The islands in Quirimbas Archipelago

Matemo and Rolas Islands

Since our overnight camping experiences in Ilha de Mozambique we knew we wanted to do more.  We asked the guide that took us to the sandbank and he said the best beach was at Matemo North.  Trusting his opinion, we arranged to spend a night on the island.  We loaded everything into the boat, which had a bench seat taken from a car for us to sit on, and zoomed towards the island.  It was different hearing the noise of the motor, but it got us there much faster than we would have in a dhow.

We arrived to the beach and set up camp between a deserted hotel and the tented camp of Ibo Island Lodge.  The only people around were those from the nearby fishing village and 2 tourists at the camp next to us.  The afternoon was spent playing in the water along a mini sandbank.  It was the corner of the island and the wind and current caused an inlet of sand to extend into the ocean.  We watched as fishermen fought the waves in an attempt to get home and enjoyed the turquoise water.

 

 

 

 

 

Yousef went to town to find fresh fish, but only came back with a delicious melon.  They considered it a cucumber, but added sugar to make it extra sweet.  We didn’t entirely believe him about the fish as he had spent the whole afternoon in the village, but there wasn’t much we could do.  He headed back to the village to try again and when we were served octopus for dinner we assumed he got lucky.  We were later told that he opted for dried seafood as he couldn’t find anything fresh, but we would have never known from the way it tasted.

We built our tent on the sand and enjoyed the starry night with the few beers we’d brought with us.  Many of the palm trees on the island had lost their tops so we took advantage of the fallen branches to make a fire before crawling in for the night.  The next morning we woke up to breakfast and another melon as dessert.  Our boat arrived mid-morning and we loaded up before heading to Rolas.  The island has roughly 15 fisherman inhabitants that live half of the time on the island and the other on the mainland.  Their shelters were made of wood and plastic trash bags to stop the rain from coming in.  They had jugs of fresh water and most of the space was used to make tables to dry the fish they caught.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We grabbed the snorkels and went for a look around the rocks while lunch was prepared.  There was a fishing net along the rocks, which technically was illegal due to the rules of the national park.  We swam around and saw the fish trying to get out and were very tempted to help, but decided we’d cause more problems than necessary.  There were some small fish swimming outside of the net, but nothing to be overly impressed about.

Lunch was fresh grilled fish served in the shade.  Once we were done, we loaded back into the bed to head back to Ibo.  The wind was blowing hard, which made the water very choppy.  We were sprayed with water most of the ride to the point of having to wring out our shirt and surong again and again.  There were multiple times when we hit a wave just right that all the water landed in the boat.  Yousef was in the back scooping out water and I grabbed an empty bottle to do what I could to help.  It was a long trek back and we didn’t see another boat the whole time.  Once we got back we asked if that type of weather is normal and it was rated as an 8 out of 10 for difficulty.  We later spoke with a guide at Ibo Lodge and he said that no one went out all day as it wasn’t safe due to the wind.  But thankfully, we were back on dry land for the night.

 

 

 

Quirimba Island

We had hoped to kayak from Ibo to Quirimba, but after asking 2 different guides we decided against it.  Due to the tide, it would be possible although difficult and a quick turnaround.  So we decided to walk there instead.  If we waited a few more days the tides would change and we would have been able to walk the whole way.  Benjamin was our guide and lead us through town and into the mangroves.  We walked amongst the trees on a sand path as women passed us on their way out with firewood stacked on their heads.  The path became covered in water and we changed shoes.  Thankfully, the guide had access to water shoes as we had only brought our flip flops with us when we left Nampula.

 

 

 

We waded through calf-deep water until Benjamin told us to get out and follow the path through the trees.  The tide was coming in and it was getting deeper.  Just a little further and we reached the sandbank, where a boat was waiting for us.  The water was too shallow for the motor so 2 people pushed us until we reached deeper waters.  From there, we fought the waves coming in and got splashed as we went although nothing compared to the previous day.

 

 

We reached Quirimba and Benjamin led us around the island explaining things to us.  As we wandered, the kids greeted us and waved although some cried.  There are fewer tourists and a couple toddlers were not happy to see us.  We looped back to where we’d have lunch and waited until it was served.  The restaurant was on the tip of the island so we looked out over the ocean as we ate.

 

 

 

 

 

Once we were done, we walked around the village a bit more.  The kids loved having their picture taken and Tico enjoyed teaching them different high fives.  We had agreed on a time to reconvene so we headed back to the boat.  This time the waves pushed us so we didn’t get as wet as we crossed.  We passed the sandbank, which was hidden beneath water, and made our way into the mangrove channel.  The captain stopped and tried to get us off, but our guide insisted we go further in.  Not long after, the motor started making noises that it shouldn’t make and then died.  The water was too shallow and the engine struggled to keep us moving.

 

 

 

When it was time to change out of the water shoes, I used my flip flops to get out of the boat.  The weight of the water caused the strap to break and my only pair of shoes were now unusable.  I walked around the rest of the afternoon barefoot and left the broken sandal with Benjamin.  We were having dinner at his place that night and he could have it fixed before we left the island the following day.

Getting off Ibo Island

As so many things on Ibo revolve around the tide so does the boat to get back to the mainland.  After asking around we were told it would leave around 9:30-10 am.  Since it was later in the day, we decided to get up early to do a few more things.  The night before we realized we had left my headlamp with Yousef, our guide in Matemo.  We set out to find him as no one knew where he lived and Tico captured pictures of the village as we walked.

 

Our first stop was at the ATM as we’d run out of cash to pay for our hotel.  Shortly after taking my card, it spit it back at me with a statement that no services were available.  We continued towards the market to get bread for breakfast and sure enough we spotted our guide and cook in front of us.  They waited for us to catch up and said they’d bring the headlamp by Karibune by 8.  We felt like it was too good to be true that we’d actually found him.

 

We went back to the ATM multiple times and continued to get the same message.  A few doors away was the Centro de Apoio Nutricional so we popped in to speak with the director.  He explained their process for finding children with malnutrition and the 3 month refeeding period.  The program offers fortified potato to the children and teaches the mothers how to prepare the same at home.  Interestingly, the director said that the mortality rate has stayed the same, even with their help.

 

With no way to leave the island without paying, we stopped by Ibo Island Lodge to see if they’d let us pay for one of our scuba dives with a credit card and get our cash back.  The manager declined, but mentioned that another hotel may be able to run our card for cash.  We stopped by our hotel to see if the headlamp had been returned and our feeling that it was too good to be true was right.  He hadn’t brought it and no one still knew how to find him.

 

 

We went to get money from the other hotel and once we figured out the process we were discussing our game plan.  I was furious and willing to stay another night just to find the guide, but Tico was more levelheaded.  I decided to ask one of the workers in the hotel where we could find him.  He said he sometimes stays across the street and went to see if he was there.  We were told that he wasn’t and that he was probably at a house far away.  I asked if we could pay for a motorbike to take us there.  The guy told me to wait and then let us get into the truck with him.  He drove us to the local bar, which should have been our first stop considering he was intoxicated when we saw him at 6:30 am.  With a beer in his hand, he greeted us and gave a story that it was already at our hotel, but we insisted he come with us.  After much discussion between the owner and him, we discovered that he had sold the headlamp.  He must have sold it to someone near the hotel because as we were still discussing it one of the workers appeared with my headlamp.

Glad to have the light back in our possession, we still didn’t have cash to pay for our hotel.  So at 9 o’clock, I started to run across the plaza to reach the ATM.  It appeared to be working so I waited.  Yet it gave me the same message.  I ran to the other hotel and confirmed that we wanted to run our card for cash.  By 9:25, I was about to enter our hotel as Tico was coming out.  He’d heard the boat was selling tickets, which meant it would leave soon.  We paid the tab and I ran ahead to ‘stop’ the boat as Tico carried our things.  It turned out we still had a little more time and waited until 10 for the boat to actually leave.  Meanwhile, we replayed our morning and the craziness that had just ensued.

 

 

Helpful tips:

• Rolas Island had the best beach of all the islands in Quirimbas.
• Ibo Island doesn’t actually have a beach, but don’t let that stop you from going.
• Benjamin was a great guide and also offers accommodation and a restaurant (Benjamin’s Place).