THE INTERESTING PART: Once you crossed the SA
border (Kosi Bay) into Mozambique, the roads or should I say ‘tracks’ are made
up of bumpy soft sea sand. You find
yourself tracking over numerous sand dunes all the way. It can be very
confusing, since there are many parallel tracks as well, all winding its way
trying to find more solid ground, obviously made by those before us and the lack
of direction sign boards does not make it any easier either. Initially we were in total stitches laughing as
we bounced all the way to Ponta do Ouro, since we had to keep a certain speed
(momentum) not to get sucked into the sand…. Hysterical indeed!
Tip: A proper 4x4 is a must! We ended up helping/towing many vehicles,
soft roaders and one 4x4 that got stuck in the sand
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| Market Place - Ponta do Oura, Mozambique |
OUR DESTINATION: small rustic apartment with
the bare essentials needed for a family to survive, beautiful sea view and of
course ‘Sun Rise’. As for the night
view, it was amazing - a galaxy of stars that could leave one in awe. I could not sufficiently express my absolute
gratitude to the heavens for such a blessing.
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| Food stall at Market Place - Ponta do Oura, Mozambique |
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| Ponta do Mar Motel |
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| Beach Restaurant - Ponta do Ouro, |
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| Sun Rise at Ponta do Ouro |
PONTA DO OURO, situated in the extreme
south of Mozambique, about 130km south of Maputo (Capital) and just 15km north
of the South African border (Kosi Bay), known for its beaches, its dolphins,
off shore fishing and deep sea diving…Portuguese, inherited from the colonial period is the official
language and seem to be the most widely spoken.
Other languages are Swahili, Sena, Shangaan etc.
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| A board Ferry to Maputo |
OUR TRIP TO MAPUTO: (CAPITAL
OF MOZAMBIQUE)
Due
to the lack of tar roads between Ponta and Maputo, it took us around 3 - 4
hours to reach Catembe where we (& our 4x4) then took a Ferry across the
harbour to get to Maputo.
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| View of Maputo from Ferry |
MOST SURPRISING: the view from the Ferry – ahead was the city of
Maputo - looking all cosmopolitan, whilst leaving behind us the sandy rural
part of Mozambique.
Maputo,
clean with modern buildings and lots of new development taking place… can be
clearly seen ‘China’ is now the biggest investor. We drove around trying to view as much as we
could in the short space of time…we visited a municipal fruit & veg market
– looked similar to Durban. We also
visited the local Mall – fancy, lots of name brand shops.
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| Ponta Malongane, Mozambique |
OUR TRIP BACK TO PONTA: Adventure in the dark! New Year’s Eve
We
had to wait for about two and a half hours before we could board the Ferry
(something we didn’t plan for). As a
result once we got off at Catembe, we ended up driving back to Ponta in
darkness, since the later part of the journey / track - was with no street
lights. An adventure in the dark for
sure… especially with the many tracks to choose from and no road markings and
road signs…just sea sand in front and bush to the sides. Looked like a moonless night as well. But ‘joy and comfort’ came from looking at
the ‘sky full of stars’.
PONTO DO OURO: A beach town (which we only discovered when we got there). So when we got back from Maputo (which was after
10 pm) we were surprised to see the crowds flocking in, to celebrate New Year’s
Eve and of course to remain for New Year’s Day at Ponta’s sea shore.
The
five days (from 27th Dec 2015 to 2nd Jan 2016) we spent
here was amazing, adventurous, fun and enjoyable. The people are friendly and helpful.
What
we noticed immediately was, the ‘no litter’.
We found the place to be clean (no rubbish anywhere). Everyone seemed to work together trying not
to leave any dirt /rubbish behind, even the beach shore was left (almost) clean on New Year’s Day.
Beautiful
beaches, sun rise, starry skies, very hot days (35 degrees), windy cooler
evenings.
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Arial View - taken from Google
Please also look at our website and facebook page:
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Thank
you to the Heavens for this journey and the experience and opportunity of
spreading the love and joy…
