Blog Posts

Today FB posted a memory from 9 years ago which prompted me to reflect on just how far Ilha Blue has come since our humble beginnings in 2012.

Gurué is a Mozambican market town in the foothills of the Rift Valley. Fertile with a wonderful climate and spectacular scenery. It deserves to be on every travellers wish list

Book a wilderness camping adventure on Ilha das Cobras and save 40%.

Axinene Ari Vava is turning heads, catching the eyes and ears of many. It’s not surprising given the energy generated by a focussed group of women. Together we are 23; 19 trainees plus 4 of us in textile design, training and management. And it’s b ...

An experience you will never forget Dhow to Spectacular Goa Island twice a day over Xmas and New Year period Spend a night or two camping on your own desert island. Goa Island is a short distance from Ilha de Mozambique but after 5pm when the vi ...

Its holiday season and we know that when its time to celebrate "everyone loves a beach". This season we are making it easier and more affordable to experience the wonders of historic Ilha de Mozambique, the surrounding archipelago and sparkling trop ...

Um convite para lançar e celebrar o projeto têxtil sustentável de Axinene Ari Vava. Junte-se a nós para dar as boas-vindas aos nossos convidados especiais Wacy Zacarias e Djamila de Sousa, as artistas da Karingana Textiles que irão dar a formação ...

An island incubator - Ilha Blue is hatching new local businesses. Its always been our dream to incubate new tourism ideas on Ilha. Thats why this new initiative with Samira is so exciting. Hopefully its the first of many such initiatives. A long ...

Mozambique's fishermen are a tough bunch. Setting out to sea every day in a leaky one-man wooden canoe. Each day has the potential to be an 'amazing adventure', not really what a person looks for in a day job, but these are tough people in tough t ...

As we field the ever-changing machinations of the Covid -19 pandemic, we have reset our course of action with the women of Ilha de Moçambique. For some months now we have been in conversation with the talented and inspiring co founders, Wacy Zacarias ...

Restoring an important piece of Ilha's history Ilha Blue's shop was once part of a much bigger complex but like so many properties on Ilha it had been subdivided years ago. In its original form it would have had retail space faci ...

Big accommodation discounts are available for whale watchers this season Partly in response to the Corona pandemic and also as a way of making the destination more responsible, Ilha Blue and Ilha's accommodation providers have agreed to collaborate ...

The northern tip of Ilha is where most of the visitor go to first. It's where the forteleza, museum, pontáo and the loveliest beach are all located. It's also where the main secondary school is. So often its buzzing with life, especially on the week ...

What to do during business shutdown? Our black boat and snorkelling crew In the last week we've repurposed our resources and used them to clean the seabed beneath Ilha's old jetty - the pontão. Right in front of the Palace, beneath the waves ...

Latest update on Coronavirus. I'm pleased to say that the official news on coronavirus in Mozambique looks good, relatively few infections and no deaths. However, it is a concern that health authorities don’t know exactly how many of the victims con ...

'We are the owners of this place' Axinene is our working title for the Women's Empowerment Project. This title, brimming with confidence, came about in 2019 when we ran a small pilot with young Ilha women to introduce innovation to the menu withou ...

I hope you stay safe and well in your lockdown wherever that may be. As the saying goes "we are living in interesting times", our world has been turned upside down but we have the opportunity to come together to remake it into something positive, so ...

We were very pleased to receive this video from Gorongosa National Park. They are the latest responsible tourism enterprise to commit resources to protecting the local community from Coronavirus (the Covid-19 Pandemic). And it's a lot of people, the ...

"Repurposing" - our response to the challenge of Covid-19 What do you do when you have a tourism business but don't have any tourists? The obvious answer would be to take down the signs and shut up shop. At Ilha Blue we have decided on a differen ...

African national parks close to protect gorillas and chimpanzees from coronavirus Virunga NP Mountain Gorilla National parks in Rwanda and Congo are temporarily shutting their doors to tourists and researchers to protect Africa’s endangered ...

This is a climate emergency. We are joining with many other tourism organisations large and small around the globe to lead on climate action.

Ilha Blue is a social enterprise with people at its heart. We intentionally tackle social problems, provide people with access to employment and training, and help the environment. Over the next 5 years we want to increase our social impact by reaching out to our networks

The unusual ways many African countries got their names The concept of nation states in Africa is only a bit over a century old, arising after the 1884 Berlin Conference and the subsequent Scramble for Africa by European superpowers of the time. It ...

Article that discusses the increased interest in African Oral histories and Ilha Blues part in keeping the tradition alive

Festival season drinks are now available to purchase from Ilha Blue

Treat yourself to something really special this holiday season. Private camp Ilha Das Cobras Book your family or group of up to 8 friends on an overnight camp to Cobras and be the first to enjoy this spectacular wilderness destination staying ...

A group of 5 young women have joined together to use locally available ingredients to create innovative, tasty products. The group go by the name 'Axinene' which, in Enahara (the traditional language of Ilha de Moçambique), means 'the owners of this ...

Kids drawings of whales Success getting kids interested in whales At the recent Whale Festival on Ilha we set out to raise awareness of the whale migration. But first, we had to create awareness of the whales themselves. What are they, how big are ...

Ilha Blue is creating a traveller’s hub on Ilha De Mozambique

Volunteering can be a life changing experience. If you would like to travel with a purpose this is the answer

Latest news on sightings, calving and overall whale numbers The whale migration is an annual event. Whales begin arriving here in late June and stay until October or even November. The main breeding activity (the best time for whale watching) is Aug ...

Ilha Blue is putting together a regular newsletter so we can share stories about ourselves and the destination. We'll be including tips for travellers; things like visa information, new or better transport options, cool places to stay, interesting ...

Turning our shop into a learning space and resource base for travellers. For the last 2 years Ilha Blue has been operating out of the most fantastic shop right in the heart of World Heritage Stone Town. Now we've entered into an arrangement tha ...

Years of experience are paying off Once again the Ilha blue whale watching team are getting the most and the best whale sightings. Last Saturday was a perfect example, eight boats went out and only one saw whales, and that was ours. Lead by Abd ...

Every year Humpback whales make an enormous 5000 klms journey from the freezing polar waters to the warm waters to mate and to give birth. Ilha de Moçambique is one of few places on the planet where this calving occurs and this makes Ilha a very spec ...

How to attract the best skilled professionals to work as volunteers in your responsible tourism business? At WTM Africa last week in Cape Town, Ilha Blue discussed how they have managed to bring young professionals from across the world to work as v ...

How to attract skilled professionals to work for free in your responsible tourism business ? We will be speaking on this topic at WTM Africa this week in Cape Town, discussing how we have managed to bring young professionals from across the world ...

This is sad news. After 9? 10? years Ruby's on Ilha De Mozambique is closing its doors to Backpackers and other budget conscious travellers. Everybody has a soft spot for this place. For years it was the centre of things, a hub where travellers me ...

The Travelhadores are back on the road again https://ilhablue.com/blog/the-travelhadores/ travelling 2500kilometres from the original capital of Mozambique to the present day capital of the country. The travel exchange is between Ilha Blue Island Saf ...

  Humpback fluke Ilha Blue Island Safaris are dedicated to introducing Responsible Whale Watch practices in Northern Mozambique and this season the company is offering large discounts to school groups, educators and influencers to enlist th ...

Musings on the Purpose of Travel, and Inspiration from Ilha Blue A long-time lover of travel, I’ve lately been feeling that it’s time to define the relationship. It’s time to have the tough conversation about what it all means—if anything. Perh ...

Every year Humpback Whales migrate thousands of kilometers up the East African coast to breed and give birth in the warmer waters of Northern Mozambique. And now a group of marine scientists, tourism operators, conservationists, local communities and ...

On the 28th of March to mark the 200th year of the City, Ilha de Mozambique opened its new and very stylish tourism information office. The new office, or Posto de Turismo, is in the Girassol Building, one of the islands most recognizable landmarks . ...

Life savers Bringing in the flags after the Christmas and New Year festivities. For the last 3 years Ilha Blue have put out more than 300m of lines, floats and marker buoys to create a safe place for bathers at Kharamu Beach, close to the Forte ...

Transforming local lives The Ilha Blue business initiative has as its core purpose ‘ to transform local lives through employment, training and increased access to opportunities. Aims that can only be achieved through a long-term commitment and by ...

The humpback whales are well and truly here, more whales than last year if that’s possible, and all of the famous humpback acrobatics are on display pretty much all of the time: breeching, lunging, fluke and fin slapping of the surface and ‘tail-up’ ...

The 'Travelhadores' - the Northern Mozambique Tourism Workers Exchange has commenced. The concept of the Travelhadores (a play on the Portuguese term for workers trabalhadores) is to give tourism workers in the north of Mozambique the opportunity ...

How we won. At the World Travel Market in Cape Town (WTM 2017) Ilha Blue received GOLD in the African Responsible Tourism Awards in the category Best for Engaging People and Culture. This category "seeks to shine a light on the best examples of touri ...

  When the judges first asked us about our biggest achievement in engaging people and culture through tourism we pointed to our success in disrupting Ilha’s unfair tourism practices that were making it very difficult for local people to get j ...

Ilha Bars There is no shortage of places to have a drink on Ilha, every restaurant and café serves alcohol and there are 'Discos' for those who want to drink and dance till dawn, but recently a number of dedicated bars have sprung up, small places ...

It was a great pleasure to have the senior management team from Matanuska Mozambique (Banana Farm) with us again on Ilha de Mozambique for their second, weekend-long session of team building. Getting started with a fun, interactive skills audit ...

Humpback whales have arrived in big numbers this season. Mothers and calves are leaping about all over the place. Ilha Blue is the only operator doing whale-watching trips and we are going out 4 or 5 times a week. We go by Swahili sailing dhow so as ...

We have moved into a fantastic new shop space; much bigger, more spacious and with the most amazing tiled floor! We are located in the heart of Stonetown at ‘Orera Orera’ (In Makhuwa this means: beautiful, lovely, good). We are sharing the space with ...

Our aim to transition Ilha Blue to local ownership suffered a disappointing set back last week. There are a number of things we need to sort out before we can do this transition. One is getting a long lease on business premises that are suitable f ...

At Ilha Blue we have started the season off in fine style, winning another Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence award (that makes three years in a row!). And on the same day it was announced that Ilha Blue has been nominated for the 2016 World Resp ...

Transition to local ownership Ilha Blue has established a sustainable tourism business on Ilha De Mozambique. What is remarkable about this (and the thing we are most proud of) is that the tours are run entirely by local young adults with little ...

March 22nd is the date set for this season's final visit by the MSC cruise ship Sinfonia. Preparations are already underway to make this visit the best one yet. Ilha Blue are the official activities organisers and each trip gives us the opportunit ...

February 29th is the beginning of the 2016 Leap Year. Every four years we add a day to our calendars to bring them into sync with the earth’s revolution around the sun—because it’s easier to change our human systems than to change the laws of nature. ...

Well would you believe it, Ilha Blue are now doing Cruise Ships. I say it that way because we promote ourselves as responsible tour operators delivering small group tours and intimate experiences, and yet here we are dealing with the masses.   ...

When MSC's cruise ship the Sinfonia docks at Ilha De Mozambique on Christmas Day, Ilha Blue will be there to lay out a fantastic range of shore excursions. We are suspending our usual program and instead collaborating with local operators to offer ...

  In July, August and September this year we took a break from doing our Ilha Das Cobras overnight camping tours and focused more attention on our popular whale watching activities instead. Partly this is because we have limited resources and ...

Ilha Blue are upgrading to all Pashley bikes. On our trip to Malawi to get them from BeeBikes we were able to do a good deed with one of our old Heros. Recently we received an email from friend and tour guide Robert Korea. Robert lives in a villag ...

In 2015 Ilha Blue will continue with our commitment to responsible tourism and that includes a promise to only employ people from Ilha de Mozambique. This keeps the money in the local economy so its good for the island, and it’s good for Islanders be ...

If you haven't been to Ilha for a few years you will notice plenty of changes. To begin with its now possible to loop the entire island on paved road. The Contra Costa, the Middle Road and a whole lot of cross streets have been paved making it easier ...

Together we've done the final touches to the edna and now she sails like a dream. Its taken two months longer than expected, probably cost close to double what I thought I would spend but it's been a brilliant experience and I’m sure its all going to ...

Ilha Blue are responsible tour operators based in Mozambique. We’d like to invite talented individuals to come to Mozambique and work with local people involved (or wanting to become involved) in tourism. Our aim is to increase local participation in ...

Well its been a big learning curve for me, not so much the practicalities of transforming a motorised boat into a sail boat although that's complicated enough, more the politics and intrigue of it all. First off, the wood I paid for wasn't all goo ...

When a poll by Sunshine.co.uk asked UK adults ‘What factors did you take into account when booking your last holiday destination?’  the top five priorities were revealed to be: good weather, nightlife, culture/history, lovely beaches and ...

Now here's a good story. A few weeks ago we came to agreement with a couple of Swedes and owners of Villa Sands - Anders and Thomas, to take over the operation of their boat, the Edna.  It's something we've been talking about for ages so we were all ...

  Certificate of Excellence "TripAdvisor is delighted to award Ilha Blue - Day Tours with a 2014 Certificate of Excellence. This prestigious award recognises businesses that consistently earn top ratings from TripAdvisor travellers." Th ...

"When Mozambique launched its ambitious state-financed film institute in the 1970s, the Cine Teatro Nina on Mozambique Island was a thriving venue for cinema. Buy Metronidazole online http://advicarehealth.com/metronidazole.html More than 30 years ...

Nacala International Airport in Mozambique is expected to start operating in August of this year. This is great news as it should lead to more flight options and hopefully cheaper travel for visitors and residents alike According to Club of Mozamb ...

Rain and flooding. Some river levels going up and others on the way down. Torrential rains hit parts of northern and central Mozambique over the past week, according to the country´s relief agency, the National Disasters Management Institute (INGC). ...

Elections in Gurue have been re-held without major incident, another sign that things are returning to normal around the country. MDM won which should strengthen their position as the new opposition. Heavy rains are swelling rivers but there are n ...

Disappointing news that the Ilala Ferry in Malawi has stopped operating its weekly service out of Monkey Bay. The operators say the service on southern section of the lake isn't used enough so they have axed it. Combined with the slow train between Q ...

Over the next few weeks I'm going to begin posting news and information for travellers to Mozambique. Most travellers know about the ongoing unrest in the centre of the country and are wondering how this might effect their plans and if its still safe ...