Surfing Praia do Rocha with the cool crew of Grant Gilmour, Chad Leavitt and Branco Mijulkov.
Grant Gilmour, Chad Levitt and Branco Mijulkov star in the surf movie style flick of a surf patrol to Praia do Rocha, Inhambane, Mozambique. A fun session great for laughs and a few cool clips – all done on cellphones.
The sand has finally returned to Tofinho reportedly, but it doesn’t mean we won’t be doing the odd dawn patrol down Praia do Rocha way.
Featuring: A great reality clip of Chris’ croc couta at Pomene, caught from the beach, on a recent adventure up to ‘this paradisical place.
Meeting Chris Leppan down here at The Umzimkulu Marina for a weekend and his entourage of enthusiastic ocean people was game enough. But seeing his collection of amazing fishing stunts pulled off lately, takes things to a new level. I thought he was just a surfer?!
Not only will you read about here in upcoming weeks, and see videos of, huge king mackerel taken from the beach like the one featured in this video below. But also of even huger couta Chris shot at Pomene in Southern Mozambique, in fact muuuch huger! Wait ’til you check that fish! Which Chris shot all the while being filmed by his highly capable camera expert girlfriend!
And pretty soon, we will run the video Chris got whilst taming an 80kg marlin, from his surf ski! Right in front of where he stays in Durban North?!
So enjoy this first instalment of how a waterman has fun in the afternoons…with much more to follow…
The Sardine team have been doing trips to Pomene and surrounds for a decade now. If you, or anyone you know, would like to know a bit more about the place (like the lodge is soon to be closed btw), or conditions/logistics, buzz me on umzimkulu@gmail.com. We can also arrange to get you up to Pomene – to stay in our rustic facility on the beach at the point, buzz me too!
The place is sure to be blown up, literally to smithereens, as cruise ships start their tenure in the bay later this year. No more secrets. The cat has left the building. They are doing a bunch of trips, carrying a few thousand at a time, to be dumped on the serene and unspoilt peninsula, for a day. November through April. Fortunately, these cruise ships seem to move around a heap, hopefully they will go back to Inhaca Island, where they came from, which is a far better suited venue. We did some work for the cruise ships captain when they were scouting, finding channels and parking spots for the huge ship, which is how we know this all to be true. It also has been advertised in their brochures already since last year. An alarming note is that the estuary could be closed off to access for the public. Periodically or not, we are not sure. And, there are plans to build a hotel, in the place of the old and romantic Pomene Lodge. Sad way to go…paradise found and lost.
Further waves on the horizon are reports that even more cruise ships are starting from the north. Coming down from that way, since the piracy guys have been collared. The commercial fishing fleet are also back on the water, operating out of the Seychelles and Mauritius, and so the mill keeps turning.
Cyclone Dineo: Message from Lalaland in Tofo, Inhambane
Some of you may know that southern Mozambique just sustained a direct hit from Severe Tropical Cyclone Dineo. The majority of the southern coastline has sustained unbelievable damage and entire communities have been physically erased. Many in these communities have lost literally everything they owned: homes, crops, and livestock, and livelihood. Everything. There will be no Big Government swooping in to save them. No international movie stars will rally to their cause or help them feed their families and rebuild their homes. No catchy Top 40 song about it will grace your radio waves. To the outside world, African tragedy is just not news.
Literally all they have left is their sense of community, which is absolutely unbreakable. Its the kind of community that most better-off people with lots of material wealth will simply never know. It’s also the exact reason that for almost 10 years, Corinna Heidi and myself have been very proud to call Mozambique home. It is a beautiful, friendly place full of beautiful, friendly, hard working people and they need your help.
Please consider doing just that. It’s impossible to describe how far the smallest contribution can go in this part of the world. Thanks.
Chad Leavitt and Corinna Heidi
Contact Chad and Heidi through http://lalalandafrica.com or buzz me on umzimkulu@gmail.com if you would like to assist in ANY way.
Cyclone DINEO will very likely hit Inhambane and surrounds, head on. Tomorrow?!
Winds were predicted as low as 120 to 140 kmh, but this is all changing fast as the tropical storm eagerly upgrades itself. It’s winds tomorrow are now being shouted about at up to 200kmh.
So it’s all very serious if you live there, or are holidaying there now.
Signs of the trouble permeated an otherwise lovely summers day in Vilanculos, as deep dark clouds started to form up and move in, reported by Carlos Carvalhos of MozInfo.
The weather in Natal is glorious today – the odd shower, that’s it.
We will endeavour for more photos and news updates, as the next 24 hours progresses.
Enjoy a great little video shot by Artsurfer.nl on a recent trip to Casa Frenzy. She was diving with Diversity Scuba in Tofo.
More about Casa Frenzy…
Casa Frenzy, a beautifully designed and built beach house, half way between Barra and Tofo – right on the beach – is now available for holiday rental.
The self catering elegently luxurious house is filled with fun features. Conversation corners, outdoor kitchen, barbecue area, coffee spots, reading hideaways – even a tiny studio well lit and breezy for painting. Yep, a painting corner!
The house has been carefully created to facilitate a honeymoon couple, or a group of 5 or 6. Bedrooms can become totally private or totally open – depending on your requirements.
Solar power handles lighting and cellphones – anything USB really. Hot water comes from the sun too. Cooking is by gas – so you really are off-the-grid. Except for the generator which powers the refrigeration requirements of the lodge.
There are actually 4 houses in total, to rent, all around Casa Frenzy. Prices are very reasonable, and any specific requirements can easily be discussed over email at umzimkulu@gmail.com. Click here for more Casa Frenzy pics and information.
To get out to Croc Rock reef as seen on TV above, many dive operators offer ocean safari and scuba trips…just book in and hop on!
