Vilankulo to Macachula & Morrungulo, November 2022

Macachula and Remote Beaches

The rain lets up. Now! We throw everything in the car and head out quick. Now begins some sections of Mozambique that we have been wondering about for many years. Whispers of secret and secluded beach paradises have dogged us ever since our first arrival in Mozambique and this time we are going to find them.

We head south and skip the turn off at Cheline. After much research it looks like there are no budget options down that road but happy to be proven incorrect. One more place to explore in the future. We continue down to Massinga and stock up on some supplies from a large supermarket with chinese script on the front. Beer, coke zero, water. We have a camping fridge and will survive as long as needed if hydrated. There is absolutely nothing happier than a traveler with a well-deserved cold drink.

Back track north and we take the turn off heading up to the Pomene national reserve. Well before the national reserve we turn off that road and head further north along a sand road. Villages and farming communities pass by. Womans’ co-operatives and a distant health clinic hopefully exemplify life in the outer regions of Mozambique.

The land is ploughed and crops are being grown. Our sand track after the rains is easy enough to navigate. The rain water has drained out quickly leaving more compact tracks and only some large puddles in places. The owner of the camp we have booked with has sent some detailed directions including the final kilometer of travel but even then we go completely off route ending up a kilometer out in someone’s private homestead.

After figuring out our mistake we backtrack and return to the directions given. To get to the campsite we have to go up and over the massive dune running along the coast line. Before the dune we engage 4×4 high range, I think it was high range, and make an easy ascent up. Down the dune is just as easy with a lot more sand but the instructions are clear on being careful about deep sand at the bottom and so we shoot over a sand-pit at the bottom of the dune in low range. That’s the Africa driving experience I’m looking for!

We have booked in to Macachula Camp in the low season and there is absolutely no-one else around except for some local villagers. Some friendly and earnest camp staff meet us and show us to our campsite for the next few days. Awesome! It’s a beach sand campsite with a small lapa, a thatched structure with minimal walls. There is a fire pit with grid and easy access showers, etc nearby. In front of the lapa is a lagoon and behind the lagoon is the Indian ocean with white lines of cresting and crumbling waves.

As soon as we have the tent up I take out my trusty hammock and stretch it between two ideal trees. The whispered tales of paradise were true and it’s all ours!

The next four nights are spent on the white sand beach doing as we wish. The rain gods have decided we deserve our place in the sun and the rain, in the rainy season, has magically disappeared so that we have blue skies in the day and clear starry night skies in the late evening. We take walks down to Pomene Bay where the waters run into mangrove swampland. Two fishermen net in the bay and Kirsty takes photos of a lone, dead and stark mangrove tree in the setting sun light.

Turns out that Macachula camp has a friendly camp dog. We give him some water and a small snack on the first day and he becomes a good friend from then on. He lies patiently by the side of our lapa during the day and night making us feel more secure in the middle of the witching hours. He gets up excitedly when we go for walks and officiously tries to direct us towards the best walks with his local knowledge. When we head in uninteresting directions he leaves to find us further up the trail. He has a habit of licking us which goes beyond most other dogs so we name him “Lick”.

We walk north on other days along the lagoon. Boarded up holiday lodges and huts lie on the west side of the lagoon. A caretaker moves around sometimes but most are easy to walk through with no-one around. In the lagoon I surprise a sting ray which flies away gracefully. We trace the lagoon and the thin estuary back in to a river and more mangrove swamps. Small shrimp and grass eels hide in and amongst fallen tree branches. At the next lagoon along we find a large starfish out of the water which we rescue and send back in to the lagoon. This lagoon is deeper and some local village kids are splashing around in it whiling the day away with a football. Three more up-market houses, chalets, sit by the side of the lagoon.

Our walk back is by the side of the dune until we come to another shallow stream. More time is whiled away as we hunt grass eel and try to learn all the colourful small fish flitting in and amongst the mangrove roots. Our camp dog, Lick, is off somewhere investigating sand crabs. He prefers the beach to the swamps.

After some research, it appears that Pomene area is known by some big operators and people do visit but only for a day or so a little further south on the other side of Pomene Bay. On a long strip of a sand bar cruise ship guests disembark for the day and swim about. The MSC cruise ships only seem to operate in high summer from December to March. I don’t know why they would specifically offer cruises in cyclone season. We’re quite impressed that our little lagoon is seen as worthy of a cruise ship day stop. We’re also impressed that we made it here on our own steam.

I’d rather be lying in a hammock looking from paradise than lying in a cruise ship’s double bed looking at paradise. Wait until you’re older I hear you say.

Morrungulo, Snorkeling & Palm Trees

Satiated, and after a good few days hammock swinging, we head away from Macachula back down through some snug and friendly Mozambican communities. People who live well off the main road of life.

A brief stop over in Massinga at the chinese supermarket for more coke zero and beer. Plus some fresh veggies from the main street stalls. Head back north a little, get the underside of the 4×4 sprayed with fresh water to minimise rust from sea salt and then head back in towards the coast.

A shorter drive than Macachula, we arrive at Morrungulo beach lodge & camping with plenty of time to spare before the sun goes down. Again! An amazing place to find! The lodge admin, restaurant and pool is at the top of the dune. You can sit on the deck by the pool staring out for hundreds of kilometers over the Indian Ocean. Down below the dune is the campsite and cottages. Our campsite comes with a lapa plus electric plug. We don’t choose the beach sites as they’re more expensive and our site is plush grass with palm trees all around.

We get a serious talking to from the manager on the dangers of falling coconuts and some info from him on the local snorkeling. Then, left to our own devices. It is low-season (November) and tourism is still covid hit. Only one other site is occupied.

I’m surprised to see Peri-Peri divers up the road from us until I realise this is the place they go to for the boat safari and wild-side diving. A little further south, we normally use Tofo Scuba or Guinjata dive centre for our dives but Peri-Peri has always been on the periphery as a good choice. There is a large reef (plateau) offshore from Morrungulo that Peri-Peri emphasises as pristine and untouched.

We spend a few nights at Morrungulo. Picture perfect white sand beach with palm trees and clear warm shallow water. Bring beer! There are no shops nearby. Mostly we go for long walks or runs on the beach and the tides and times work for a snorkel adventure off the side of the bay. In front of the main Morrungulo buildings, there is a rock shelf that offers some decent snorkeling. We spend a few hours chasing puffer fish and finding lobster hiding in the rocks. Some good brain coral, starfish and anemones with their fishy guards also. Getting back onto the beach is hell though as it’s a long shallow walk through surging waves over sea urchin encrusted rocks. Mental note to go out on the side next time or bring rock shoes with the fins.

My only gripe is that the palm trees at our campsite pitch are not close enough together to string up a hammock.

IMPORTANT HEALTH WARNING: Google Maps does not have the road to Macachula Camp so the route shown above is incorrect. We used Maps.me + instructions from the owner