Author Topic: Pomene October 2016: A pictorial report (Read 13089 times)

John F · « **on:** October 19, 2016, 07:51:03 PM »

Last week, I visited Pomene for 5 nights as part of our monitoring and research support to MPAs in Mozambique. This involved mangrove assessments, reef surveys and marine turtle training for the reserve's rangers.

Although I did take a spinning kit with, I couldn't cast one single plug (shame on me I know!)

Consequently, this is not a fishing report. This being my first trip there, I snapped about 300 pics. So, here is a "pictorial report" with the most striking aspects of the trip. It could prove interesting for prospecting travelers.

Will provide separate short reports on various aspects, as I go through the pics.

John F · « **Reply #1 on:** October 19, 2016, 07:59:07 PM »

Getting there

Pomene is about 600 km from Maputo. That equates to:

* 530 km from Maputo to Massinga (last petrol station and source of supplies)

* 10 km from Massinga to the turn off (still on EN1)

* 34 km on a compacted dirt road all the way to the Reserve's gate

* 20 km from the Reserve's gate to Pomene Lodge on a very loose, one-way, sandy road - 4×4 absolutely necessary - deflate tyres to 1.2 bar!

I'm a slow (some say slugish!) driver and tend to stop every 2 h or so. All in all it took me about 9-10 hours to do both trips, including stops for refueling and lunch.

The scenery from the EN1 turn off all the way to the Lodge is typical of rural areas of coastal southern Mozambique and more specifically, Inhambane; ie. Coconut trees, cashewnut trees, grassland and dunes.

John F · « **Reply #2 on:** October 19, 2016, 08:23:05 PM »

Mangroves

The Pomene estuary is bordered by mangroves (about 157 ha).

Subsistence resource use (collection of invertebrates, harvesting of mangrove poles for construction, bee keeping and fishing) is widespread but at this stage does not seem to threaten the mangroves.

Nice, tall trees interspersed by creeks are pretty impressive.

Lot's of wading birds occur there, saw a quite a few yellowbilled kites, and small (+/- 50) scattered colonies of flamingos.

Really especial!

REEFMAN · « **Reply #3 on:** October 20, 2016, 06:33:53 AM »

Beautiful place Marcos!

John F · « **Reply #4 on:** October 20, 2016, 07:01:31 AM »

The local people

Like in many other rural areas in Mozambique, the locals are very poor and live directly off the land and sea. Despite being visited by foreigners and some degree of tourism, I noticed something different here.

Everyone we met was very friendly and generous. We borrowed 2 pairs of rainboots from the locals so the Reserve's rangers could walk with us in the mangroves. When we returned them, the owners would not take our money!!!! Can you believe this?!?!? In this day and age?!?!

Kids in their huts and on their way to and from school would greet us and chase the bakkie as we drove past... not a single time they begged for money.

We bought beer on our way back from the mangroves and payed 2 days later, etc, etc...

Our rooms were kept unlocked as well as our kitchen (even if we wanted, we could not lock them - see below)... nothing was touched or taken!!!!

Maybe it is its remoteness and you can't really hide. Or maybe I really have trusty eyes and pass on this honesty vibe and people return the favour... or maybe it is just the nature of the people living there. Perhaps this is exactly where Vasco da Gama landed, met the locals and said "Esta eh a terra da boa gente - This is the land of the good people"!!!!

WalkersKiller · « **Reply #5 on:** October 20, 2016, 07:39:09 AM »

That looks amazing Marcos, a pity about not throwing any lures though.

John F · « **Reply #6 on:** October 20, 2016, 07:41:57 AM »

The Lodge

We stayed at Pomene Bay Lodge (which used to be part of the Barra Lodge group - it has recently been sold and is under new management).

The lodge is located at the tip of the peninsula, with easy access to the estuary and ocean.

Given the nature of our work and schedule, we decided on a self catering setup and booked 4 rooms and a kitchen/dinning area somewhat away from the main lodge, right at the tip of the peninsula.

The location and quietness is really outstanding and unfortunately it is the only good thing I can say about this place.... well, the staff was extra friendly and very helpful... but that's about it!!!!

Don't want to turn this into a TripAdvisor review (already did that!!!!), but merely as a heads up for other visitors...

Some things I noticed:

* Electricity is only available for a few hours a day (17h00 - 21h00). Obviously, these hours are not always adhered to! So charging phones, laptops, etc and keeping fresh food is a challenge!

* We had rats in our kitchen / dinning building!!!!! The first night the rodent attacked the muesli packet and an apple. We had to pack everything into bins everyday; and left the sacrificial apple out in the open so the rat would be happy. Every morning, cleaning rat droppings on the dinning table was part of the ritual. This is not acceptable!!!!

* Not really sure what was wrong with the sewage system, but my shower had a stinking smell that made taking a shower a hugely unconfortable endevour (must be part of their water-saving policy!).

* Hot water was available... but you had to call the staff to start a fire and wait... this is supposed to be a 4 star lodge, inside a National Reserve!

* The electrical installation and cooking gas in the main kitchen/dinning building is a disaster waiting to happen (check the pics!).

* I didn't eat at the restaurant as we were self catering. Heard good things about it, but would be very cautions...

It is basically run as a fishing camp with the minimum. Not like a 4 star Lodge inside Nacional Reserve, in a prime tourism area. I understand, the new owners/managers have been running the lodge for a very short time. But overall, this is a very poor place to stay and pay huge amount of your hard earned money.

John F · « **Reply #7 on:** October 20, 2016, 07:43:40 AM »

Some more pics re our accommodation

John F · « **Reply #8 on:** October 20, 2016, 07:44:54 AM »

More...

John F · « **Reply #9 on:** October 20, 2016, 07:47:54 AM »

More...

John F · « **Reply #10 on:** October 20, 2016, 07:51:17 AM »

Last batch.

John F · « **Reply #11 on:** October 20, 2016, 07:59:36 AM »

Stubborn trees

One thing I noticed with awe was the "character" (or maybe this is just my imagination running wild), of some trees.

From the red mangrove (Rhizophora mucronata), growing completely out of the mangrove environment and competing with casuarina trees, grasses and shrubs in the dunes, to coconut trees that refuse to give up no matter what...

Really interesting and proves again and again... life finds a way!

L Hooker · « **Reply #12 on:** October 20, 2016, 08:17:52 AM »

Nice pics Marcos, I was last there in 1997, there where no resorts there then and one could drive up from Morrungulo on the beach. Beautiful part of the world and locals where great. I once had a few items stolen from my camp at Morrungulo, went and spoke to the chief about it, that afternoon all my stuff was returned, apparently a passer through had decided to help themselves to my stuff, the chief sent some of his guys to go look for the chap and lone behold got hold of him, gave him a proper hiding and returned all my goods. Good honest people up there!

Prego · « **Reply #13 on:** October 20, 2016, 08:22:38 AM »

Its a beautiful part of Mozambique unfortunately like you came to find for yourself, the lodges for family use are not up to scratch to keep the mommies happy.
If only I could win the euro millions so I could restore the old hotel on the point ..................one can dream right

Plugger · « **Reply #14 on:** October 20, 2016, 10:13:30 AM »

That electrical installation with the dry reeds is inviting a bonfire.

CLS · « **Reply #15 on:** October 20, 2016, 11:06:30 AM »

Now that is rustic

But the real question is what did you catch ???

John F · « **Reply #16 on:** October 20, 2016, 11:41:20 AM »

Quote from: Prego on October 20, 2016, 08:22:38 AM

Its a beautiful part of Mozambique unfortunately like you came to find for yourself, the lodges for family use are not up to scratch to keep the mommies happy.
If only I could win the euro millions so I could restore the old hotel on the point ..................one can dream right

Old hotel installment coming up next

Quote from: CLS on October 20, 2016, 11:06:30 AM

Now that is rustic But the real question is what did you catch ???

Didn't catch a damn thing! Didn't even had a chance to throw a skipping stone

Dutchie01 · « **Reply #17 on:** October 20, 2016, 01:21:13 PM »

Lovely area to go to. Next time try Paradise Beach Lodge on the Northern Bank. The owner's France and Carol run a really tight ship and the facilities are 5 star.

demon · « **Reply #18 on:** October 20, 2016, 01:25:27 PM »

Hi, thanks for the info, interesting about the red mangrove, bit of a invasive tactic....

John F · « **Reply #19 on:** October 20, 2016, 05:26:57 PM »

The old hotel

The old hotel is now ruins of a once glorious resort.

Built in the 1960s it was still in operation in the early 80s. During the civil war it was abandoned and has been degrading ever since. Heard stories of a group with ties to influential political figures, that owns the hotel and property around it, but nothing really is happening on site.

We went around and visited the ruins and it really is a testament of the building quality of old days and to the good old times...

The hotel has a prime location and the natural rocky pool right in front is certainly worth a visit.

The beach is really nice and one can spend hours just gazing at the ocean!