Countdown to 60..Bubbly Party No.50

Sunday 25 June..Tofo, Mozambique.. sundowners on the beach.

Moz Malawi 2023 : Part 5 : More Tofo Beach

Day 10 and 11

Saturday 24 June and Sunday 25 June

Tofo Beach is one of my favourite places. 

Another lie in and then we drove up to Mango Beach Resort for an early lunch. 

What a setting!

Such nice staff and excellent food. And we had the place to ourselves, good for us but not good for their business. We found our motto for the trip- "If you don't start drinking in the morning,  you can't drink all day!"

We watched the Curry Cup final at Sumi. Cheetahs are the new Champs!

Sunday was another lazy day. Cooking at the villa,swimming and hanging out on the beach at Casa do Tofo.

Moz Malawi 2023: Part 4 : Tofo Beach

Day 8 : Thursday 22 June

Travel to Tofo

Up at 5.00am, Rupert and Rina gave each car their padkos rations and we were on the road by 6.30am.

Just in case - but all the cars handled the beach driving without any problems today. Neil bought a "new" tyre for the caravan in Macia and we were headed North on the N1 in no time.

Sean got the Zello Walkie-Talkie app working for everyone so we were in comms all day. Our lead car, Rina and Rupert took a few for the team, getting a couple of speeding fines and then warning the rest of us. We were waved through all the road blocks and the police were always polite and friendly.

The road gets quieter the further north you
go and we made good time, arriving in Tofo Beach around 3.30pm.

We are in a rather quirky air-bnb close to the beach.  We went to Sumi, a Japanese restaurant in the heart of Tofo Beach. Better Japanese dishes than you would get in Joburg  or London, for sure!!

And the best laid back atmosphere ever.

                   Day 9 : Friday 23 June

Everyone got to sleep in a bit for a change.

After brunch we walked along the beach from Tofinho to Tofo main beach and the market.

In the afternoon, we went down to the new pub on main beach , Casa na Praia.

Classy RnRs served in fancy goblets!

(Casa Barry has closed down and become a  bit of an eyesore on the beach.)Tourist numbers are way down from pre-pandemic levels a few places are boarded up. Rupert and I went for a swim. It was one of the best sea swims ever, with such clear water and just the right waves.

Our house has a very nice downstairs living space to enjoy our evenings.

Loving being back in Tofo - one of my special places - after 4 years away.

Moz Malawi 2023 : Part 3 : Bilene

Day 6 : Tuesday 20 June

Travelling back through Maputo Special Reserve took 6 hours to do 100kms, with all the towing out of thick sand, a brunch stop and reinflating tyres before getting on the  road to Maputo.

Now we had to watch the constantly changing speed limits and deal with the multiple police road blocks along the way. 

Then our caravan tyre had a puncture and had to be changed. Then shopping and refuelling. Our group got split up in the crazy Maputo traffic but thanks to What's App we kept in touch the whole time.

Driving after dark in Mozambique, especially on the N1 is dangerous but we had no choice if we wanted to make it to Bilene. San Martinho Resort kept their kitchen and bar open for us and especially our drivers to relax and chill. By midnight our heads hit pillows and we slept like logs.

Day 7 : Wednesday 21 June

Our San Martihno Resort villa was right on the beach in Bilene and we had the morning to chill on the verandah and enjoy Hanlie's brunch.

On the awesome drive around the lagoon to Ngabanga Paradise there were more sand nightmares.

In the end, Neil and the Landcruiser saved the day. Tip -now that we have done it- stick as close to the water's edge as possible on this drive.

The journey was worth it. This campsite has grassy, shaded sites facing the water and very good bathrooms.

Sunset swimming, lots of drinks and a super dinner by Deirdre and Sean.