Anantara Bazaruto Island resort & spa is Mozambique at its most luxurious
A weekend in paradise feels leaves you feeling like you have been away for a week
Friday
So you’ve dropped off the kids with grandma, Ubered to the Gautrain and ensconced yourselves in the Slow Lounge. Halfway through a seared tuna wrap, it’s time to board your flight to Vilancoulos. An hour later, the world below has shifted from East Rand sprawl to a jaw-dropping kaleidoscope of aqua-marine sea and pale, tide-washed sand.
Saturday
Today’s main event is a snorkelling trip to Paradise Island, an uninhabited dot on the map between Bazaruto and Vilancoulos. Just off-shore, skipper Alberto Massane drops anchor and seven of us flop off the stern. Massane
cautions that the sea is “chopper”.
genuinely friendly, the shallows truly turquoise, and the
palms, well, frondy "
boat’s doing an alarming disappearing act as the waves gain momentum. Our fellow snorkeller is an irrepressible sun worshipping Norwegian named Alf Roald Sætre. He owns the legendary Cornelius seafood restaurant on a pristine island near Bergen, and is clearly relishing these warm southern waters.
earlier by the Scandinavian) it’s back to the resort. Unsullied by sunscreen, Sætre is beaming and pretty much crisped.
Sunday
We’re up at seven for a horse-ride. A bit like kite surfing or truffle hunting, the idea of cantering along an unspoilt beach has a cool, edgy allure. Secretly though, I’m hoping for a horse that’s a bit of a plodder. What the world doesn’t need is an off-piste journalist galloping headlong into the dunes, all flailing stirrups and manegrabbing like some demented Velvet Brown.
head reads “just try that, amateur, and we’ll see how you handle a full-on sprint”.
Monday
Wake up, get tangled in the artfully draped mosquito net and stumble off for a last swim. Pondering on a travel piece I wrote years ago, I remember an editor suggesting that I tone it down. “It’s not the bloody Taj Mahal,” she’d said. In this pristine setting though, it’s hard not to wax a little lyrical. The people are genuinely friendly, the shallows truly turquoise, and the palms, well, frondy. It’s a place to be Energizer-bunny busy, or marvel at a million stars with your feet in the ocean.
Getting There
This trip was made possible by Airlink, which offers direct scheduled flights between Joburg and Vilancoulos, as well as Nelspruit and Vilancoulos. flyairlink.com or contact SAA Central Reservations on 011 978 1111.
bazaruto.anantara.com