Ponta D'Ouro, Mozambique

Last weekend nearly all of Swaziland went to the beach for the weekend in Mozambique. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but seriously. There were like three different groups of expatriates and definitely at least 30 people that we knew including the doctors from the Taiwanese Medical Mission, 'the Italians,' the Baylor crew, and a bunch of other friends in between. Unlike in September of 2009 when we first visited Ponta with 24 friends, each group found their own accommodations and then simply met on the beach or in the bar.

Our group included Stephanie (PAC Doctor), Erin (PAC Doctor), Garrett (Clinton Foundation) and Cooper (TechnoServe). We rented a really nice place on the beach called, Coco Rico and had sweet, sweet air conditioning!

Our bedroom

Bathroom (also included an enormous tub and stall shower)

The drive to Ponta is 5 hours; 3.5 of which are on a dirt road, potholed tar road, or sand road. It's not THAT bad of a drive, expect at night or in 'weather' (both of which applied on Friday evening). It was a bit stressful between the fog and the dirt being kicked-up on the dirt road, but we made it in one piece (with one minor detour) and were all ready for a beverage by the time we rolled-in. For example, the last time that I drank was at Martin's wedding in October and yet I ordered myself a double, vodka and tonic.

Before

After

The town of Ponta itself is tiny. There are no paved roads, only sand and the local population is just enough to support the tourist industry which provides the economy for this remote destination.

A couple of picks to give you an idea...

The church

Tree in town decorated like a Christmas tree

Kikois shop (i.e. pashmina)

I purchased a kikois from this artisan as his set-up was quite impressive. He dyed his own string and then spun it on a bicycle

Then he hooked it up to his loom

And wove away!

While it was a quick weekend, getting away to the beach always feels like a proper vacation since it is so different from the landscape in Swaziland. Plus, you can't beat calamari for lunch and prawns for dinner.