Horse Riding Holidays in Mozambique

Ride your horse on the fabulous beaches of Mozambique! Unicorn is delighted to offer the ultimate horse riding holiday in Mozambique - the latest 'must see' destination in Africa. If you want to feel the sun on your back in the long cold northern hemisphere winter, then this is the place to head for. The best time to visit any country is before tourists 'discover' it. Having emerged from a long civil war, just 15 years ago, the country is now bursting with potential and developing its tourism infrastructure rapidly, but it is still unspoilt with beautiful natural wonder.

Horse riding holidays in Mozambique are not really suited to safaris as most of the game has still to come back after the war. However the beach riding is superb and the lodges on the Bazaruto archipelago such as Benguerra lodge, are amongst the best in the world. All levels of riding are catered for on this horseback vacation even beginners. Bring the family - children will love it.

Mozambique is located in south east Africa. Despite bordering 6 other African countries - Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and South Africa - it still manages to have approximately 2,500 kilometres of gorgeous coast on the warm Indian Ocean.

Mozambique has a very troubled history. It is a former Portuguese colony and there is still a significant Portuguese inflence present. The famous Portuguese explorer, Vasco de Gama, landed here in 1498 and by 1505 it was colonised and Portuguese culture started to replace that of the Arab and Indian traders who had earlier influenced Mozambique. The slave trade later took hold and was only abolished in the country in 1842. In the 1950s and 60s large numbers of Portuguese settlers were attracted to this beautiful area of Africa and this led to a hostile guerrilla war. However, this finally ended in 1974 and Mozambique gained independence from Portugal in 1975.
Then just 2 years after independence a violent civil war broke out. Fighting ended in 1992 and the country's first multi-party elections were held in 1994. Finally this beautiful country is now at peace and is rebuilding itself.

Portuguese is still the official language of Mozambique but you will also hear many local African languages spoken. With the Europeans came Christianity but there are also many Muslims and some Hindus.

The capital city is Maputo and it is located in the south of the country. There are 3 excellent national parks. The clear ocean waters are perfect for snorkelling in the coral reefs and the beaches around Beira are truly beautiful. Mozambique really is a superb country for a perfect riding holiday.

Unicorn is delighted to offer the following riding holiday in Mozambique:

Mozambique- Paradise Beach Week
This horseback vacation takes you to stunning white sandy beach on fit and well loved horses. Swim with your horse in the deep azure-blue tropical ocean. Explore the coastline on horseback - sunset rides are incredible! Sail in a dhow across the shimmering seas to the national park that is Benguerra Island and meet new horses. This riding holiday is suitable for all levels of riding including novice riders. It is also perfect for non-riding companions and indeed you may like to join them snorkelling or scuba diving on fabulous coral reefs, ocean fishing, swimming, visiting local markets or perhaps just catching the rays on that fabulous beach. As the name says, this is paradise. You will not want this horseback holiday in Mozambique to ever end!

Your accommodation is perfect - a private large thatched chalet right on the beach with living/dining area, private patio & own kitchen (although the holiday is fully catered).

This Mozambique- Paradise Beach Week is a riding holiday in its own right but also makes an unmissable extension to any African holiday such as a riding safari.

Unicorn will always arrange extensions to any of our horse riding holidays. These can be horse-related extensions or non-horse related. Because we feel that Mozambique offers the perfect extension to any holiday we have packaged our ideas together into what we call our Mozambique Extensions holiday. This would make the perfect add-on to a riding safari holiday in Africa. The area is easy to access from Johannesburg in South Africa or from the even closer Kruger Park area with regular direct flights. Unicorn has several different types of accommodation to offer you. We will tailor make the extensions to your exact requirements. We highly recommend the islands of the Bazaruto Archipelago (a national park) and Vilanculos town in the south of Mozambique. The whole area boasts palm fringed white beaches, numerous coral reefs suitable for snorkeling and diving, a large variety of water sports and is also world reknown for deep sea angling. Here's a taster of the various activities on offer to whet your appetetite:

The waters -The warm tropical waters of the region are host to an incredible variety of fish, corals, marine mammals and plants. The water temperature can vary between 28 degrees Celsius (summer) to a still very comfortable 22 degrees Celsius (winter).

Diving -There are extensive reefs found 2 miles, 5 miles and 7 miles from shore. These are suitable for novice to advanced divers and many lodges have dedicated dive centres. Dive courses leading to PADI certificates can be undertaken on site. The area boasts an abundance of hard and soft corals. As a result an immense variety of reef fish, whale sharks and manta rays, schools of pelagic kingfish and barracuda may be seen as well as stingray, shark, potato bass, moray eel and turtles.

Game Fishing- Reknown since the 1960's as one of the world's premier game fishing destinations, Vilanculos and the Bazaruto Archipelago continue to attract serious fishermen and women from around the world. Giant black marlin can be found in the region from October to March with a great variety of other offshore species including sailfish, wahoo, dorado, king mackerel and tuna. All fishing is on a catch and release basis.

Wildlife Viewing -While land based mammals are scarce in this dry area, the number of species living in the warm tropical waters is extensive. Whales, dolphins, sharks and dugongs are all prevalent at various times of year. Humpback whales are commonly encountered in the winter months (June to early November) and hard to miss on a visit of 3 days or more. From October onwards one can often see the whales with very young calves before they head south to colder waters. Sightings of the whale sharks are common from April to July.
Dophins are commonly encountered all year round and there are four differnt species which frequent these waters.
The seas surrounding Vilanculos and the Bazaruto Archipelago are home to one of the largest populations of the endangered dugong. Although now almost extinct it is believed the dugong was responsible for starting the myth of the mermaids. Although rare to see, these waters will probably give you one of the best chances in the world to do so.