“Bom dia! Welcome to Inhaca,” says the waiter with a broad smile as he strolls over to my table on the lawns at Pestana Inhaca Lodge. The glasses on his tray are chilled, frosting over the logo of Mozambique’s famous ‘dosh-em’ lager. Yes, an icy MacMahon seems like the perfect way to start off a steamy Inhaca afternoon.
It’s only been a few hours since I slammed the security gate in Cape Town and jetted off to Maputo. From there, it’s a fifteen-minute flight across Maputo Bay to an island getaway that’s a world away from city streets and email inboxes. Separated from the capital by forty kilometres of ocean, the skyscrapers of Maputo are just barely visible in the hazy distance as the waiter returns with menus.
I order a lunch of grilled calamari – the fishing boats bobbing out in the bay bring in a fresh catch each day – and sink back into my chair. An ‘80s soundtrack burbles softly across the lawns, while a family enjoys a game of Bingo in the corner. In more ways than one, flying into Inhaca is a welcome time warp.
While there are a number of guest lodges and self-catering camps on offer, Pestana Inhaca Lodge is the ‘grand old dame’ of the island, a homely matron offering old-school hospitality. A place where waiters wear colourful ‘Hawaii five-oh shirts’ as they deliver colourful cocktails to Gauteng families clustered around the enormous outdoor pool.
Rooms are dotted in the lush tropical gardens (watch out for falling coconuts!), a games room keeps boisterous kids happy and seating for dinner is done according to your room number each evening. And this old-school charm is precisely the draw card of the lodge. Unlike the larger Mauritian resorts that trade on their bells and whistles, here it’s about an old-school mix of sun, sea and sand.
While many families happily spend their days lazing at the pool, more active souls will find plenty to entertain them across the island. Lying off the tip of the Machangulo Peninsula, Inhaca is a microcosm of Mozambique offering everything from mangrove flats and wide-open beaches to pristine coral reefs.
Life on the island largely revolves around the sea, and the protected reefs just south of the resort are one of the best places to enjoy the underwater world. And with the hot humid weather I needed little invitation to take a dip.
Complimentary snorkel trips to the aptly named ‘Coral Gardens’ offer a happy hour or so of blowing bubbles across the reef. Broad sweeps of table coral, spiky antlers of stag horn and mysterious blue brain coral provide the perfect environment for myriad marine life. Large areas of the coast have been designated as marine reserves for over 30 years, so it’s no surprise that the coral is in such good condition.
Later that afternoon I ride the bumpy road to the small Museo de Biología Marina, the centre of marine research on the island. Scientists have been conserving and recording marine life here since the 1950s, and even the decades of civil war didn’t put much of a damper on looking after the island’s pristine coastline.
Apart from the spectacular coral Inhaca is also home to a number of turtle nesting sites, and from November to March tourists flock to the island to see the Loggerhead, Hawksbill and Leatherback hatchlings return to the sea.
The Museo itself is a quirky little spot on its own though; a musty collection of sea life forever swimming nowhere slowly in a claustrophobic sea of formaldehyde. In an adjoining room, the snakes of the island glare out at you from jars of their own, alongside offbeat displays of the creatures great and small that met their end on the island.
With its mix of coral reefs, mangrove forests and dune vegetation, Inhaca is also home to over 300 bird species, so twitchers will be happy. White-chinned petrels skim across the seas while mangrove kingfishers and crab plovers hunt on the mudflats. Across the channel to the south of the island, the peninsula of Cabo Santa Maria – officially on the mainland – is easily reached by boat and is often home to pelicans and flamingos, and offers great snorkelling.
It’s been a busy afternoon, and by the time I finally sink back into a lounger at the hotel the humidity is taking its toll. Happily the temperature eases come sunset, when the resort and island takes on a different face.
The lights of Maputo twinkle in the distance and about all you can hear is the water slapping against the hulls of fishing boats anchored on the sand. Kids play with their nets on the saffron-tinged jetty, hoping to snag an unwary Kingfish, while grey herons flap back to their roosts in the dense dune forests. Fishing nets are hauled ashore and buckets of the day’s catch are carted off to kitchens across the island.
The Lodge offers a set menu each evening, but for a little colour many guests wander off to the neighbouring village just beyond the gate. It’s here that you’ll find the laid-back Restaurant Lucas; an Inhaca institution that’s low on frills, but big on charm.
The simple menu is filled with fresh seafood, from more delicious squid to fresh crab and some of the best prawns I tasted in Mozambique. With sand underfoot and a rustic thatched roof overhead, all that’s missing is a sea view, but the local colour of the village gearing up for a Friday night’s revelry adds all the entertainment you need. I decide to skip the local dancehall though, as I have an early morning and a date with an island.
Saturday morning and the beachfront is abuzz. The ferry from Maputo – a slower, but more affordable way to reach Inhaca – is anchored in the deeper water, and smaller boats are ferrying passengers and goods ashore. Maputo residents escaping the city for the weekend, and backpackers saving a few meticals, jostle for space with bags of rice and spare car tyres. Almost everything on the island arrives by boat, and half the village turns out to meet goods and guests fresh from the city.
My boat is heading somewhere a little quieter though. The long, shallow beaches on the west coast of Inhaca aren’t ideal for swimming – the best option is about two kilometres south of the jetty – so the hotel provides a free shuttle boat over to Portuguese Island, three kilometres offshore.
Here, with perhaps just a few local fishermen for company, you can live out your Robinson Crusoe fantasies. Entirely uninhabited, the long white sands and crystal clear waters make this an ideal spot to spend the day swimming and sunbathing. Just keep an eye on the horizon for a cruise ship – Portuguese Island is a popular stop for summer cruises, when the island can get a little over-run.
Avoid the ships though and you’ll probably have the place much to yourself. Just remember to take food, water and sunscreen with you, as you’re on your own until the boat comes back to fetch you. And even when there are other day-trippers on the island, it’s not hard to find peace and quiet with just the rumble of waves on sand for company.
With the cooling sea breezes ruffling my shirt, the humidity is all but gone. The skyline of Maputo – my next destination – lies off in the haze to my right; while to the east I see the approaching prow of my ride back to Ilha de Inhaca. Before I hit the heady city streets, for one more night it’s the rustling of palm that will lull me to sleep on this laid-back island in the steam.
Need to know
Where to stay: The Pestana Inhaca Lodge is a four-star resort a few steps from the jetty, and a short drive from the airport. Visit www.pestana.com or call +258 21 305 000 for reservations.
Getting there: The Lodge can arrange for the short flight from Maputo, otherwise there are two ferry options from Maputo. The Vodacom ferry runs Thursdays to Sundays, and takes around two hours, while faster private boats are also available for charter in Maputo. Hotels in Maputo will be able to assist.
Visas: South African passport holders do not require a visa to visit Mozambique, but your passport must be valid for six months after your date of return.
First published in Indwe magazine; September 2010
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