Shark diving near Umkomass, Durban

I had visited Durban once in 2013 and thought that I had already seen what was to be seen. And then two things happened. One was after my trip to the warm waters of Mozambique, everyone mentioned that the water in Durban is also like that, always warm! Second was after the cage shark diving experience in Cape Town, I found out that you can do non-cage shark diving in Durban! When I did a bit of research for dive places, two popular ones came up - Sondwana Bay and Aliwal Shoal. Both these sites were close to Durban and so a plan materialised...

Flights from Joburg to Durban were quite expensive for the weekend and the weather was not supposed to be great. So we kept the plan tentative, that we would go if the weather wasn’t bad. The weather turned and so we finally decided to drive to Durban anyways.

We were staying in a village called Umkomass, near the Aliwal Shoal diving site. It was a small village on the eastern coast of South Africa, about 50 kms south of Durban. The route from Joburg was the same as we had taken for Drakensburg before and later for Swaziland - the national highway N3 all the way. And it was quite a busy highway especially with the number of trucks plying between Durban and Joburg.

The drive was about 600 kms and would take 6 hours. So we left at about 4 pm on a Friday night after office. However, one of our colleagues was unable to leave on time, so we had to wait for him at one of the garages outside town. Given how late we got, we were speeding quite a lot. There were even a couple of speed flashes on the way. Thankfully nothing materialised.

It was a good drive, at least for the first half when we could see around. Vast green farms creating many memorable landscape views. There were very few service stations on the way, which I found surprising. Or maybe they closed late at night. We could not see much in the second half of the drive as it had got dark. But I do remember a small town called Howick - it looked fascinating at night with its twinkling lights you could see from far off.

For the last 100 kms drive, we were faced with two options - one was to continue to Durban on the N3 and then turn right along the coast towards Umkomass. The other was to take a smaller road R603 towards Umkomass. We took the later option which within minutes felt like the wrong thing to do! The road took us for an hour on single lane roads which felt in the middle of nowhere and that too in the middle of the night! I think we also drove through multiple townships during that time but it wasn’t clear if those were good or bad areas. As we couldn’t see anything😜! And the last part of the road was along the sea, which again we could not see.

Anyways we reached our airbnb in Umkomass village, safe and sound but quite late around midnight. Our airbnb was a huge house with three living areas(!), a pool outside with a view of the sea and a huge garden surrounding it. The safety system was quite complicated, but we thought hopefully it was safe! After appreciating the house for some time, we quickly fell asleep as we had an early morning dive booked for the next day (btw I have become a fan of airbnbs now, its so much more interesting to stay in a house like a local than a hotel!).

Sunrise in Umkomass

When we woke up in the morning, we finally got the see the area in its glory. Umkomass was a group of huge bungalows, all located right on the sea coast. The sunrise rays falling on the house created some interesting scenes. And we saw huge fences around all the houses. So it wasn’t as safe an area we expected. But still there was a beachy relaxed vibe all around which we felt the entire weekend, inspite of the fences everywhere.

We had booked diving in the morning at the Aliwal diving school which was an 8 mins walking from our airbnb. I had plans of doing two normal dives to Aliwal Shoal for the day. But our instructor convinced me to go for the shark dive today itself. It was risky and I wanted to take time to get myself ready for it. When I asked the diving instructor about it, he said ‘its not risky and sharks don’t attack humans like they show in the movies. Sharks have been living in the seas for millions of years, and humans have been going there only for a hundred or so years. So the sharks haven’t really changed their food habits of millions of years to eat humans’.

I don’t know if it was this explanation but I decided to give it a go. (btw the shark dive is almost double the price of the normal dive). So we were off in a trailer to the beach at the river mouth, and then in a boat launch into the sea. The boat launch from the beach is apparently tough. The boat has to cross a sand bed - which is a shallow area with sand very close to the surface and brown waves because of all the sand. So the boat driver has to be an expert to get the boat out of the river mouth. We had to try two times to get it right. For the first time, we had to immediately turn and come back when one of the waves was bigger than was considered safe. But we made it out the second time.

For the first dive, we went to Howards Castle and got to the job of searching for sharks! First, the instructor put a can with some fish food into the water with a string. Then you go down along the string. Once down, you find a spot slightly away from the can and float around waiting for sharks. And then slowly and slowly they start coming in…

Black tipped shark

We saw some 5-6 black tipped sharks come in and swim around that area for about 30-40 minutes. Also along with them were the flat morenas, who stick to them eating the dead skin off them. And we also saw a huge potato bake. It was a beautiful sight, as if stuck in time in slow motion - just observing these ancient creatures swim gracefully round and round for long. If you are lucky, you can spot many other sharks in this area, like bull sharks, tiger sharks etc.. But none others came that day.

I was being relatively risk averse and mostly observing the sharks from afar. A lot of the other divers were swimming right in the middle of the sharks the whole time, as if with them. But clearly, I wasn't as convinced by the instructors' story of sharks not having discovered the taste of human flesh and so kept my distance 😜.

For our next dive, we changed boats and went to the Chunnel caves. While we were still outside, we saw a group of of dolphins, just swimming and playing near us! It was a nice sight to see the groups playing with each other, there was even a baby dolphin among them. One of the other diving groups had seen the same dolphins group while on the dive and we got excited.

Turtle during dive

After the exciting shark dive, this one felt like a typical dive. It was a drift dive along a sandstone reef. We went round caves and spotted lot of different sealife - a couple of turtles, a lobster, a reef shark, a moray eel, silver tailed sting ray, a shark tooth (!), a white tipped shark, a starfish, and of course, loads of usual coloured fish. Overall it was a good dive but we did not see the dolphins that we had seen swimming on the surface.

After the two dives, we spent some time at the dive centre eating breakfast in a relaxed ambience. It was so hot that time, it felt very comfortable to be under shade. We talked a bit to the dive instructors, they are always an interesting bunch to chat with. One of the girls had left her business development role to become an instructor. And apparently the dive centre goes bankrupt every few years but they still continue functioning as usual 😎.

Once back at the airbnb, we were so tired with the heat that we just relaxed. I sat outside in the terrace of the house, listening to the sea and drifting to a nice place… I also spotted a green snake and a rivet monkey right outside the house while lounging there. #WildSouthAfrica.

Umkomass beach

In the evening, we got out to explore the village a bit. We walked along the beach but it wasn't really a sit and chill beach - lot of people were fishing there. Also by the way, I saw lots of Indians here, running shops and on the beach. I also finally saw why people say Durban is full of Indians.

We were planning to drive to Durban for dinner, but were so tired that we cancelled our plans and spent the evening at the neighbouring dive centre - Blue Ocean Resort. They were celebrating their anniversary with a huge carnival party and a live singer. Our dive friends were all there as well as the whole village. In the beginning, there was a dance performance by a group of Zulu children, they kept us enthralled for long. And then the singer sang till late, keeping the dance party going. The party was a good one, but we got tired soon and came back before it finished.

The next day was relatively relaxed. We cancelled the diving that we had planned, had a home cooked breakfast and then left for Durban. The drive was all along the coast on the 102 and pretty all the way - the french Riviera of South Africa. A coastal drive, with green areas and beautiful houses (so typical of SA, it still never fails to mesmerise me!).

While on Durban promenade

In Durban, we went to the promenade on the beach and walked there for a bit. There were a few mud sculptures scattered along the way. And lots of high rises on the side plus lot of people surfing. All in all, nothing too exciting. The weather turned for the worse by then and it got cloudy and rainy. So we had the brilliant idea to have an Indian lunch at Copper Chimney, located right on the promenade. But it turned out to be a terrible idea. We even tried the SA Indian dish of bunny chow but did not like it either. The food was quite bad, and after a disappointing lunch, it was time to drive back to Joburg.

The drive back took us 6 hours and through 3 states. It was a striking drive when leaving Zulu land especially since we could see where we were going 😇. Mountains and green valleys with beautiful houses perched atop those. And waterfalls and so on. We saw rural areas with cows and goats and farms on the sides. And secondary forests and loads of pretty vistas. There was no sun all day but still it felt like paradise when we were there.

On the way back, we crossed a pass where it was totally foggy. Driving there felt tough given the cars were still driving fast and there were loads of trucks driving fast even though it was mountainous and foggy. We somehow made out of it during daylight. We almost got stopped by a policeman too once but thankfully he was too lazy to walk till where we had stopped. The sunset was again good, with a great orange hue visible till very later at night. Its always so difficult to describe memorable drives, isn’t it?

Durban skyline

We finished the drive in 6 hours with one stop in between and were back in Joburg by night. It was a nice weekend, even though we were not sure that we would be able to cover the 6 hour drive comfortably. But it turned out to the quite easy. On this trip, we could have given Durban a miss as it was just a typical city. But the rest of the trip was memorable. Durban countryside has a lot to offer, unlike the city. And I can see myself going there again too, maybe staying at a different village this time?

Relaxation Mozambiqan style, in Maputo

My trip to Mozambique started out quite tentative. I booked the flight and hotel to Maputo earlier, but wasn’t sure till the last minute if I will be able to go or not. In fact I hadn’t even researched much on what I would do there, since I was waiting for my visa till the last minute. I finally got my visa only a day before I had to leave and that too a single entry. So my future trips to Mozambique couldn’t really happen. But at least Maputo could?

Maputo beach, sans thunderstorm 😜

And then a couple of my colleagues told me the evening I was flying that there was a huge thunderstorm that had hit Maputo on the weekend and was causing havoc. But given I had already spent the money, I thought might as well. And hopefully it didn’t turn out to be a bad decision. Of course by the end of the weekend, I knew it was definitely the right decision as the thunderstorm had affected the weather in Joburg more and it had rained the entire weekend!

So finally I took off with all the doubts in my mind. I flew there Friday night. It was a short flight, barely 40 mins or so. In fact, most people from SA drive to Maputo rather than fly. Maybe that's why the flight was almost empty - not even 10% of the seats were full! Or maybe it was the news of the thunderstorm?

Anyways when I landed, the airport felt very small. And empty. Which turned out good for me. It barely took 15 minutes to get out of the airport (though the immigration people talked for 5 mins within themselves about my passport and visa!). And 40 minutes to get to the hotel - it was so efficient. The tourism guy at the airport was surprised though that I had not booked a transfer and so came out of the airport to put me in a "safe" taxi 😝.

The first feeling I got when out of the airport was of Goa. A relaxed humid vibe of being next to the sea. The cab ride was about 15 mins and I got sight of why on wiki, the country is portrayed as very poor. Broken roads and slums lined the way to the hotel. But the taxi guy was driving with his windows open! So I am guessing it was safer than Joburg 😆.

I was staying at the Southern Sun hotel which was located on the seaside area; as different as possible from the areas I drove through. This was the tourist hub with the best location in the city - a row of high-end hotels on an isolated beach side.

Southern Sun, at night

I checked in to the hotel, which at first felt very average and unimpressive, given the quality of its rooms. But then I came out and my perspective changed drastically 😇. The hotel building was an expansive yellow coloured colonial building with towers and all!! Just outside, there was a pool lined with palm trees, and after that was the sea with the sound of waves. And it was so warm! I was already enjoying the moment, it felt like paradise already.. So I sat outside, listening to the waves under the stars and the palm trees, imagining what the sights and sounds from the day will bring!

I was in Maputo for a day and a half. It would have been better if I had booked a diving/sightseeing trip to the nearby islands beforehand. But since I did not, I spent most of my time in the city itself. Because my room did not have a sea view, I spent a lot of my time sitting in the outside areas of the hotel. Plus the AC was always so cold, it felt as terrible inside as it was warm and fuzzy outside! So I had all my meals sitting out in the sun and get all the Vitamin D I don't get in London 😜.

The outside area of the hotel was amazing even during the day. It was right next to the beach, with an inviting infinity pool overlooking the waves. And the weather was just perfect, hot enough to want to sit outside and go into the water. And the water in the sea was warm! I have never seen sea water so warm, ever… It was a pleasure to go in and swim and lose yourself, even though I did not stay in the sea for very long.

In the morning, I took a quick and short walk along the beach. All of it felt so much like Portugal - reminded me of my Faro trip from last year. The beautiful white houses on the hills next to the beach with magnificent views of the sea. And loads of cafes and restaurants on the beach for a lazy day out. But then there was a side here which would be missing in Portugal. There were parts of the beach which were dirty. And as I walked out, I saw lot of poor people sitting around. There were lot of people trying to sell their wares (beautiful African handicrafts) on the beach. And my hotel had a guard to keep the hawkers away from the residents. The ATM I was walking to wasn’t working either. And most of the people coming there were white. Its the same stereotypical views as I had seen in other places in Africa. Never a comfortable sight 😟.

Maputo local crafts market

Anyways, I did two touristy things on my first day - took a local city tour and then spent some time in the local fish market. The city tour was about 3-4 hours, in a red tuktuk, with the driver being the guide and driving to some of the local popular spots. While driving through the city, it felt quite open, rich and green. Our first stop was the local crafts market which had lot of African wooden wares, paintings and the likes to buy. And then there was a tree under which hung hundreds of straw and cloth bags - they all made for a very pretty picture.

Just nearby, I visited the Polana Serena hotel which is amongst one of the prestigious old hotels in Maputo. It felt rich as usual, plus had quite a panoramic view of the beaches below and the downtown on one end. The next stop was the Cathedral - a neat building in white, built by the Italians. There was a wedding going on inside the church which I spent some time observing.

Samora Machel and City Hall

Next to it was the statue of the first President of Mozambique - Samora Machel. My guide told me lots of stories about him, he was clearly a fan. Apparently Samora had helped Nelson Mandela a lot during his apartheid struggle. And he had been mysteriously killed when visiting South Africa, apparently by the SA regime because of his support for Mandela. So after Mandela became free, he married Samora’s wife and also helped his son with money as Samora had been honest and hence poor all his life. Apparently, the Mozambican Presidents of today don’t have these problems of honesty and poverty, according to my guide 😇.

Just behind Samora's statue was a City Hall which looked quite rundown to me. Then we went to the Jardim Tunduru botanical gardens. Apparently it has plants from many different places from the world. But what I saw were loads of married couples getting their photo shoots done there. When I spoke to my guide, he said that a lot of Mozambicans were given up their own traditions and aping the Western traditions. The photo shoot in white wedding dress was one of them 😜. My next stop was the French Cultural Centre nearby where there was an exhibition of metal works using wasted products.

Governor house, by Eiffel

We also passed by an (ugly) steel house which had been built by Eiffel for the governor of the city. Really, was that a thing to see? To be honest, by this time I thought my tuktuk guide was taking me to places which are not really touristy, but coming back I realised, they are all on the trip advisor list of places to visit! (I couldn’t have checked it all when on the tour as there were no 3G/4G data services there!).

Maputo railway station

The next stop was an old Portuguese fort located right next to the harbour which has an important place in the history of the city but I did not go in. There is a museum inside plus some old weapons and canons from old times. We then drove past the Maputo station building which presented a nice juxtaposition of the colonial past with the present. And the next stop was the local municipal market, where I saw loads of Indians. I bought a couple of small handicrafts from there. I had got bored by then, and the weather being extremely hot at 30+ degrees did not help 😅. So finally we drove back towards my hotel along a coastal road, which felt greener and cooler then the rest of the city. And had high rises next to it (The unsafe place my hotel had warned me about I think). In hindsight, I would think the city tour was missable. A trip to one of the islands nearby would be better. Also one of the other walking tours offered by the tour operators may not be bad.

Local fish market

After the tour, the guide dropped me at the fish market (mercado de peixe) near my hotel, which was a covered market where the locals sell fresh fish. The mussels there were so fresh that they were spurting water in their tubs! The fish market was a quick stop but right next to it were many stalls where loads of tourists were sitting and eating their lunch. And I loved this market! There was something so lazy about this place, I sat there for long, eating lunch, reading and observing everyone around. The hawkers did disturb a bit though, I clearly looked like a tourist😜. The lunch was tasty too, though it was expensive - almost 20 GBP for just two fish based dishes. But totally worth it!

The rest of Saturday and Sunday was spent lounging in the hotel and swimming in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean. Initially I had felt a bit that there weren't many fun things to do in Maputo. Maybe I should have booked the island trips to the beaches nearby. They all left early in the morning though which meant I had missed them already. But then that view totally changed after the next 1 day of total lounging at the hotel 😊.

The hotel during the day, paradise!

The hotel was awesome, with a great location and ambience around it. It had two restaurants next to each other, with outside seating and serving yummy food. The pool was great, but the sea even better. The water was actually warm, it might have even been 25-30 degrees! It was amazing. And it was shallow, you could walk for a long distance. It was clean too, though the red mud made it look not so clear. I don’t know how the rest of the two days flew by. All I remember is the sun and the waves...

5 flights of the day 😊

The hotel suggested that I leave the hotel 3 hours in advance for an airport 15 mins away! And for an airport with barely 5 flights 😆. Thankfully I did not listen to them and left only 2 hours earlier. Still it was too early I think. I was done with immigration in 10 mins. And a tip, they don’t care about any liquids in the check-in bag.

While going to the airport, I took an open red tuktuk. I was slowly feeling brave 😝. I wish I hadn’t been scared by all the tourist websites I had read before, and explored the city fully. There was a carnival near my hotel on Saturday night which I did not go to given all I had read earlier. Maybe, I should have gone there. The city did not feel scary at all. It felt so chilled and relaxed, even the drive to the airport.

Beach in Maputo

The city felt so Portuguese everywhere (by the way have you noticed how different English and Portuguese colonies are? The English gave their colonies conservatism and discipline while the Portuguese settled more fun and relaxed colonies). They really love their sea, right? They chose their places based on the sea and made them all so much more chilled and fun. I saw glimpses of Brazil and Goa and Faro in Maputo - all ex-Portuguese colonies.

The water in Maputo was quite clean but the red mud made it look not so much. Hence a lot of the beaches slightly away are more popular. They accept ZAR and USD in the country though you still may be better off taking out some local currency as the exchange rate used is not too favourable. Also there is no mobile data when there. Maybe they do have data, but my phone did not pick up any signal. I can’t tell you how weird that felt even though it was just for two days. Also, English is not spoken much there. Portuguese is the national language of the country even though its everyone's second language. Turns out that because there were too many tribal languages, this was the only way to get everyone to speak the same language 😲.

The poverty is there to see too though. Hawkers pester tourists a bit, trying to sell their wares. They so often stand at the boundary of the hotel showing their stuff to the hotel guests. And the guards keep them off. When you take off is when you realise that maybe the tourist websites are right - the old town and the beach resorts are just 1% of Maputo. Its where the rich live. The rest is a sea of humanity and maybe not as safe.

Staying at a resort keeps you insulated from this real country. This is not my kind of travel, but maybe its fine for a place not known to be very safe. All in all, I think Maputo could be given a miss given its a city but then the beach and the hotel was good, so maybe its do-able.

I though had an amazing time there. The mythical thunderstorm which was all over in the news was not to be seen at all. It was hot and sunny the entire weekend! So much so, that I did not want to leave. At all. There was something about the air that had got to me. Never have I ever relaxed so much, so soon. I am definitely coming back to Mozambique, maybe to their fabled beaches. Or the diving everyone keeps raving about. Or to explore the local culture which I could not do this time. And there's a ready-made itinerary for the next time 😊.