FISH – All Out Africa

Mozambique beach tours from Eswatini (Eswatini)

All Out Afica — Thu, 22 Apr 2021 08:42:08 +0000

Mozambique beach tours from Eswatini (Eswatini) have been a regular occurrence for us since early 2004. Covid travel restrictions have made leisure travel from Eswatini (Eswatini) to Mozambique virtually impossible for the past year, but things may be about to improve. With the daily infection rate currently dropping in both Mozambique and Eswatini (Eswatini) it is likely that we will be able to start running tours from Eswatini (Eswatini) to Mozambique in the next few months.

Many people in Eswatini (Eswatini) have visited Maputo before, but there are some other destinations that are well worth checking out, and All Out Africa can take you there! Here is our list of the top 3 Mozambique destinations within reach from Eswatini (Eswatini):

Ponta d’ Ouro Beach Tours from Eswatini (Eswatini)

Ponta d’ Ouro Beach Tours from Eswatini (Eswatini) are probably the quickest way to get to a great beach. Located just south of Maputo “Ponta d’ Ouro” is only a 4-hour drive from Ezulwini and can be enjoyed on a 2-night visit. The Ponta bay has beautiful golden sand beaches and warm, clear ocean water, making it a popular choice.

Swim with dolphins in Ponta d’ Ouro

The town is set right on the beach and there is a wide range of accommodations and restaurants to choose from. The highlights of Ponta include the stunning beaches, ocean safaris to swim with wild dolphins and quad biking tours through the breathtaking coastal plains.

One of the restaurants found in Ponta d’ Ouro

***Tofo Beach* *Tours from Eswatini (Eswatini)***

Tofo Beach Tours from Eswatini (Eswatini) take you to a proper tropical Indian ocean beach. Tofo is a microcosm of Mozambique with so much on offer. It takes about 9 hours to get to by road from Eswatini (Eswatini) so we recommend no less than a 4-night visit. There are many good restaurants in the town as well as markets to explore. You can choose from a wide range of accommodation many of which are located right on the beach.

This is one of the best places in the world to snorkel alongside whale sharks and scuba dive with manta rays. Other activities included surfing lessons, beach yoga, mangrove kayaking, and sunset sailing trips.

Kayaking Tofo Mozambique’s Indian ocean

Maputo Elephant Reserve (Maputo Special Reserve) Beach Tours from Eswatini (Eswatini)

Maputo Elephant Reserve (Maputo Special Reserve) beach tours take you through one of the most beautiful and untouched coastal nature reserves in southern Africa and it’s just a hop over the Lubombo hills from Eswatini (Eswatini). Nestled just south of Inhaca Island and Maputo it’s only 4 hours from Ezulwini. The park combines miles and miles of exquisite, untouched sand beaches with rolling coastal plains and inland lakes. Elephants are present and fairly commonly seen along with reedbuck, waterbuck, warthog and kudu.

Maputo Elephant Reserve shows a herd of elephants

Accommodation ranges from luxury lodges to mid-range bungalows and camping. What makes this place so unique is that you can combine a game drive safari experience with the beach and diving. This is a place well worth visiting, it’s like paradise on earth.

For more information or to book your own Mozambique tour email us tours@alloutafrica.com

A devastating time for our decade-long database.

All Out Afica — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 11:19:02 +0000

At the All Out Africa Marine Research Centre we have, like everyone through 2020, had an extremely quiet time. This has been devastating for our decade-long database now near-on a 12-month data gap. All has not been lost, however! Over the last couple of weeks, we were able to jump on a few of the dive boats in Tofo and managed to get a few lucky encounters.

We had one extremely rough day on the ocean where the boat launch was nearly cancelled. Bracing ourselves through the chop, inevitably when we rolled back to get underwater it was absolutely glorious on dive site ‘Giants’. With top-to-bottom visibility, what a relief to get off the surface. As we turn to see where we are heading, a carpet of white and black glides over the rocky bottom – a reef manta ray directly below us! We slowly headed to the sea floor and held our position, but as a small dive group of 4, our new manta friend was so relaxed she circled us several times. She once flashed her belly within two meters of our heads! ID shots taken, we continued the dive.

A diver taking ID Shot

A little way along the tall reef wall, we would often find the resident loggerhead turtle in a rocky overhang, but he just wasn’t there. Perhaps he has moved on since it’s been so long that we have been diving on ‘Giants’. Enjoying the schooling trevally overhead and inspecting the little white-banded cleaner shrimp in their holes, bam. We look up and our old huge loggerhead neighbor almost swam right into us! What a relief to see him, and to know he’s still keeping guard of his rocky nook. Just as our computers had begun to tell us it was time to ascend, we always take a look all around – above and below in the depths. Unbelievable.

A first for me after nearly 5 years of diving these waters, a ragged-tooth shark! Sadly, it was sitting at around 35 meters, and we were forced to begin our ascent. It goes to show – you must always be patient and persistent, you never know what a rough ocean might deliver.

To learn more about our All Out Africa Marine Research project, or talk about how you can get involved, please email bookings@alloutafrica.com

End of Year Christmas Party For Our NCP Children

All Out Afica — Fri, 20 Dec 2019 12:14:03 +0000

As a child I always cherished the December holidays, especially the latter days of this festive month, that we grew up knowing that it’s Christmas holidays. I would enjoy the family gatherings, feasting and that moment when it was time to open the Christmas presents.

Enough about one’s Christmas month upbringing and let me share what a wonderful morning I had with our NCP children, spreading around all our 8 Neighbourhood Care Points. As an All Out Africa staff member, my colleagues and I managed to create an amazing Christmas spirit atmosphere with a for these less privilege children that we Love and Support.

With the traditional Christmas spirit “roaming in the air”, we felt that the prefect venue to hold this year’s children Christmas party would be a place called “Mantenga Cultural Village”, which has great Swazi traditional values and cultural experience. The cultural village is located in a peri-urban area in Ezulwini, an area centered between our NCPs’, so logistically it was the perfect venue.

What an awesome decision our team made in securing this venue because all our NCP children and majority of the NCP teachers ventured into a cultural exploration that they had not experienced before. Seeing those faces when we entered these grounds, made one’s emotional nerve feel a kind of “pain of happiness”, if that makes sense, which obviously made me smile throughout the morning.

The incorporation of a cultural village, where Swazi history, culture and traditional dance is brought alive for visitors was just awesome to see and watch. We all had a great time and most importantly the children make it even more especial for us as an All Out Africa, community outreach project team.

Written by Tjengisa Dlamini, Social Projects Coordinator

Independent Researcher – Calling for Participants

All Out Afica — Tue, 06 Aug 2019 10:14:24 +0000

All Out Africa is well known in the industry for its research, with over 90 publications in scientific journals under its belt. In addition to the work our team conducts in Eswatini and Mozambique, we also have support of masters and doctorate students from all over the globe.

Charmaine is one of these students. She contacted us this year looking to collaborate on a research proposal that targets volunteer tourism, and how it is assisting conservation efforts. This is a perfect fit for us!

She is joining our projects in Mozambique in August where she will spend time with our marine conservation volunteers. She has also now opened up the opportunity to be a part of her research to our entire network of volunteers!

If you would like to assist AOA in its mission to support research, and researcher students, and also aid Charmaine in the perusal of her PhD project, we invite you to participate in an online survey that would allow her to understand your experience with All Out Africa as a volunteer. This survey will help us promote our projects and encourage more volunteers to have “Adventures that change lives.”

The survey will take approximately 5 mins.

If you have volunteered in our Marine Conservation Project, please use this survey: https://forms.gle/Gdwigj7mN4rwq6ay6

If you have volunteered in any of our other volunteer Projects (in any destination), please use this survey: https://forms.gle/PEDHHrV1NgUk4JvA7

If you have any questions, feel free to email AOA at marketing@alloutafrica.com or the researcher at charmaine.danielle.cilliers@gmail.com

Thank you for helping us make a difference!

If you have a research project you would like to collaborate on with All Out Africa, please email bookings@alloutafrica.com for more info on how to get started!

The Journey to a Masters Degree

All Out Afica — Thu, 07 Mar 2019 11:08:08 +0000

After diving for the first time in 2012, my whole future pivoted towards marine biology. I was in my first year of an ecology and conservation bachelor’s degree at the time when I completed both the Open Water and Advanced. Upon returning to university I changed my degree to Marine Biology. To say I was hooked to the underwater world is an understatement. After completing the bachelor’s degree I fulfilled a few of my other dreams, such as a ski season in Canada and completing an Iron man triathlon. After these things, I was ready to get re-submerged in the world of marine biology – I emailed a dive center in Tofo, Mozambique, and enrolled into a 3-month Dive master internship. I had heard that there was a lot of active research conducted in Tofo, and with a view to find a master’s degree topic, I got to work with meeting everyone I could. It was then that I met Katie, the marine research director of All Out Africa. Katie quickly became and continues to be an invaluable source of knowledge and help. I was also lucky enough to be offered a job at a dive center, allowing me to stay in Tofo. After some deliberation stingrays became the family of interest as, despite a global distribution, so very little is known about our pancake-fish friends.

Being able to stay in Mozambique while I complete my research is a privilege. With every dive I learn more and more about not just stingrays, but all the incredible creatures the ocean holds.

Written By Jenny Keeping

Click here if you would like to know more about our Marine Research Project, or our Dive Master Training Project.