Azura Benguerra Island

Absolutely Brilliant! We came here primarily to go deep sea fishing as a special birthday present. But the whole trip was fabulous. The service was impeccable from being met at the airport and being whisked away by Dusty in a helicopter and taken through to Olivia, Nelson, Amos and the Team on the Island all throughout our sadly too brief of a stay. Nothing was too much trouble. Everyone always had a smile on their face. Despite it being nearly full moon we caught and also released, fish : King mackeral (the most delicious), Giant Trevally, Jobfish, Blue fin King fish, Yellow fin & Skip jack tuna, Bonnito, missed landing several wahoo and saw Sail fish flying through the air blowing raspberries at us! We did not catch “The Big One” but we had fun nonetheless. Paulo and Ignacio did a great job. Despite on some days the sea having large swells and on the worst day the swell was around 1.9m but we went through “the Washing Machine” to see a couple of very early season whales on the other side! In the big swells glimpses of them and their huge water droplets spouts out of their head vent and then a leap into the air and humongous splash! Magical. This was the day we also a good many rainbows, we missed the downpour at the Lodge and we saw a Brown skua. According to the Field Guide to the Birds of Africa phone App it was 612 km out of range. It came and flew around us right at the boat. Paolo had seen the bird before and said if you put fish there the bird would take it, though when Ignacio moved to do so the skua flew off. Getting a good photo was tricky in the waves – a bit of the bird and a bit of the boat, then the waves and then the bird! Many thanks to Frank Willems of Birding Zambia for help with the ID. We were lucky to see Dugong (a big thank you to Solfigo and Alex) and turtles each day except one and hundreds of Greater Flamingoes. The dolphins though were outstanding. We had never seen so many, on one day well over 100 in the pod, all around us on and off all morning. They were hunting, tail fins slapping the water, small groups of dolphin with dorsal fins peeping out of the waves; then others at a tangent to those. Leaps out of the water : even tiny dolphin, with dolphin coming right under the bow of the boat as well. My photos are not National Geographic standard but we had fun watching their antics. Our Host, Pedro, did a grand job and was even standing on the beach to meet us off the boat daily with a tray and drinks! Dinner was either on the beach or in secluded crannies. Our Beach villa was always clean and the cookie jar full of cookies which were raided every day and taken fishing with us! Isabel did good (and the Chef’s). The plunge pool – Imagine – our own pool and right outside our villa, looked invitingly Blue, but the water was too chilly. We were a few steps to the sands and at high tide, the lapping waves. We even saw dolphin cruising through the water right in front of us at the Lodge whilst

The most outstanding place in heaven, filled with magical staff that can’t do more to make your day complete. Nothing is too much effort. The person who takes care of you. Who in our case with Edgar- was so attentive and absolutely exceptional. Creating a whatzapp group so every need can be fufilled. We will be back!

This was the most special time for us. Nevermind the absolute beauty of a paradise island, we were treated like royalty by Edgar (Eddie) who thought of things before we would even ask and gave us special treatment by brining us prawns for a lunch when they weren't even on the menu. The employees at Azura are unique in the way they care for you. I made a special friend in Marcia who taught me Portuguese and Johnny who took us snorkeling and held my hand in the water guiding me and helped us find turtles, octopus and a reef shark amongst all the other beautiful tropical fish. He is also the Dugong whisperer and was spotted at least two of these shy creatures while out for snorkeling trips. Let me not leave out the best bar in the world voted by Conde Nast in 2022 - Peri Peri Beach Club. In my opinion still owns that title, it is sublime. Obrigada.❤️