Ponta d'Ouro

Back to back road trips. Weekend after Inhambane, went down to the very southeastern tip of Mozambique to a place called Ponta d'Ouro. Five of us volunteer consultants from the Maputo Technoserve office plus one from the Joburg office rented a couple cars and did the 3.5 - 4.5 hour drive last Friday to meet four additional people coming from the Swaziland office. We had hoped to get real 4x4s because the road to Ponta gets really sandy closer to the town, but all they had were these Mitsubishi Pajero Juniors. Emphasis on Juniors. They did technically have 4 wheel drive, but their engines and clearance were closer to that of a golf cart than an F-150 I think it's fair to say. Not surprisingly we got stuck in the sand a number of times, having to get passersby to help push and one time to tow us out. Soon we realized the key to driving in sand is to just keep moving or else your tires sink in. This pretty much worked, but basically meant we had to drive at high speed often over 2 feet high bumps and swells in the road. Have to say, though, once I got used to it, it was pretty fun. I felt like a rally car driver. My passengers probably had a slightly less fun experience.

Once we got there, I think we all felt the beach and surroundings of Ponta lived up to the billing. Great beaches, good diving and dolphins about in the water, beautiful roadside scenery coming into and leaving town. It's typically a popular holiday destination for South Africans because it's so near the border, but when we were there it was thankfully not too overrun. We also rented a 10-person house for our group, definitely the way to do it.

Alright...last post for a while. Headed back up to Pemba and the Quirimbas to see my client again and to start getting a little more concrete on the development plan for his concession. This time around, I'm hoping to visit the historic Ibo Island, which is next door to Quirimba. Full report in a week or so...