An early start of 4am had us
on the road and back at the airport, ready for our flight to Nampula,
Mozambique, where we would be transferred to Coral Lodge 15.41 – our home for 4
days as well as the site of our African blessing ceremony.
Coral Lodge 15.41 is a unique
barefoot beach retreat situated on a peninsula within the wild and rugged
Varanda nature reserve in Northern Mozambique.
It was conceived and created by a very brave and ambitious Dutch couple
– Alexandra and Bart Otto who had a dream of opening a high-end lodge on the
coast of East Africa so they could spend quality time together while they
raised their 3 year old son.
Opened in June 2010, the
lodge has 8 luxury villas. We opted for one with fantastic ocean
views.
The view from our Villa (No.3), was wonderful - the video below captures a time-lapse of an afternoon and gives an idea of how idyllic the location is.
The beaches were amazing and
we spent many hours walking the picturesque coastline, as well as the large
sandy tidal flats which we shared each morning with fisherman and children from the
nearby village who were foraging for sea
worms that they would later dry and eat.
Watching the constant dhow traffic along the coast, used for both fishing and transportation, drove home that we were in a part of Africa that remains largely untouched.
We thought that Alex and Bart
achieved their goal of creating a top-end resort admirably, with fantastic
accomodation, wonderful and attentive staff and a chef (Carlos) who created
superb dishes each night.We were particularly
impressed with Carlos and his creations; his passion for his craft was
impressive. He was trained as an
autoplant engineer in East Berlin while Mozambique was still supported by the
USSR, only to return home to find that there was no use for those skills (no
auto plants!). As a result, he interned
in a restaurant, and anyone who tastes his delicacies will appreciate that it
was a fortunate twist in his career!
While he had worked at numerous larger restaurants, and been sent to
train in Amsterdam, he has chosen to work at a small lodge. His passion is the creativity required to
make perfect dishes from the unpredictable fresh produce that is sourced from
the nearby village and fisherman each day.
We loved our time at Coral
Lodge – a perfect place for our African blessing ceremony – stay tuned for
photos of our special day!
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