ART OF SAFARI MAGAZINE Safari-and-Beach Holidays | Page 17

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Our tropical-island lodge in Mozambique overlooked the calm waters of a secluded bay. A long white beach curled into the distance, lapped by a turquoise sea. A deep channel led straight out to open water, allowing for swimming and boat-launching right off the beach. At low tide, I could make out a series of alluring sandbanks on the horizon.

From our cabana, tucked away under palm trees, my partner and I could step straight down onto white sand and into warm water. It was, in short, idyllic. So idyllic, in fact, that we whiled away our afternoons just watching the play of light on the water from our four-poster bed.

As you can imagine, it was hard to muster the energy for the dhow cruise to a remote sandbar. We actually considered skipping it and continuing our lazy lizard lounging. I’m so glad we didn’t, because the trip to the sandbar turned out to be the highlight of our Mozambique holiday.

Late one morning, as the tide was going out, we went down to the beach in front of the lodge. We waded out to an anchored dhow and Vasco, our skipper, helped us aboard.

As there was a gentle breeze from the right direction, Vasco decided to forgo the engine and hoist the sail.

The dhow was a fine vessel whose timbers had been worn to a silvery grey by sea and sun. It was about 12m long and had a triangular, lateen-rigged sail.

The climax of your Mozambican holiday might well be spending

time on a sandbar, far from shore. These sandy slivers only

reveal themselves at low tide: peaceful, picturesque and altogether paradisiacal. An expedition to a sandbar to have a beach picnic

and while away an idyllic day is a wonderful, off-the-grid experience.

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castaway

PHOTOGRAPHY: AZURA BOUTIQUE RETREATS, &BEYOND

by Justin Fox