ARRIVING at Mozambique’s Parque de Malongane Holiday Resort after our idyllic stay in the Maputo Elephant Reserve was like taking a step back in time.
Bill and I were most impressed with this holiday resort, situated near the southern Mozambique town of Ponta Malongane, when we visited it during a road trip through KwaZulu-Natal’s Maputaland and the adjoining southern Mozambique region. In spite of its vibey diving camp that attracted a trendy, adventurous young crowd, it had a delightful retro feel about it.
As well as the tented accommodation in the diving camp, it offered an assortment of quaint little chalets and rondavels and plenty of roomy, well-shaded campsites, where we set up camp.
Obviously a fairly old establishment, Parque de Malongane had probably closed, or been neglected, during the war years. While it showed its age a bit and the designs of the buildings were a little dated, it wore its years well. It was beautifully maintained, boasted mature, park-like gardens and offered excellent facilities. A little shop sold basic supplies and fresh Portuguese bread and if you didn’t feel like cooking there was a restaurant, its menu reflecting the spicy cuisine of Mozambique. There were also two bars, the rather lively one in the diving camp overlooking a beautiful stretch of shoreline.
The shady old trees and well-preserved dune vegetation provided plenty of shelter for a good selection of birds and the beaches were lovely and wild. While we were happy to relax, look at the birds, do some beach walks and enjoy the attractive natural surround, the resort also catered for more adventurous souls, offering excellent dive facilities, snorkelling, fishing and surfing. In short, it was a good holiday spot for all ages and was just the sort of place designed for an old-fashioned family holiday.
Parque de Malongane was also a good base to explore the area. This was certainly 4×4 country as most of the so-called roads in the area, even those through the nearby town of Ponta do Oura, were in fact tracks through deep sand. We found some excellent curio stalls near the resort entrance as well as assorted, somewhat wacky bush pubs.
Ponta do Oura proved to be a charmingly eccentric little town that was industriously resurrecting itself as a popular tourist destination after the long tourist drought during the war years. It was an amazingly busy little spot and it looked like all sorts of tourist and service orientated businesses were mushrooming everywhere as more and more South Africans rediscovered Mozambique.
Adding to the charm of the town were the quaint little houses, eye-catching with their vivid colour schemes, beautiful old blue and white wall tiles and ornate barley sugar-inspired architectural features. Some were derelict but many of these character-filled little abodes had been or were in the process of being restored to their former glory.
We’d formed a very favourable impression of southern Mozambique by the time we crossed the border back into South Africa and we would certainly like to pay the area another visit some time in the future. Although we enjoyed visiting Ponta do Oura we would prefer the relative peaceful and quiet of Ponta Malongane. As for the Maputo Elephant Reserve, a return visit and a more thorough exploration of this beautiful park is definitely on our to-do list.
After crossing the border we paid a day visit to Tembe Elephant Park, one of our favourite of all South Africa’s many game reserves. It is close to Ndumo Game Reserve and the two are administered by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife as a single unit. Tembe has such a wonderful wild feel about it and, with its extensive sand forest, has very unique vegetation.
It is also great for birding and offers good game viewing including glimpses of the rare suni antelope. When lions were introduced a few years ago, Tembe joined the ‘big five’ club but it is the elephants that are the real stars. Sightings of the big Tembe elephants, originally traumatised and very wary war refugees from Mozambique, are always thrilling and almost always guaranteed.
However, the reserve only offers upmarket, rather pricey accommodation so we always stay in Ndumo and do day trips to Tembe. Ndumo, often called a pocket Okavango because of its watery character, is also a place we love dearly and it was the perfect spot to end our mini holiday, particularly from a symbolic point of view.
You see, Ndumo and Tembe are both part of a grand scheme that is fast becoming a huge victory for conservation. Called the Lubombo Transfrontier Conservation and Resource Area, this scheme includes five transfrontier conservation areas in Mozambique, South Africa and Swaziland and covers about 10 000 square kilometres.
Included in the plans are the extension of isiMangaliso Wetland Park all the way to Kosi Bay to join it up with Tembe and Ndumo Game Reserves on the KwaZulu-Natal border and with Mozambique’s Maputo Elephant Reserve.
One of the exciting components of this scheme is the declaration, in 2011, of the Futi Corridor, linking Tembe and the Maputo Elephant Reserves. It is an awe-inspiring thought that the establishment of Lubombo will eventually reunite the last naturally occurring elephant populations of KwaZulu-Natal and southern Mozambique.
Historically, these embattled giants used to move freely across the border via the Futi Corridor and the Maputo floodplains. How wonderful to think that these old migratory routes are being restored.
