and my dread grew. I had been promised a house on the beach
with an en-suite bathroom and Aircon, but I was still very apprehensive as I
like my comforts so 5 Star Hotels and fancy Cruise Liners are much more my
thing. For family holidays I downgrade
to a 4 star but still make sure it has all the luxuries that I need. What was I getting myself into!
Well, the day arrived and we headed for the border post
at Komatipoort. The South African part
was fine. The Mozambique side was rather
nerve racking and I clung to my youngest child fearing he would be ripped away
from me. There were a few very pushy
runners, but once my husband had explained we knew what we were doing (which we
honestly didn’t, but you don’t want them to know that) we made our way to the
building to have our passports and our car paper stamped. All ran very smoothly and we were soon
through and on our way into Mozambique.
We took the Moambo Road which was great.
Perfect since everyone in our convoy had 4x4’s and this way we missed
all the Boxing Day Traffic into Mozambique.
Our only roadblocks on this road were 2 herds of cows that we had to
encourage to stand up and move as they had found a muddy patch on the road and
were enjoying the coolness.
Our arrival in Xai Xai brought back all my fears I had of
Mozambique. Perhaps it was just the area
where we had booked for the night but I honestly felt like I was in a war zone
with all the dilapidated buildings that surrounded us. Accommodation was very basic and would have
been fine for the night had it not been that a huge storm had hit Xai Xai on
Christmas Day and knocked out all the Electricity and Water. I was more than happy to get back on the road
the next morning, and had I been driving I would probably have headed back
towards the Border. But my darling hubby
reassured me that things would get better and I would love where we were going.
Our journey north went well and since we adhered to the
speed we did not have any encounters with the Mozambique police. 5 hours later we arrived at our destination
NGUMULA LODGE which is near Guinjata Beach and just south of Inhambane. At the entrance you need to let your tyres
down before continuing over the Dune to the lodge. Having a 4x4 is essential when staying at
Ngumula Lodge, or you’re going to do a lot of walking up and down the dune.
As we drove over the top of the Dune the view was
breathtaking. We headed down the other
side of the dune and there were 7 houses, one half way down the Dune and the
other 6 virtually on the beach. A welcome
committee was there to greet us and before we’d even had time to walk to our
home for the next 9 nights our cars were unpacked and the Manager was there
asking what local drinks we would like to order so that he could head to town
to stock up for us. Within 2 hours our
fridge was full of cold local beer as well as Murango. Tipo Tinto was a bit scarce but we were
promised some in a day or two. We were
also asked what Seafood we would like him to find for us and for what days.
So our first evening was spent chilling on our Deck,
watching the Sunset over the ocean while sipping cold Laurentina and Dois M,
and off course for the ladies some nice South African Rose Wine. A 5kg Rockcod was delivered about an hour
after our arrival and along with the fish came a staff member to descale, clean
and fillet the fish for us.
Our home for 9 nights was a beautiful Wooden Chalet with
4 Bedrooms and 3 Bathrooms. The 2 front
bedrooms had en-suite bathrooms and the 2 back bedrooms which also had ocean
views shared the 3rd bathroom.
There was a large open plan Kitchen, Dining Room and Lounge with a
sheltered patio and a small splash pool where you could cool off while enjoying
the view of the ocean. We were very glad
we had taken a Gazebo with, which we put up over the pool each morning allowing
us to enjoy the water while still being in the shade.
The house was cleaned daily and we used to call our
housekeeper our Fairy as she always seemed to appear as we had finished a meal
so that she could clean up the kitchen and wash all our dishes.
About 10 minutes drive from Ngumula Lodge you will find
Guinjata Beach which is very popular with Divers and Deep Sea Fishing and a few
minutes further you will find Paindane where they have the best snorkelling
sites around. About 30 minutes North you
will find Barra and Inhambane. There
were so many new places to explore and sites to see that we seemed to be busy
most days. Lunch was eaten at a
different restaurant each day and we would then head back to our home for our
afternoon swim in the Ocean and then a quiet Family meal while watching the
sunset as the day cooled down.
On evening Frans the Manager arrived with loads of
Crayfish. We paid 2500M (R 500.00) and 9
of us ate until we just couldn’t eat another bite.
Our Holiday at Ngumula Lodge was truly amazing and I have
decided that my hubby may just be allowed to plan another Holiday for us. We definitely have plans to return to
Ngumula Lodge again soon as this really is a place where you can recharge your
battery.
Our journey back home went well and although the Police
were very visible the only time we saw people get pulled over was when they
were caught speeding. We took Ring Road
back and the only bad part was the last 500m stretch of sand road which after
heavy rains the previous day was totally destroyed and we were very glad we had
a 4x4 to get through. Our journey from
Ngumula Lodge back to Nelspruit took us 10 hours. We have decided in future that we will
always overnight in Nelspruit and then head directly from there to Ngumula
Lodge, missing out the overnight in Xai Xai.
NGUMULA LODGE and its fabulous staff, we will definitely
be back soon.
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