Maputo National Park: a magical destination awaits you

Maputo National Park is a thriving wildlife haven, presenting the perfect mix between pristine beaches and bush, all just a four-hour drive from Mbombela.

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May 23, 2023

A rare and treasured jewel of nature just a four-hour drive from Mbombela, the Maputo National Park in Mozambique is the home of one of the most biologically rich and endangered ecoregions in the world.
Offering its visitors a chance to experience pristine beaches, lakes, wetlands, swamp forests, grasslands and mangrove forests, the thriving wildlife haven is the perfect getaway for nature lovers.

Whether you are seeking a thrilling adventure in the great outdoors, wanting to laze in the lap of luxury, or experience the best of both of these worlds, the park has a perfect destination for every single one of its visitors.
This includes the park’s newest addition, Membene Lodge (www.membene.co.mz), an affordable 3-star hideaway that offers open-plan and modern accommodation. It is nestled in a coastal dune forest and the lodge’s design both preserves and incorporates the unique natural environment that surrounds it.

With 72 beds in 24 chalets units and a beach-side restaurant overlooking an untouched beach, nature was front of mind when Membene was designed. Membene also has a campsite with hot water, energy and ablutions.
Another exciting feature of the park are its five 4×4 Wilderness Camps and Xinguti Camp. Ideal for rugged eco-travellers, the camps present an excellent opportunity for immersing oneself in the surrounding untouched environment, allowing you to explore the unique habitats and wildlife of the park.

The park also offers three picnic sites each with an incredible view, including at Lake Xinguti, where the location ensures visitors spectacular game-viewing opportunities of the lake’s resident hippos, crocodiles and birds.
Accessing the park and all the wonders it has to offer is unsurprisingly painless and easy. The development of infrastructure such as roads and signage includes a beautifully upgraded entrance gate that also offers guests ablution facilities, a small shop and plenty of information that will allow visitors to confidently navigate the park. A 4×4 vehicle is, however, recommended for the more sandy roads found in the park.
Maputo National Park is only a two-and-a-half-hour drive on paved roads from the South African border into Mozambique, and just a one-hour-drive from Ponta de Ouro and the KwaZulu-Natal border with South Africa. The park lies in the Lubombo Transfrontier Conservation and Resource Area between Mozambique, South Africa and eSwatini.

This means the area connects Mozambique’s turtle monitoring programme in the park with that of South Africa’s iSimangaliso Wetland Park, a World Heritage Site in KwaZulu-Natal, providing kilometres of safe nesting sites for these critically endangered ancients of the sea. When visiting between October and February, visitors could have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to view a nesting female making her way across the beach, or hatchlings heading to the ocean.
It is all thanks to the hard and tireless work of Mozambique’s National Administration for Conservation Areas (ANAC), the Peace Parks Foundation (PPF) and partners that the conservation area is the true gem it is today.
ANAC and PPF’s fierce advocacy for the preservation and protection of the park’s environment and its inhabitants has created a richly diverse and healthy ecosystem.

This includes a rewilding programme that has seen the reintroduction of 11 species that had become extinct locally, and almost 5 000 animals translocated into the park.
Over the years, the wildlife numbers have grown to an estimated 16 000 animals, signifying the success of intensified ecological management and protection of wildlife and their varied habitats.
The park is a phenomenal visit all-year round, with a variety of wildlife to spot either during a safari experience or a diving or snorkelling exploration.

The sightings include an array of birds, including the African fish eagle and brown-breasted snake eagle, a variety of buck, elephants, zebra, Samango monkeys, humpback whales, whale sharks, bottlenose dolphins, and so much more.
During the summer period in particular, guests may be able to see turtles, such as when the green sea turtles, hawksbill sea turtles, leatherback sea turtles and loggerhead sea turtles arrive on the beaches to lay their eggs.
The PPF has been supporting the development of Maputo National Park since 2002, and in 2018, it signed a partnership agreement with ANAC to jointly develop Maputo Special and Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve for conservation and tourism development activities. The Mozambican government officially declared the joining of the two areas, and thus the new Maputo National Park was born in 2021.

The incredibly biodiverse ecosystem makes this location one of Mozambique’s flagship national parks. From bush and elephants, to beaches and whales, the park perfectly encapsulates a conservation success story.