MozGuide

Inhaca (pronounced Inyaaka) Island lies some 24km (15 miles) from Maputo at the entrance to the bay. It is named after the chief who provided refuge for the shipwrecked early Portuguese explorers. Inhaca was probably first sighted by Europeans in 1502, when Vasco da Gama undertook his epic voyage around the Cape of Good Hope in search of King Solomon’s legendary mines. En route to India, Da Gama was rejoined by Luis Fernandes who had been separated from the fleet during a storm at the Cape. Fernandes told of his voyage up a great river (likely to have been the Incomáti) and a bay filled with whales. This is assumed to have been Delagoa Bay, which was later investigated by Captain Lourenço Marques.

The ‘point of gold’ (actually marked on some maps as ‘Monte d’Ouro’) which guided sailors for centuries, marks an unspoilt Mozambican beach that is easily accessible from South Africa and busy during the school holidays. High on densely forested dunes, the lighthouse overlooks the small curved bay where vehicles are only permitted to launch boats on a small section of the sand. The motel, chalets and camp sites are tucked under shady trees, and a constant sea breeze helps to keep the malaria-carrying mosquitoes at bay. Walk south around the point, a short distance down the beach to a tatty beacon, and stand with one foot in South Africa and the other in Mozambique.