Jenny Blair Hunter
The fragrance of the food wafts along the sweeping white sands of the bay. The soul, spirit and heartbeat of the island is the unspoilt landscape - a creative kaleidoscope of images and colours.
A flock of flamingoes speeding by. Mango swamps with lurking crocodiles. Undulating sand dunes. Their sculptural shapes forming an artistic backdrop. Shoals of brightly coloured fluorescent fish. Their scales gently shimmer in the water.
Azure sea topped by the bluest of skies, butterflies fluttering amongst the green flowering foliage, hummingbirds swooping gracefully. An artist's dream waiting to be brushed onto a canvas. The island looks exactly what it is - a tropical paradise and a dream location for a hotel.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) declared the Archipelagos Islands, 40 km off the coast of Mozambique - of which Bazaruto is one of them - a Marine National Park.
The hotel has a history of its own. Initially there was an old pearl factory on the resort site. This was demolished and became a hotel - Indigo Bay. Then a hurricane swept it away. But the hotel was rebuilt and paradise was regained.
The hotel's accommodation is a thatched bamboo type chalet with a heavily fringed thatch roof hanging down as an added sunshade. The chalets have their wooden stilts firmly embedded in the pristine white sand.
This isn't travel agents' hype. The chalet is right on the beach. There are only a few paces of grass to separate it from the sand. The alluring turquoise sea beckons during the balmy day.
Indigo Bay
Johannesburg Reservations Office
Tel: +27 (0)11 658 0633
Maputo Reservations Office
Tel: +258 21 301 618