LIFE IS BETTER AT THE BEACH

 

Coco Rico Resort is located in the dynamic coastal town of Ponta do Ouro, in southern Mozambique.

It is an easy one-hour drive from Maputo, 450kms from Durban and 600kms from Johannesburg. The newly tarred road from the Kosi Bay border and to Maputo has made the town easier to access. 

The infrastructure has been improved and Ponta do Ouro is fast becoming a buzzing community offering fishing, scuba diving, dolphin swimming, snorkelling and surfing.

The Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve is the first marine transfer-frontier conservation area in Africa. It is known and loved for its rich biodiversity and unspoilt natural beauty and home to a variety of marine fauna and flora, from a myriad of tropical fish, humpback whales, dolphins, sea turtles and dugongs, to healthy seagrass beds and a kaleidoscope of coral reefs.

The resort is centrally located and within walking distance to the beach, restaurants, shops, banks and the vibrant marketplace.

OUR RESORT

The resort offers 20 luxury self-catering units accommodating a maximum of eight people. The log-style duplex and simplex bungalows are well equipped with everything you need in the kitchen, spacious living areas, sociable braai area, bouquet DSTV channels, air-conditioning and linen. We provide daily servicing.

We offer a range of facilities to make your stay comfortable and pleasant. We have a communal braai area which is perfect for getting together or reserved for special events. 

We have a spacious meeting/ conference room for team building weekends or corporate events. Our pool and kiddies’ facilities will keep the family entertained within a safe environment.

Additional services include:

Laundry | basic office facilities |VISA credit cards accepted |24 on-site guarding | boat storage during your stay | on-site parking | fish cleaning and gutting |car wash

CONFERENCES & EVENTS

Coco Rico offers the ideal venue for small conferences and team building events. We cater for up to 60 delegates and our staff will assist you with activities to ensure that your time is well spent.

 

 

WEDDINGS

Beach weddings are romantic, simple and deeply memorable. Our wedding packages can cater for 120 guests with the option of a garden or beach ceremony. Our team is experienced in planning your special day and we will work closely with you to ensure that everything runs smoothly.

ATTRACTIONS

We have a strong network within Ponta do Ouro with the ability to arrange water and land-based activities. We will gladly assist you with:

Fishing charters | spear fishing safaris | boat hire, repairs, management | scuba diving | sunset boat cruises | controlled dolphin swimming.

Whether you are looking for a family holiday destination, conference, team building or romantic wedding venue Coco Rico will tick all the boxes!

 

LIFE’S A BEACH…..BARK

Particularly when you are a beach dog in 

Ponta D'Ouro, Mozambique. 

At first sight the dogs at Ponta d’Ouro look healthy and happy. And they are. 

But it took a lot of effort and support to get them in this condition.

Some people still struggle with the concept of stray dogs on the beach, and some (like us) love our morning walks with up to 8 dogs gadding around.

The beach gazebos seem to have a banded deal – rent a gazebo and get a dog – often two or three. These will be your dogs for the day and they will fiercely guard their temporary shelter.

Their parentage has been quite distinct. A virile Ridgeback has left his mark on many a young pup, whilst a brindle lad also seemed to have romanced on the beach. With frequent sterilisation puppies have been controlled.
Protect Ponta is an NGO set up to assist animals in the Ponta d’Ouro and Malongane areas. Frequent fund raising has provided medical and clinical care for dogs. They work with MAPS (Mozambique Animal Protection Society) from Maputo to run rabies and sterilisation clinics.

Food is purchased on a monthly basis and the dogs are fed at The Whaler in the Ponta d’Ouro caravan park.

Most dogs you encounter on the beach are sterilised and immunised on a regular basis. Having them there protects the area from other strays as their territory is marked with determination.

So, if you are going to Ponta d’Ouro or Malongane please give a thought to these dogs and take a bag of dog food through to The Whaler.

September is World Rabies Month and Protect Ponta, in conjunction with MAPS, 

will be running a rabies drive in Malongane and Zitundo 

on the 13 and 14th September 2014. 

Funding is desperately needed.

Donations in food or cash are most welcome.

Contact Shannon at Protect Ponta: 082 464 3223

Follow them on facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Protect-Ponta/170790959649113

https://www.facebook.com/MozambiqueAnimalProtectionSociety

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Whaler-Mozambique/137960419604949

Other blogs by Lois Kuhle:

SMOKE RINGS IN CUBA. A TWO WEEK JOURNEY FILLED WITH SALSA, SUNSHINE AND SILLY PEOPLE: http://smokeringsincuba.blogspot.com/2013/10/smoke-rings-in-cuba-journey-filled-with.html

'LIFE'S COOL'. MY NEAREST AND DEAREST BECAME THOSE THAT GRUNTED, BARKED OR BIT. http://milimanilifescool.blogspot.com/2013/12/i-n-2002-i-was-lucky-enough-to-be-given.html

COOL THOUGHTS – LIFE IN THE SLOW LANE: http://loiscoolthoughts.tumblr.com/

FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/loiskuhlescribbler

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/loiskuhle

THE LITTLE DRINKING TOWN WITH A DIVING PROBLEM

Rest and Relaxation should be on everyone’s schedule but in Mozambique an R&R means something different. While you may end up flat on your back, it might not be quite what the doctor had in mind…

After scrambling across the dusty border post from Kosi Bay to Ponta d’Ouro, bouncing over the sand dunes with little more than a sand track to follow, you arrive at the bustling coastal town of Ponta d’Ouro, a favourite for drinkers and divers. It was once a small coastal haven for South Africans who owned beach houses, but the war soon took care of that. After the end of the war, and assurances that the land mines had been cleared, South Africans came back in their droves.

‘Fernando’s’ is the first shebeen at the entrance to the village. Perched on the edge of the market place, where everything cooks in the hot sun, Fernando’s has grown from a table and chair establishment to a full-on bar with a huge South African stamp. Over the years patrons have taken ownership of the bar and catapulted Fernando into infamy.


No Ponta visitor worth his salt passes Fernando’s without stopping for a R&R. Great big beer mugs are slapped on the table. A full bottle of Tipo Tinto* rum is splashed over ice cubes, a dash of Sparletta raspberry finishes it off. The mug is already filled to the brim with rum leaving little space for the raspberry.It’s only there for colour. With great enthusiasm mugs are clinked, cheers and toasts are made, and down the hatch she goes.

Say ‘good-night’ because that’s one helluva drink! Life after that is seen through rose tinted glasses, the ice is broken and everyone makes new best friends.

Welcome to Ponta d’Ouro – the little drinking town with a diving problem!

Place to stay: Coco Rico - www.cocorico.co.mz

*Tipo Tinto the Mozambican Rum has been made in Maputo, Mozambique since the 1920′s.

Other blogs by Lois Kuhle:
FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/loiskuhlescribbler

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/loiskuhle
SMOKE RINGS IN CUBA. A TWO WEEK JOURNEY FILLED WITH SALSA, SUNSHINE AND SILLY PEOPLE: http://smokeringsincuba.blogspot.com/2013/10/smoke-rings-in-cuba-journey-filled-with.html
'LIFE'S COOL'. MY NEAREST AND DEAREST BECAME THOSE THAT GRUNTED, BARKED OR BIT. http://milimanilifescool.blogspot.com/2013/12/i-n-2002-i-was-lucky-enough-to-be-given.html
COOL THOUGHTS – LIFE IN THE SLOW LANE: http://loiscoolthoughts.tumblr.com/