&Beyond Benguerra Island, Mozambique

Back when I was 19 years old and planning my first trip to Africa, Mozambique was one of the countries on my list to visit. I was planning on spending a while there at the end of my trip to do my dive master course. For a variety of reasons, it didn’t work out this way and I really felt like I missed out. Throughout my travels it stayed high on my bucket list so I was delighted when &Beyond invited me to come and stay at their property on Benguerra Island! I would have been a fool to decline! So I packed my bags and off I went.

Benguerra Island is situated off the coast of Mozambique within the protected marine reserve of the Bazaruto Archipelago National Park. The island is also set on a protected lagoon which means that it is unaffected by the tides.

How I got there

As I was already in South Africa, I flew to Mpumalanga airport where I caught a direct SA Airlink flight to Vilankulos, Mozambique. SA Airlink and LAM also operate from Johannesburg. On arrival I was met and shown to a helicopter where I had front row views over the ocean! The views were honestly out of this world and I saw colours that I didn’t think was possible. I had to pinch myself a few times to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.

Please note: To get to the island you have to take a 2 hour boat or a helicopter, which is the most popular way. If you take the helicopter you will need to honour the luggage restrictions. Usually you will need a soft sided bag weighing no more than 20kg per person.

On arrival at Benguerra Island, I was met and shown to the lodge, but before even reaching the entrance I was greeted by the wonderful staff singing for our arrival! There is something about African singing and dancing that really gives me the feels. A lot of lodges throughout Africa do this on arrival or departure and it just makes the whole experience so much more special.

My Room

When I was shown to my room I had to hide my complete excitement until the staff member had left. As soon as they did, I squealed with excitement and jumped around a little! I just couldn’t believe that it was all for me! As you enter through the gate, you are met a large deck with a private plunge pool and it leads down to the beach where you have your own private beach cabana.

The large room has a four poster bed, free standing bath, separate toilet, outside shower, lounge area and mini bar. There is everything you need in your space so other than meal times you don’t even need to leave your room.

I stayed in my room for the next couple of hours exploring and discovering every nook and cranny. I also made sure that I relaxed or slept on all the possible comfy spots…I mean, wouldn’t you?

The main area

After exploring my room, I then headed back down to the main area to continue exploring. And to my delight, I noticed that there was a boat bar on the beach! Now, that is something special right there!

The main area consists of lots of lounge areas, a large swimming pool and eating space. The main attraction of the lodge is the beach and the boat bar as most of the time, you want to be outside enjoying the sunshine. There is also a lovely fire pit area for the evenings.

Before the sun started to set, I made my way back to my room for an outside shower.

Activities

Other than the obvious laying in the sun and swimming in the sea, there is a lot of other activities that you can get involved in on the island. Some of them being a sunset dhow cruise, scuba diving, swimming with horses, snorkelling trips, paddle boarding, cast away picnics and more!

This area is also home to one of the last remaining viable populations of dugongs.

A really special fact about the dhow cruise is that the lodge rents them from local fishermen who have finished their work for the day to not just give guests a real, authentic experience but to support the locals and give them an extra income - I LOVE this!

Another really special activity that you can take part in is an island tour. This will take you around the island in a 4x4 truck where you will drive through villages, visit different parts of the island, meet the locals and visit some of the projects &beyond contributes to.

I have scuba dived and snorkelled all over the world and the water was some of the clearest I have ever experienced! The marine life and colours were exceptional! I even managed to spend some quality time with a friendly and curious turtle.

The Food

The food was very delicious! I am not a massive foodie but I do love good food, especially sea food! As we were right by the sea, there was plenty of fresh seafood on the menus each night. There was plenty of choice with a wide variety of food for all meals.

The Staff

The staff were just absolutely wonderful and couldn’t possibly do more for you. Our personal butler was Paulo who had been at the lodge for many, many years! He was the sweetest and happiest man I had ever met and his laugh and smile was completely contagious.

I would like to say a very special thank you to these two wonderful men for making my stay so special.

Oceans without Borders - responsible travel

&Beyond and the Africa Foundation have partnered together to create a program called ‘Oceans Without Borders’. Their aim is to create positive change across their marine footprint at all the &Beyond lodges, these include Mnemba, Benguerra, Vamizi Islands and Phinda Private Game Reserve. They strive to leave our oceans a better place by working with the community whilst also ensuring that their guest experience lies at the heart of their vision. And they do it beautifully.

I think what they are doing is fantastic and extremely important to our planet. When choosing somewhere to stay for my holiday, I would definitely choose somewhere that contributes something like this program over one that doesn’t.

My thoughts

I honestly loved every single moment of my stay here. From arriving at Vilankulos and jumping in a helicopter, to my room, the boat bar, the boat trips, the crystal clear water, the sunsets to the fire pit. Everything about this place is just pure paradise from start to finish. Another really amazing selling point of this lodge is the fact that they do so much for the environment and community and this really contributes to responsible travel.

Just to set expectations, I would just say that the service in general is amazing but just a little slow…but wouldn’t you be chilled out too if you lived somewhere like this? But this is quite typical for destinations like this, so my advise is to be patient and go with the flow.

I would recommend an absolute minimum of three nights here. It would be perfect for a beach break after a safari or an African adventure. It is beautiful and so easy to get to, so why not?!

I absolutely cannot wait to return back!

Thank you to the whole &Beyond team!

xx