Tonina and Iain’s Bush & Beach Stay in Maputo Reserve

Tonina travelled with Far & Wild to Mozambique with husband Iain in October 2018. They enjoyed a week at Machangulo Beach Lodge and absolutely loved 4 nights at Anvil Bay. This review will help you differentiate between the two lodges.

Wow Factor!

Both Machangulo and Anvil Bay have the WOW factor, but Anvil Bay was the more unique of the two in terms of experience and exclusivity. Machangulo is absolutely beautiful but we were unlucky with the weather which may have affected our experience. We had two and half days of very cold southerly winds that are typical in October. We enjoyed long walks along the beach, though sometimes with sand whipping at our feet in the wind, visited a shipwreck, read a lot of our books, relaxed and had a boat trip to birdwatch on a nearby island.

Maputo Special Reserve

We arrived at Anvil Bay to find David, the General Manager who was incredible! David went snorkelling in wetsuits off the beach at Ihaca Island with my husband Iain. It was truly personal service as they don’t take on more than six bookings at any one time. It’s very social and the atmosphere is easy-going.

The most exciting element was being located with the ocean to the front of the lodge and a perfectly still lake filled with hippos and wildlife to the rear of the property. Anvil Bay is within the Maputo Special Reserve. We saw about 10 elephants on our game drive which were very interesting as they are smaller and darker than elsewhere in Africa. We saw plains game like waterbuck, zebra, kudu, nyala, wildebeest, impala, giraffe, and warthog. Everyone is excited that they are going to introduce cheetah.

At the end of 2017 a census revealed over 6,000 animals living in the Reserve.

Bush & Beach in One

Whilst it’s a stunning beach destination, the inclusion of game drives brings a new dimension to it. Maputo Special Reserve is one of the most scenic conservation areas in Africa with numerous freshwater inland lakes, coastal dune closed canopy forests and large open plains.

We think 4 or 5 nights at both lodges is perfect and we loved seeing Humpback Whales from the coastline.

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