Dispatch 20 - A Rest Day in Paradise
The community day in Inkosi Tembe's area was delightful - a rich kaleidoscope of colour and culture, a Grindrod team had come up from Durban to hand over a 40ft container that's been tuned into a library and environmental centre. Colourful character Ernest Robertse who's a partner in the community, promises that the school kids will all get a chance to visit a waterhole and see elephants. "Can you believe it," he says, "there was a craftsmen carving wild animals and selling them at the gate of the Tembe Elephant Park: crocodiles, hippos and zebra but no elephant. When I asked why he said he'd never seen one. We changed that and now he carves elephants - the local people have to be involved in wildlife and see the benefits of community tourism, otherwise why should they care?" We say goodbye to our hosts at Tembe and Ernest with a team of journalists leads us North to the old Muzi gate where at the fence line with Mozambique we are welcomed by Peace Parks coordinator Gilbert Vincente and officials who've come to welcome us to the Maputo Special Elephant Reserve - welcome to Mozambique and a chance of a rest day in paradise.
Just north of Ponto de Ouro, in wood cabins set amongst the Casuarinas, with the waves running up to greet an endless white sand beach, a framed welcome to Ponto Mamoli message reads "Escape, Explore, Experience the magic of Mamoli - a place where one's soul can take flight and come to rest on the ocean's calm" This is the sort of place where you take nothing but memories and leave nothing but footprints. Charming Rose Bilbrough and her team are hosting us for a much needed rest day. They are delightfully hospitable. A huge seafood spread under the stars and trays of drinks from the bar - "Who says expedition life is tough?"
Barefoot in the sand, next day we explore this paradise. Once the headquarters of a titanium mine, now a tourism delight dedicated to marine protection and community involvement. We meet with the local kids. They lie on their little stomachs to draw; it's an art competition. Their interpretation of life around Ponto Mamoli is delightful; 4X4's with boats and trailors, beach, dunes and coastal forest, dolphins and every shape and size of turtle (xicambani in Shangaan). I sit down with them. Caring for turtles is an important part of marine conservation - DON'T KILL THE TURTLES - DON'T STEAL AND DAMAGE THEIR EGGS, chant the bright eyed little children. An elongated man with a big beard also features in their art. "It's you, Papa King" laughs thirty year old Babu Cossa, our Shangaan/Portuguese interpreter whom years ago I met outside the market in Bilene and who's been travelling around Africa with me ever since. He's like a son to me. We hand out whistles, footballs and bright blue Grindrod sponsored laptop desks with a built in screwtop container for carrying clean drinking water to school.
With the sun setting over the distant Lubombo mountain range, Ponto Mamoli's vibrant bar is filled with a buzz of patriotic excitement as the Blue Bulls from Pretoria anihilate the New Zealand Chiefs in a devastating, humiliating, record breaking 61-17 Super 14 Rugby Final.
Later Eduardo, the resident guitar man, strums a tune whilst beautiful brown-skinned Sandra starts singing the lyrics. It heats up as with her fingers she flirts with the hem of her traditional Mozambican capulana skirt and dances the Samba. Eduardo, not to be outdone, swings his guitar behind his head and in perfect harmony the couple sway enchantingly to a Latin American beat.
Wow! Ponto Mamoli is the sort of place you could lose yourself in. But we've got to head on to the Special Maputo Elephant Reserve, all part of the Lubombo Transfrontier Conservation area on our journey to link seven Transfrontier Conservation Areas, two oceans and nine countries across Mama Afrika.
