Mozambique & Swaziland

And so into Mozambique we go.  We noticed an immediate change at the border – the language.  Portuguese is the main language spoken here.  The border crossing was relatively straight forwards, and so after much hilarity at the visa photo taken for me we continued on our way. 

We decided to go a little further than we had planned, as we were running a touch early.  And so we found what I can only describe as the weirdest place to camp ever.  It was like a cheesy holiday park that has been derelict for 30 years.  Someone did describe it (rather accurately) as a perfect setting for a horror film……

Tony saving Lee in the weirdest campsite ever

Welcome to the strangest camp in the world

Luckily we only stayed for one night before heading to the coast, and the lovely beach of Vilanculos.  Here many of us did boat trips to various islands off the coast – visiting the islands and also snorkelling along the beautiful reefs.

Vilanculos

Em & Ann snorkel near Bazaruto Island

Vilanculos beach life

We planned to have a seafood barbeque feast on the beach in Vilanculos.  But that didn’t work out exactly as planned…. But a few of the gang had found some great local musicians and organised for them to come along to our camp to play for us that evening instead. 

Em buying genuine Mozambican piri piri sauce at a roadside stall

Our next stop was Tofo, another beautiful beach.  It is famous for swimming and snorkelling with Whale sharks.  Sadly we didn’t see any.  But everyone enjoyed the beach, snorkelling and diving nonetheless.  And we finally got our seafood barbeque…we managed to get through around 10 kgs of prawns and calamari.

Tofo beach

Alison & Jan chilling by the beach

We carried on our journey through Mozambique before heading across another border to Swaziland.

Our first stop was the Shewula Mountain camp.  Run by a co-operative group to help support the local community, we camped with a stunning view over the valley.  Here they made us a lovely local meal and also introduced us to the traditional way of life.

We visited the Mlilwane Wildlife Park, the oldest wildlife park in Swaziland.  There is an abundance of wildlife here, but no large predators.  As such, we were able to walk through the park and also hire mountain bikes to cycle around.

Lee was so easily replaced with a paper plate!

Sadly, our trusty truck Calypso, is not allowed to carry passengers in South Africa.  So we had to say goodbye to her in Swaziland.  It was a very sad moment of course.  But the owner of Odyssey, Pete, came along to pick up Calypso, and he made me drink lots of gin, which made saying goodbye to Calypso so much more bearable!  So goodbye Calypso and Hello Junior, our rented truck for the final couple of weeks in South Africa…..