An Indian Ocean Idyll
A trip to Mozambique’s Indigo Bay Island Resort and Spa is guaranteed to leave you with a wealth of wonderful sun kissed memories, and your friends green with envy.
To be honest, with a visit to a tropical Indian Ocean island on the cards, my hopes were rather pinned on my husband and I spending a lazy, sun soaked week sans teenage children to regroup and rekindle, in myriad ways. Our consciences got the better of us, however, and our trip to Indigo Bay Island Resort and Spa on the island of Bazaruto was duly scheduled for four, amidst visible but silent screams of horror from our teenage sons at the fact that their Blackberries were to be out of commission for a week (the end of civilisation in their modern cyber worlds).
Family holidays are a source of massive negotiation in our home. My husband needs privacy and nature at his fingertips; the teenage boys need space away from their very trying parents; while I, of the pampered kind, need comfort, crystal blue water and an indulgent place to read my books when I am not placing gourmand-like delicacies between my lips.
And so it was with varying thoughts of sacrifice that we headed to the airport for our two hour flight to Vilanculos, and the short flip over the Bazaruto archipelago to the Indigo Bay Island Resort and Spa.
Fast forward to the end of the week’s holiday, and it is difficult to know how to begin describing the perfection of this island experience. Seriously. Mark a check list of all our needs outlined at the start of the trip, and the result is a page of ticks and a serious number of exclamation marks.
Housed in a two roomed Bay View Villa, we had easy access to the seemingly iridescent sands and balmy azure ocean (icy Cape waters will never feel my toes again). With its combination of huge dunes, white shell-kissed beaches and thick forests of Casuarina trees and coconut palms, the island successfully managed to make us feel as if we were in unexplored territory. A sense of adventure is ever present at Indigo Bay, but it is always backed by supreme comfort and safety and a range of activities to rival a theme park, only so much more thrilling.
The excitement of an outdoor lifestyle was being rediscovered all around us, as we watched fellow travellers work their way through a laden buffet of activities offered by the resort, allowing a taste of both novel experiences and firm favourites. On land there are island drives, horse riding, dune surfing, and Qolf, while the crystal clear ocean provides the playground for kayaking, sailing, windsurfing, snorkelling and scuba. Our sons, their Blackberry addictions well and truly forgotten, tried them all, and as a family we spent a wonderful few hours trying our hand at deep sea fishing. The resort’s tag and release programme thrilled my husband, but our sons and I – all sashimi fans – were heard to sigh very deeply as the tuna and kingfish went back overboard.
The villas with their palm leaf roofs, spread over a distance, provide a sense of privacy and ownership, and when our tropical island fever didn’t leave energy for the stroll, golf carts were always on hand for trips to the resort’s main buildings. That was, of course, when we managed to drag ourselves off the hammocks on our private verandas, or out of our plunge pool.
Condé Nast and Tatler magazines have both rated the island’s Sanctuary Spa among the top ten in the world, and while I look forward to trying the other nine, this one was gloat-to-your-friends bliss.
And then there was the food and the cocktails and the dugongs and the star gazing and… Oh what the heck, you are never going to believe me. Go and discover Indigo Bay for yourself and drive your neighbours mad with tales of your own idyll.
Visit http://www.raniresorts.com/ for more information. Contact Rani Resorts Central Reservation on +27 11 658 0633 or 0861 77RANI (777 264), or email info@raniresorts.com for reservations.
Story by Karin Petersen
