Catch Your Breath

Richard Holmes combines Robinson Crusoe escapism with a dose of beachfront luxury in Mozambique’s Bazaruto Archipelago.

- Richard Holmes

The Nile crocodiles came, I’ll admit, as something of a surprise. Admiring a brace of Crocodylus niloticus was about the last thing I expected to find on my escape to the Bazaruto Archipelago. I’d come to this scattering of islands off central Mozambique in search of white sands, colourful cocktails and cerulean waters. Not fearsome relics from the dinosaur age. And yet there they were, floating along like toothy submarines beneath the waters of Lengwe Lake in the heart of Bazaruto Island.

“This island was once part of the mainland, which is why we have these freshwater lakes and crocodiles on Bazaruto,” explains my guide Lourenço.

While the crocs are the star residents of the lakes that lie between the sand dunes and the deep blue sea, there’s no shortage of life away from the beach. In the thick bush around the lakes, samango monkeys and duiker are frequently seen, while the night air in the coastal forests is often filled with the haunting ‘bush baby’ cry of the galagos.

We’d also spent the morning identifying some of the 180 bird species that call these islands home: from blackwinged stilts and greater flamingos to pelicans and a goliath heron fishing patiently on the edge of the reeds. The lakes are still alive with birdcalls as we hop back in the 4x4, the sun is high, and the beach is calling.