Mozambique Experience

The group will be met at Maputo International Airport by the support crew and taken to Maputo Bay for the Dhow ride across the bay to Santa Maria.

Depending on the weather and tides, we should arrive at Santa Maria Dhow Bar by mid-afternoon for a welcome drink on the beach.

After meeting the rest of the crew, settling in to Colina Verde and familiarising ourselves with Fat Bikes, we’ll head back to the Dhow Bar for a few more 2M largers and on to Bemuje’s restaurant for our first taste of Mozambican cuisine.

Stats: 10 – 15 km, Ride time 2 – 3 hrs, Total time 5 – 7 hrs

After breakfast, our ocean guide who is an expert on the area will take the group by boat across Hell’s Gate to Inhaca Island for a morning of beach riding to explore the island, snorkelling and generally chilling on the beach.

Depending on the state of the ocean, the guide will advise when and where best to try salt water fly fishing and snorkelling.

In all probability we will have a picnic lunch on a secluded part of Santa Maria beach and drink a few 2M lagers. Hopefully this will be a fish braai of the catch of the day. The rest of the afternoon is at leisure at the magnificent Colina Verde followed by a sumptuous dinner that will be hard to beat.

Stats: 40 km, Ride time 4-5 hrs, Total time 6-7 hrs

Ambling on Inhaca was the warmup, so this is the first real day of Fatties on the beach as we head south for our first taste of Fat Bike beach touring.

We will roll along endless pristine sandy beaches punctuated by the occasional rocky point (ponta) at a gentle pace until it’s time for the first of many breaks to swim, snorkel or go at spinning in the surf under the guidance of our ocean expert.

This entire section of Maputoland has untouched dune forest along the shore forming an almost perfect belt of greenery contrasting with the white sandy beaches and blue ocean.

We should arrive at Anvil Bay, Ponta Chemucane for a late lunch and have the rest of the day to ourselves or to try out some of the many activities available at Anvil Bay.

Stats: 25 km, Ride time 3-4 hrs, Total time 4-5 hrs

There is so much to do at Anvil Bay giving each member of the group the discretion to choose what most interests them from riding further south to one of the many beach activities to ski boat fishing (too numerous to list here!).

We will take the Ocean Safari where expert marine guides will take us on an adventure where we may get to swim with wild dolphins, view migrating humpback whales and snorkel over pristine coral reefs.

Lunch on the beach is most welcome after the Ocean Safari.

Because of the unique tropical setting of the lodge and it’s barefoot policy, no doubt some of the group will just want to chill with gin & tonic in hand marvelling at the pristine environment. Lunch, after so much activity, is a casual affair at the beach bar followed by an afternoon at leisure.

If anyone wishes, we could take an afternoon drive into the Maputo Elephant Reserve in the hope of seeing some of these shy pachyderms while enjoying the raw natural beauty of the sand forests and inland lake systems.

As the sun sets it’s time for a pre-dinner drink before settling in to enjoy an excellent meal prepared by the chef who takes advantage of the fresh seafood and produce from local communities to prepare world class cuisine with a Mozambican flair.

After dinner we retire around the campfire and enjoy the light pollution free African skies where the stars shine down on us at the end of a perfect day.

Stats: 40 km, Ride time 4-5 hrs, Total time 6-7 hrs

The group will reluctantly leave Anvil Bay early to catch the tide and retrace the route back to Santa Maria enjoying the pristine beaches for the last time. We will arrive at Colina Verde for lunch which is served on the lodge deck allowing us to enjoy the awesome ocean scene.

The afternoon can be spent relaxing at Colina Verde or doing one of the many activities, hopefully the group will be keen for a last little ride around the point to the Dhow Bar for a few 2M’s. We’ll arrange to be picked up and taken back for dinner which will no doubt turn out to be a bit of a celebration of an incredible journey that will have created many memories.

Having travelled to Santa Maria by dhow, the transfer back by motorboat gives a full appreciation of the pristine area as well as the vast Maputo Bay.

Everyone will be well in time to catch their flight back to Joburg and ‘normality’ after what will have been an unparalleled breakaway that will not easily be topped.