Bazaruto Archipelago, Mozambique

North of Tofo, is the tiny town of Vilanculos, and gateway to Bazaruto Archipelago, which is a series of sandy protected Islands, with excellent diving and snorkling, and very expensive lodges.

While the town of Vilanculos, isn't that interesting , the islands and waters are breath taking. Lodges are popping up along the coast, so in the near future the town will probablly grow, but for now it's a great balance of accomodation with open space.

Before heading out on the boat, I managed to catch the first kiss on live broadcast, of the royal wedding at smugglers Sport Bar. They say an estimated 2 billion people watched the broadcast. It was sure good I had some beers to drink.

The nest morning after waking up, I headed out on my own honeymoon and jumped on a boat that was taking me to the Bazaruto Archipelago. I travelled by dhow, which was a slow process, but we were on Africa time, there is no hurry.

With the sun in my face and a cold beer in my hand, I hung my feet over the side and glanced out aross the turqiouse waters of the Indian Ocean. Fishermen were hauling in nets from the shallows sea, between the island and the mainland. The first Island we stopped to snorkle at was, Margauque Island.







The incoming tide made a river like current along a reef, so you just jumped in and let the current take you along. You have to watch not to cut your feet on the sharpe coral and rocks.

Best thing about organized tours is they have lunch waiting for you when you get out the water. The beach we had lunch on was so white it looked as if it was bleached. After a few free hours to walk the island owned by a Zimbabwe arms dealer, we headed back across the channel to sleep for the night in cozy permanent tents, on our own stretch of coast with noone within sight.

On the way there, I was lucky enough to spot one of the rare dugongs for a second before it dove down again. An estimated 70 live in the area, which is the largest number anywhere in the world.


The next morning we woke up to the beautiful sunrise, packed up our stuff and headed out to our boat, which was now anchored a few hundred yards out in low tide. Wading our way to the boat with bags over our head, we made our way to two mile reef, which is a beautiful place to snorkle.

I snorkled over the biggest clusters of coral I have ever seen, the sea looked like an aquirium. After a few hours of snorkling, the captain took us to the near by sand dune, where if you climbed it gave you and amazing 360 degree panorama of the archipelago.

Once again lunch was waiting for us when we walked back down.
With a full belly we make our way back to Vilanculos. When the days get short and cold up in Alaska, I'll def look at my photos I took of the islands and the amazing Indian ocean waters.