REM

Reserva Especial de Maputo.

I’ve long wanted to visit Maputo Special Reserve, the closest conservation area to Maputo. It comes up a lot in my work as the government and NGO partners we collaborate with also manage this site. Of all the conservation areas in Mozambique that want to support themselves through visitor fees and tourism revenues, this is the most viable due to its proximity to the capital and the most densely populated, wealthiest part of the country.

With my friends Lundula, Eluise and Gildo, we planned a visit to the Reserve and then a night away in Ponta do Ouro. On the way as we shopped for provisions I discovered that Mozambique sells delicious tinned coffee from Saudi Arabia, so I made a mental note to stock up. I’ve been missing those grabbable chilled coffees available in most UK shops.

We transferred into a Reserve vehicle to romp around the sandy trails with a driver. It was an excellent outing and decent value when divided by a group (although the card payment machine was on the blink and has charged me twice extra). Elephant, zebra, wildebeest, hippo, duiker, impala, nyala and monkeys were all spotted. We also checked out the camping facilities in the Reserve and resolved to return as long as we don’t get stuck in the sand in our own vehicle.

After an afternoon rolling around the Reserve we drove onto Ponta do Ouro and managed to grab some food in a beach bar before it closed at the currently mandatory 6pm. We checked into some accommodation and spent an evening relaxing and getting into some interesting discussions. These were based around a ‘game’ called Reflex that suggests probing questions for the group to talk through. I wouldn’t say it resembles much of a ‘game’ as it gets extremely philosophical but the topics on offer certainly kept us entertained and enabled us to know each other better.