reeds to vigilant fish eagles, but for Khan we would’ve lost track of the species we saw. Carmine bee-eaters flew alongside our vehicle, snapping up any insects that we disturbed in the grass. Travelling at our speed, they appeared to hang motionless in the air. Our afternoon ended with sundowners at their breeding colony: dozens of these agile birds swooping and weaving above tunnel nests they’d dug into the sandy ground.
From our room, we could gaze across the lagoon towards Namibia’s Caprivi Strip – a view once enjoyed by Swedish royalty (hence Kings Pool). The camp is located on an ancient fault line, one of the final wrinkles of the Great Rift Valley. This a region of lakes and channels, and Khan didn’t have to try hard to persuade us to spend the afternoon lagoon hopping – driving from one to the next along this ancient boundary. We had plenty of opportunity to watch hippo – one of our favourite animals – as well as to add to our birding checklist. And enjoy a G&T, of course.
Five nights at Vamizi Island
A medley of aircraft large and small were involved in our journey from northern Botswana to the Quirimbas Archipelago, and we added some urban energy to our trip with a one-night stopover at a luxury hotel in Johannesburg, allowing our feet to touch the ground, and to tap along to the happening beat of life on Africa’s most vibrant streets.
If heaven is a place on earth, then our arrival at Vamizi Island left us in no doubts as to its exact location. Within minutes, we’d discarded our flip-flops (and wouldn’t need them again until we left). Delightful floral scents danced around us, and if chaos theory is true, then the rest of the world must’ve been experiencing severe weather, with so many butterflies flapping their wings. On Vamizi Island, they contributed to a sense of peace and harmony that became even more pronounced as we crossed powdery sand in front of our villa to revive our travel-weary toes in the warm ocean.
Having been spoiled by expert pilots, and felt that we should travel somewhere under own steam the next day. We’d seen the sea kayaks pulled up on the beach and they looked like just the excuse we needed. With our guide paddling alongside us, we explored creeks and mangrove forests, running the gauntlet of plunging kingfishers and the beady eyes of fish eagles. On our return leg of our kayak adventure, we ventured further offshore – there was no real swell to speak of – and were joined by a small pod of dolphin, who seemed to be encouraging us to join them in porpoising and leaping clear of the surface.
The following day we couldn’t wait to take the plunge, and together with the lodge’s local divemaster as our guide, we scuba dived the Quirimbas, regularly rated as one of the top dive locales on earth. The god of the sea had flexed his muscles here: the number and variety of fish species was completely captivating. There was only one brief moment of relative emptiness, when schools parted to allow a small black-tipped reef shark to pass through. We’d hoped to see its much larger cousins, whale sharks, but it must’ve been their day off. Back on the boat, R&R cocktails rounded the day off in style.
After a delicious breakfast on our private deck, we enjoyed spa treatments before my partner gave me a challenge. And so I found myself trying to balance on a stand-up paddle board and inevitably spending more time in the water than on it. Not that I was complaining, although my core muscles began to protest after a while. We decided on an easier mode of transport: we rode to the local school on bikes from the lodge, arriving as the bell rang for the end of class. Smiling faces showed us that the delicate balance between community upliftment and ecotourism was being maintained here.
We leapt at the chance to spend time on our own sandbar on our last full day, with nothing more than a parasol, a picnic, and a paperback each. We whiled away a perfect day, dipping into our hamper and the ocean, inventing a new form of beach cricket, and collecting shells. As the tide began to rise, we were collected by the lodge inflatable which transferred us to a dhow for a chance to pay one last visit to the reefs, but snorkelling instead of diving. We took turns to swim down to view life on the reef and were joined briefly by a hawksbill turtle.
OPPOSITE ROTATING:
Springboks in the Central Kalahari can be identified by their striped flanks. Get close to the marine life by scuba diving from Vamizi Island. Evenings around the campfire at Kings Pool are magical. Vamizi Island is set in a pristine marine conservation area. Vamizi Island’s Casamina villa has a sparkling pool.
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PHOTOGRAPHY: WILDERNESS SAFARIS, &BEYOND