Mozambique

Travel to Mozambique is the perfect way to begin or end any African Safari. Pristine white sand beaches flow into crystal blue waters and accommodations range from luxury private lodges and villas, to stunning hotels and beach front cottages. This beautiful destination offers the ultimate in relaxation, activities and wildlife.
While today it’s a paradise for travelers, its history has been a rocky one. During Mozambique’s turbulent past its reserves and national parks went completely neglected and in most cases were only visited by armed guerrilla fighters looking for food. The bush grew back lush and thick, the animals, hunted with automatic weapons, became elusive and shy and the camps and resorts fell into ruin. In the case of Gorongosa National Park in particular, Renamo rebels made the park their base of operations from where they launched attacks.

Peace has come to Mozambique and with it the chance for the numerous parks and reserves to return to their former glory. In the far north the enormous Niassa Wildlife Reserve, larger even than the Kruger National Park is slowly coming into its own as an area of thick African bush filled with a variety of animals. Covering over 40,000 square kms it is one of the largest conservation areas on the continent. The Gorongosa National Park, the Maputo Elephant Reserve and the Quirimbas National Park are some of the other parks that are undergoing the same recovery and development. In the south there is also the extension of the Kruger National Park, where the fence between the South African side and the Mozambique side has been removed as part of the peace parks project.

Gorongosa National Park, Sofala Province, is located in the southernmost part of the Great Rift Valley of East Africa. The Park includes the Urema valley and parts of the surrounding midlands and Gorongosa lies between the cities of Chimoio and Beira – it is also Mozambique’s flagship conservation area.

Gorongosa is a short charter flight from Beira and is also easily accessible by road and is situated just off the primary north-south national motorway, close to the Inchope junction. Gorongosa National Park is one of the most exciting travel destinations in Mozambique at the moment with a visionary restoration project in place to get the park back to its former glory.

Gorongosa National Park has an impressive species list with more and more species being reintroduced on a monthly basis. The Park is home to significant populations of oribi, reedbuck, waterbuck, warthog and sable. Warthogs are more common than the impala. Predators are recovering slowly, with a number of lion prides and a few male coalitions within the Park. Elephant herds and bulls are regularly encountered, with the bulls being particularly relaxed providing great viewing. Recently some large elephant bulls have been relocated from the Kruger National Park.

Birding at Gorongosa is incredible with excellent quality and quantities of special and endemic birds such as the Collared Palm Thrush, the Green Coucal, Narina Trogon and Spotted Creeper. Lake Urema provides a home to a huge number of water birds and one can literally sit for hours watching fish eagles swoop down on prey.

With the best of beautiful beaches, warm ocean waters and African bush at your fingertips, Mozambique may be one of Africa’s best kept safari secrets for family safaris and romantic getaways alike.