Economic 1Day Maputo Special Reserve Safari(Maputo National Park)
Description
The Maputo Special Reserve continues to grow into an exciting animal reserve in one of the most unique of locations - right alongside the ocean. Our tour includes a chance to see a range of different animals and if the client would like we make it to this amazingly virgin coastline. Due to the tough terrain in the park it can still be difficult to experience this unique reserve - our economical safari will help more visitors breathe this unique bush and beach air.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Maputo Special Reserve (in Portuguese it's called the Reserva Especial de Maputo), formerly known as the Maputo Elephant Reserve is only 70km away from Maputo and a perfect day trip from this bustling city to this reborn reserve. The Maputo Special Reserve does not have the same animal concentration as nearby Kruger Park but it does have a flourishing animal population that has grown quickly over the last decade with elephants and other fauna such as hippopatumus, crocodiles, giraffes, monkeys, various species of small buck, and extensive birdlife.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
Clients can carry a pack lunch or buy their lunch at the Ponta Membene restaurant. Passport is also important for entering the Park.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(9)
First of all, I don't want to offend anyone, so let's be clear. The guide was nice, he tried to find as many animals as possible, I really thank him. However, I have to agree with the previous negative review that the guide doesn't know much about the park. He didn't even say 2 sentences. When I asked him how big it was, he said he didn't know exactly, he knew about Kruger, which I don't care about, but that's okay. So, just give him the basic information to memorize and then everything will be great! Thanks for your understanding
Hi Martina, We are sorry that José was not able to reply with statistical facts about Maputo National Park. He actually has this information on the map that the park offers at the to Reception Desk on entering. Over the last year we have been training our guides to ensure they know the best animal viewing areas in Maputo National Park as due to the low animal numbers it can be very hard to find animals. He told us that you did find lots of animals which is usually a good day! We appreciate you bringing this gap to our attention and we will ensure that our guides are not only trained in navigating the park but also in this type of factual information.
This national park has a very beautiful nature and animals to see. I enjoyed also visiting the ocean at the end of the trip. Be prepared for a long game driving inside the park . The driver was very and did his best to let me enjoy the trip .
Very nice wildlife. Not much visitors. Good and quiet safari if you dont like a lot of people arround.
The Maputo national park is beautiful. The scenery is amazing. However, do not book the trip with this tour operator! We did book a guided tour to know more about the park and it’s flora and fauna. Prior to the trip we were warned that there would be less animals than the Kruger park. We were okay with that as we wanted specifically to go to this park. Unfortunately, we got a ‘guide’ that was experienced in tours in the Kruger park. He was very friendly but knew nothing about the park or the way around. It seemed that it was his first time in the park. He couldn’t tell us anything about the animals or the park. We brought our own lunch as we were told. We wanted to have it at the beach. However, we were dropped at a restaurant instead as the driver didn’t know the way to the beach. We had a bit of disappointing day. The park is amazing. But the tour operator shouldn’t send unexperienced guides. In total, we paid $350 to get only a driver and not a guide (without counting the third person on the tour). It really feels like a scam.
We're very disappointed that the tour did not meet your expectations. We have been running tours for nearly 10 years now in and around Maputo and as you can see by the other reviews, our clients are always very satisfied. We try to maintain the most competitive rates on the market while maintaining quality. This is our first ever poor review and we will learn from it. Marciano has done this tour at least 20 times so he definitely knows MNP well, but we will still give him another training. Yes, he predominantly does Kruger National Park but his other clients have given him very positive feedback in regards to his Maputo National Park tours too so we're unsure what has gone wrong but we will do out best to address it. We spoke to the agent of the client who went on this same tour in the same car with you and their feedback was "They loved the day and want to know if you have availability for Ponta do Ouro tomorrow". There must have been miscommunication regarding lunch and I'm sorry about this. When all clients on the tour bring their own lunch we stop at Ponta Membene. The third client who joined you on this tour did not take lunch so Marciano stopped at Ponta Milibangalala where there is a restaurant. You were still free to take your packed lunch to the beach (3 minute walk), there were even towels in the car for this but your guide may not have communicated this adequately. Finally I must say we really take offense to the word "scam". We are truly sorry that you didn't have a great experience on this day but we work extremely hard and are very honest operators, as the other reviews attest to. To infer that we tricked you or were dishonest is very offensive and unfair. The other client was very happy with the day, we're sorry that you weren't, by no means did we "scam" anybody.
Maputo National Park is not what I expected but it was a fantastic day. Swimming in the ocean halfway through a game drive was really an incredible experience. Maputo City Tours were very professional, everything ran like clockwork which was impressive considering that the park is very underdeveloped. Some of the sand was very deep and our guide drive very well. The disappointing part was that the park does not have many animals but our guide worked so hard to make sure we did finally see elephants.
Hi Ana, Thanks for your review and your honest feedback. Maputo National Park is pure nature and still quite underdeveloped as you say. For nature lovers it is very popular. For clients who really wish to see lots of animals we usually recommend Kruger as it's almost the same distance and the animals viewing is much better there. You don't get to swim in the ocean when you go to Kruger though!
We saw many animals, also unknown to us. Ofiço was very friendly, gave a lot of interesting information and drove well and safely. Lunch at the restaurant of Montebelo was excellent.
It was a smooth and well planned tour. The ride, the journey, and the whole experience was comfortable, relaxing and had a great time. Oficio was an excellent guide throughout the time!
Maputo City Tours duly warned us that Maputo National Park isnt like Kruger. Less animals, but more natural and more beach. Really lovely day and real aventure. Highly recomended.
The park is beautiful, right on the beach. The roads are poor so don't expect a smooth ride. Maputo City Tours gave a lovely tour, a real adventure
