The Authentic Kruger and Mozambique Mosaic

Discover the Kruger at its best on this wonderful adventure by staying in one of the Park’s rest camps with your own guide and open safari vehicle and experience magical Mozambique and tropical seas. Mozambique is a new and upcoming destination which lies on the East coast of southern Africa, bordered by South Africa in the south west, Zimbabwe in the central west and Malawi & Southern Tanzania in the north. The 2700 km east coast is lapped gently by the warm Indian Ocean with some of the most beautiful white sandy beaches in the world, with first class diving sites and great fishing opportunities. The Mozambican people are renowned for their friendliness.

Day 1: Depart at 12h30 from Hazyview in one of our specially adapted open safari vehicles and enjoy your first game drive on the way to your rest camp, with our professional guide showing you some of the secrets of this world famous game reserve, which is the size of Wales, or Israel. We will arrive at our camp in the late afternoon and check into your bungalow in time for a sundowner drink. Your guide will cook a delicious BBQ dinner (weather permitting) and we can swap a few stories around the fire, whilst listening for the night sounds of the African bush, before going to bed for a well earned sleep.

Day 2: Your guide will wake you up early with tea and coffee for a dawn game drive departure, remember the early bird sees more game! Experience this incredible reserve from the comfort of your open game drive vehicle whilst looking for the “Big 5”and all the other exciting inhabitants of one of Africa’s premier reserves. We will stop at one of the Park’s picnic sites for a delicious outdoor breakfast (weather permitting) before continuing well fed, on the game drive. Return to the camp for lunch (own account) and a siesta. We meet again in the late afternoon for a short game drive with the opportunity of seeing an African sunset (weather permitting). Dinner tonight will be in the restaurant.

Day 3: Wake up early and start your last wonderful game drive to the Giriyondo border gate which allows entry into Mozambique. Before we tackle customs we will have a nice picnic to bid farewell to the Kruger. After the border formalities are completed we will cross into Mozambique and the Limpopo Transfrontier Park, although there is not much wildlife in this area yet, it is a very interesting drive, we go past a number of traditional villages where the local people still live close to nature, we might not spot many buffalo but the local Nguni spotted cattle are beautiful and are regarded by their owners the way we value a gold credit card, as a mobile status symbol!! It will take us about an hour and a half following winding dirt roads through the Transfrontier Park and the rural villages to Massingir Dam. We follow the road over the imposing dam wall through the small town of Massingir, where the Mozambican Park authorities are posted. We finally hit a tar road here which takes us to the coastal EN1 highway just past Xai- Xai town. Our destination is the charming seaside lodge of Zona Braza .Our rooms look onto the beautiful Indian Ocean, a walk or swim or even both will freshen us up after our 6-7 hour drive, dinner will be held in the quaint restaurant with views of the sea, enjoy some fresh sea food. Retire to bed with the beat of the Indian Ocean as your lullaby.

Day 4: Perhaps an early walk along the beautiful beach will help you to greet the day, before we meet for a delicious breakfast and then checkout. We continue our drive on the EN1 highway through small villages with their colourful roadside stalls selling cashew nuts and the famous Portuguese Peri-Peri sauce which livens up even the most boring meal with its combination of spices and chilli’s. The scenery starts to change as we head further north, we begin to see lots of swaying palm trees and occasional glimpses of the sea. Finally we turn off the EN1 towards Inhambane Town, capital of Inhambane province, we leave the tar and turn south along the long dusty “red road” which weaves its’ way past the little villages with their friendly waving children. At last we crest a palm lined dune to arrive at our quaint home for the next few days “Guiquindo Lodge”. Check into our glass fronted rooms which all have a view of the sea, enjoy the intoxicating smell of the ocean as you slowly unwind. Wander down to the small private bar for a sundowner before enjoying a traditional Bar-B-Q with the addition of some Portuguese specialties, like spicy Peri-Peri chicken. Retire to the comfort of your rooms for a well deserved sleep.

Day 5: Wake up refreshed and ready for an exciting day. After a quick breakfast we will be transported, to the boat launch site where the scuba divers among us will depart on the dive boat, this part of the coast has a number of world famous dive sites and our lead diver knows them all, the rest of us will set off for an ocean safari looking for dolphins and whales(weather permitting)if the weather is not kind to us we will take the short drive to historic Inhambane town for a tour and a visit to the traditional market to shop for curios and to look around and absorb the atmosphere of this ancient town which was once the slave market on the east coast. We’ll return to the lodge for sundowners and to freshen up and afterwards we’ll take a short drive to one of the beach restaurants for a fabulous dinner.

Day 6: We start the day with a great breakfast, after which we bid a sad farewell to our bit of paradise and hit the road south. About four hours later we arrive in Maputo, the bustling lively capital of Mozambique, once known as Lorenco Marques and during the first and second world wars, the haunt of German U boats and spies. We can still see some of the lovely old Portuguese buildings, many of which are being restored to their former glory. We will check into one of the handpicked hotels that we have selected for your comfort and convenience. Mid-afternoon we will go on a city tour which will include the Iron House and the station. Both buildings are famous because Gustav Eiffel, architect of the very famous Eiffel  Tower, helped design them! For dinner we will go a Maputo landmark, the famous Costa Do Sol restaurant which has been around since the 1900’s, the infamous lady spy of World War 1, Mata Hari, reputedly frequented this restaurant. Enjoy a night cap at our hotel before retiring for a comfortable nights sleep.

Day 7: Kick start the day with a full house breakfast and then check out. We drive for an hour to Ressano Garcia border post and finally re-enter South Africa. From the border it is an hour and a half of easy driving on a real highway to KMIA airport, which lies close to White River town. Here we bid each other a fond goodbye before you board your connecting flight for Johannesburg, Cape Town or Victoria Falls for more adventures.