A visit to Vilanculos, Mozambique

A visit to Vilanculos does not normally fall into the budget category. Although this lodge was beautiful at the time we visited, it has since gotten bad reviews and I do not feel like I can recommend this as an option any more. The Vilanculos experience, however, is always one of my favourites. I am therefor leaving the write-up as a personal travel memoir.

We arrived just before sunset and settled into our safari-style camping tent. The staff were very welcoming and professional. We were happy to have our self-packed dinner on the deck and enjoy the magical view in the last light of the day. The lodge offers a full-board option as well, where all meals are included, but we decided not to book that this time around.

The next day we woke up real early and could still have breakfast and coffee on our tent deck overlooking the ocean before the rising sun became too bright. We enjoyed the walkway to the beach and loved the lawn area right next to the beach. The walk to the beach was one of the first ones in a while that we could safely do barefoot. It is a clean path through natural dune vegetation and a soft sandy walk. The beach is ultimately my favourite beach. I have a tremendous soft spot for the Vilanculos area and beaches and the wave-less clear water gives it an on-land island feel. It is far enough from the Vilanculos town to be peaceful and quiet with hardly any other people around. It is also perfect for a toddler to play in the water as there are no waves.

Back from the beach, the front of the tent and the deck were too hot. We moved our chairs to the back of the tent on the lawn and sat in the shade of the tent and the indigenous trees. It was lovely to relax there and have some coffee. My daughter played in the sand around the trees so it was a win for all. Somewhere during the morning a staff member came by and asked if we needed anything from town since he was on his way to get supplies. We really appreciated this as we needed some juice for my daughter which he brought back for us.

Around lunchtime the tent deck became bearable again and we had a cheese board while admiring low-tide seascape.

In the evening we got a beautiful surprise, just as my daughter went to bed the chef came by and delivered a tasty crayfish. It was our wedding anniversary and they decided to spoil us.