Around Vilanculos

The Road Chose Me Volume 2 OUT NOW!!
The Road Chose Me Volume 2: Three years and 54,000 miles around Africa

I roll into the sizeable town of Vilanculos and setup the Jeep in one of the many camping lodges right on the beach. Unfortunately town is on a tidal flat, so there is no surf to speak of. Town is not much to look at, so in the morning I catch a boat out to one of the many islands not far off shore, called Bazaruto. By pure luck a couple from Argentina also catch the boat, so I have a great time chatting in Spanish for the entire day. It’s close enough to Portuguese to help me remember a lot of stuff that has been replaced in my head with French, and it’s great to know I can still hold a decent conversation and don’t need to revert back to English for the whole day.

Local sailboat

The sand dune island

Bazaruto is a stunning island of sand, and after a delicious lunch we head out to the reef for snorkeling.

The map for where to snorkle

There are all kinds of fish and coral, and someone else even spots a turtle (I didn’t see it). Unfortunately the weather closes in and the tide steadily increases until it’s difficult to swim even with fins. After a quick stop at another stunning island we set out to cross the open ocean in the now formidable swell. Smashing into the waves is a lot like being on a mean roller-coaster, and I’m thoroughly soaked about two minutes into the ninety minute ride back.

The weather coming in was mean

Climbing the sand dune for a great view

I love how dunes make this pattern

I had originally planned to see a lot more of Northern Mozambique, though after surfing for so many days in Tofo I’m running out of time on my visa. Maybe I’ll have to dip back into Moz from Tanzania when I make it up that way.

Mozambique has a special beach-side vibe and super friendly people, and now I’m really excited for country number 25!

-Dan