Travel-Nature-Blog: Ponta do Ouro

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

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.

Food stall at Market Place - Ponta do Oura, Mozambique

Ponta do Mar Motel

Beach Restaurant - Ponta do Ouro,

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.

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.

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.

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 27^th Dec 2015 to 2^nd 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.