Tofo, Mozambique 2024

Posted on February 9, 2024 by gardensbotswana

My second visit to this idyllic spot in Mozambique – with almost the same latitude as Gaborone. I flew Air Botswana to Johannesburg which only takes 40 minutes or so, and then another direct flight on LAM to Inhambane, another hour. So I was able to leave Gaborone in the morning and arrive in Tofo by lunch time. Desert to the sea.. it’s always a slight shock to the system seeing the endless blue. The plane made a huge circle, flying over Maxixe, the estuary, then Barra and Tofo with all the mangroves and palm trees creating an unreal backdrop for the landing strip. I love Inhambane airport, it’s tiny and has a lovely cafe right on the strip where those waving you goodbye or hello can watch just metres away as you get on or off the plane. I used a brilliant taxi service called Amigos, and Ernesto was waiting for me as soon as I’d cleared customs and immigration. Late January is hot, humid with plenty of spontaneous rain showers.

From the plane I’d seen lots of tiny shrubs with bright orange-red fruit on them, which I quickly learnt were locally called Mabobo, Diospyros rotundifolia. This wasn’t exactly going to be a holiday, more of a scouting trip, but with Tofo being Tofo, even work becomes a holiday. The food is yum, fresh fish, crab cakes, sushi, sizzling hot plates of scallops in the market, and cheap hideaways of rice and curry for only P25 (120 meticals/2usd). Accommodation has an equally dizzying array of choices, from right on the beach, to sunset views over the estuary, to eclectic yoga retreats, and garden airbnbs. There is live music at Tofo Tofo and Dathonga on certain nights, pool parties at Mozambeat, and even more activities for during the day – diving, surfing, fishing and snorkelling. With another activity that I always add in to anything I do – of plant spotting.

The dunes around Tofo beach range between 1 and 5m or so of elevation, around Tofinho up to 10m or higher, and further towards Barra or Praia da Rocha higher still.

The main Tofo stretch is lined with Casuarina trees ( Casuarina equisetifolia). Back from the beach a bit, and a common garden tree are Indian Almond trees (Terminalia catappa). Their huge leaves are very decorative. All of these are introduced species, including Cashew (Anacardium occidentale) and Coconut palms (Cocos nucifera), with the latter three cultivated for the edible nuts and fruits. Indian Almond leaves are also reportedly used to treat scabies, leprosy wounds and other skin diseases.

It is only as you go further away from the developed sections of the beach that you see more of the indigenous dune vegetation.

I saw some almost fynbos like species in one place with aromatic grey shrubs possibly Helichrysum.

Near or on the beach I found Canavalia maritima a vine that has pretty pink pea-like flowers; Cyperus crassipes, a robust tussocky sedge; Sporobolus virginicus – grass clumps on Tofinho beach and Ipomoea pes-caprae.

There are so many flowering plants on the dunes: Barleria prionitis subsp. delagoensis a popular garden plant in Botswana; Gloriosa superba, Flame lily, the national flower of Zimbabwe and valuable medicinal plant – the medicinal properties of the plant are due to the presence of alkaloids, chiefly colchicine, in seeds and rhizomes, and it is used to cure arthritis, gout, rheumatism, inflammation, ulcers, bleeding piles, skin diseases, leprosy, impotency and snakebites; Asystasia gangetica subsp. micrantha and Sesamum senecioides ( used to be Dicerocaryum) – a traditional soap; Carpobrotus dimidiatus (edible fruit); and lilies: Crinum spp. (lily with white flowers in summer) and Dipcadi brevifolium.

Some nitrogen-fixing plants also grow on the low-nutrient dune sands such as Chamaecrista paralias – a small woody shrub with and pretty yellow flowers, Tephrosia purpurea subsp. canescens, different Indigoferas: I. podophylla; I. nummulariifolia; I. paniculata and I. spicata.

There are many vines that are threaded through the coastal vegetation, edible indigenous cucumber vines like Coccinia adoensis; the prickly nicker bean, Guilandina bonduc, the seeds of which possess anti-inflammatory as well as analgesic activity; parasitic Cassythia vines, aromatic jasmine – Jasminum fluminense, Cissus quadrangularis and Acacia pentagona.

All sorts of shrubs such as Coptosperma littorale, Diospyros rotundifolia, Eugenia capensis subsp. capensis, Grewia caffra that has an edible berry, valued also for its medicinal uses; Mimusops caffra (sour plum) and Salacia kraussii also with edible fruits; Ozoroa obovata, Euclea undulata, Carissa bispinosa and Croton inhambanensis.

Palm species include: Cocos nucifera, Hyphaene coriacea and Phoenix reclinata

Trees include Sclerocarya birrea (Marula) and I even saw a baobab (Adansonia digitata) which I did not expect, plus Trichilia emetica (Natal mahogany). The seeds yield an oil locally called Mafura oil. The seeds are soaked in water and the milky soup is eaten with spinach. Seed arils are also soaked and cooked together with sweet potatoes or squash.

One of the common local dishes that you can eat in Tofo is Matapa – basically stewed cassava leaves with peanuts, coconut and a few other ingredients. You can see cassava (Manihot esculenta) growing all around Tofo and Inhambane. Raw cassava can be toxic due to naturally occurring forms of cyanide. Soaking and cooking cassava makes these compounds harmless. It’s also a good source of Vitamin C and the leaves can contain up to 25% protein.

There are many succulent species that make up sand dune vegetation too: such as Carpobrotus dimidiatus, Scaevola plumieri, Scaevola thunbergii, Euphorbia tirucalli, Cissus quadrangularis, and Sansevieria (Dracaena) species such as S. conspicua, S. concinna and S. hyacinthoides (syn. Dracaena hyacinthoides).

It was such a stunning trip and there is so much to appreciate in this tiny corner of the world, I only hope that beach developments conserve the indigenous vegetation, and appreciate the valuable benefits these plants give in terms of food, medicine, dune preservation, security and beauty.

I hope to see you again soon Tofo!

July 2020

Posted on July 9, 2020 by gardensbotswana

The winds have started early this year, and July is blowing up clouds of leaves. I’ve had a few plants suffering from frost this year – Dieffenbachia, Ctenanthe, and Philodendron. The obvious ones like Banana and Papaya have shown just a bit of yellowing.

In the indigenous garden the Aloes are really coming into their own.. with Aloe cryptopoda now in flower, plus a few spotted aloes like Aloe parvibracteata, and Aloe greenii. Aloe globuligemma and Aloe chabaudii are just about to flower, and the Hybrids that I have are now in full bloom. Wild flowers like Vernonia and Hibiscus engleri are still stubbornly putting out their last few blooms too, keeping the bees happy.

In the garden, I managed to find a few narcissus bulbs from Builders Warehouse who have a small selection of plants for sale again. And I’ve added a Phalaeonopsis orchid to my jungle garden, plus a staghorn fern from Sanitas. It is looking so colourful for winter.

In the herb garden, the rosemary and lavender are flowering, and rocket leaves are turning a dark red with the cold, I have managed to finally grow some Pipiche from Mexico, and it is flowering too at the moment. The fennel is loving the cooler weather as is the watercress.

December 2019

Posted on December 7, 2019 by gardensbotswana

18 Dec – 31 Dec: While I was away we had 46mm: Foxgloves are flowering, Grasses are now at least a metre high, and everything in the yard seems to have enjoyed the hot sunny days. Unfortunately there were a couple of casualities, the Goji berry – but a small one has still held on, a loved italian oregano, the summer savoury, and a few of the tomatoes. All the pomegranates have ripened, while the Mmilo fruits are still green there are lots of them, and the silver caneberry has sprung up a few more strong canes. The Azanza garckeana is flowering, albeit covered in mealybugs.

16 Dec: Sunny days again, and the days are hot and much more humid than usual.

In the vegetable garden: the Jerusalem artichoke is almost about to flower, the chilis are flowering and fruiting, new rocket seedlings are appearing everywhere, and the potatoes need more mounding up. The Arugula is still doing really well, and as I will probably be away when the Jerusalem artichokes start to flower, I have put a picture below from a previous year to cheer up our Christmas!

In the herb garden: the Ashwagandha leaves are speckling, which makes me think red spider mite, so will have to keep misting it when I can. The parsleys are all doing well, flat and curly. The sage has died, but I think next time, I’m putting it in a pot, as it was probably the soil fungus that got it (Phytophthora). The oregano, lavender, rosemary are still doing really well, and the gotu kola’s leaves are a little yellow-green, which is either under or over feeding, and as its by my goat manure path leading through the garden, I think its probably burn from the manure. The spearmint has done much better after the rain and high temperatures than the peppermint – which had gone a bit too rogue, so I’m happy the temperatures have curbed its spread. The Mexican Chia is about to flower, I’m just hoping it will rain while I’m away.

Elder and Arabian Jasmine compete for space

In the fruit garden: the huckleberries are still fruiting despite the mealybug, and the cape gooseberries have not been overwhelmed by the mealybug like previous years, and are putting a lot of fruit. The silver caneberries are springing back after the rains, as they love lots of water. The goji berry didn’t like me putting it in a dish of water, and has been battling with mealybugs too. However when I go away, I will have to put it back in its dish of water. Will see how tough it is. The tomatillos are really flowering prolifically at the moment, but fruits are still tiny. The tree tomato is about a foot high now. The two peaches left on the tree are just changing from their green colour to a more blushy yellow orange.

In the indigenous garden: All the usual suspects are flowering, and to add to the list are: Holubia saccata; an unidentified basil type plant; tiny ledebourias that are yet to be identified; another mollugo type plant; have a look at the deluge of photos below. The bride’s bush – Pavetta zeyheri is about to flower, the shepherd’s trees are all shooting up, there is a fully grown Boscia foetida that is sheltering one of the bee hives, but only about a metre high Boscia albitruncas. In a previous post I also put in a grass I believed to be Schmidtia and now the seed is fully developed I think it is Schmidtia pappophoroides.

Cereus jamacaru – by the gate, fruits like a dragon fruit

In the fungi world: puff balls and common earth balls are scattered around, plus the tall false ink cap that apparently is found around harvester termite mounds. I see it every year in the same places, they look like yummy coprinus mushrooms except they’re not, but are used in folk medicine to help with cancer. If I wasn’t travelling I would have tried one of the Agaricus species that has popped up, which I think is the rare Agaricus augustus. There are only two other Agaricus species that are similar and slightly poisonous, but I shan’t risk it. In an earlier post I thought I had identified a mushroom as the honey mushroom Armillaria mellea, but I was wrong, I did the spore print and it came out biscuity pink, so now I think it is Lepista sordida, which is little known and apparently quite rare. If you are an expert, perhaps you could let me know.

In the garden: I’ve splurged on more bromeliads to fill the vacant spots of the Statice and Gauras. one was on special at Spar and is really striking. The other is a Tillandsia which I got for a bargain P22 and is just about to flower. The arabian jasmine is flowering non stop and I absolutely love passing beneath the scented flowers. I took some rose cuttings at an absurd time this year just before the good dose of rain, however it paid off as many of them seem to have taken.

On a sad note, I had to take one of my cats to the vet, Poley, as she had developed cancer. She was a white cat, and they are more susceptible to the sun, so if you have one, make sure you put sunscreen on their ears, and talk to your vet about what to do to prevent cancer developing.

Rest in Peace, You will be missed so much.

9 Dec – 30mm; 10 Dec – 10mm plus an afternoon thunderstorm of 20mm

With the rain, the indigenous garden has thrived, and most plants in the other gardens, however a few appear to have contracted a disease, in some – the leaves have gone brown overnight and I suspect it could be phytophthora, a fungus that usually occurs when the soil is overly wet. Unfortunately the Statice, Gaura, Sage and Nectarine have all gone into a decline since the rains. However with our customary variation from season to season, other plants will thrive, and while I do sometimes retry certain plants like the Avocado, sometimes it is best to learn what does well, and stick to those. Like fungi – definitely thriving:

The furry top of the Crepidotus or Lentinus mushroom

In the vegetable garden: All the veggies have responded well after the rains, the chilis especially, and the tomatoes too, the extra rainfall did cause a lot of the tomatoes to split, but they tasted yummy all the same. Beans are sprouting all over, and I’m hoping that while I’m away there will be some more rain to keep them going.

In the herb and fruit gardens: The tarragon and sage seem to be suffering after the rainfall, but all the others are springing into action, especially the basil, mint and oregano. The peaches have split; the silver cane berry which adores water is shooting up new canes, but quite a few granadilla flowers were blown off by the rain.

In the indigenous garden: all the Cleomes have started to flower, the Corchorus, Corbichonia, Cyathula and Cyanotis, plus Tulbaghia acutiloba or leucantha, and Kohautia virgata. The leaves of the Lapeirousia have just emerged, and this time there are no goats to mow them down. All the trees are doing amazingly, and even the Azanza garckeana looks set to resist the mealybug this year. Croton megalobotrys or the large fever berry, has fruited, and the weavers inexplicably enjoy tearing off its leaves.

In the pond gardens, the catfish are swimming in the largest amount of water ever, as our newly fixed pond filled up to the brim with the rains. Situated as it is, at the lowest point, it collects all the runoff from surrounding areas, the boggy channels that lead to it have Aponogeton juncus in flower, and some crinums.

In just a few days – this is how our fungi have developed from the last series of photos:

8 Dec – Another 8mm and the Fungi world has awoken

The moss and lichen world too

It’s amazing how in this extreme climate everything germinates, grows and sets seed at such a rapid rate. In just over two weeks the devil thorns like Oxygonum sinuatum and Tribulus terrestris are already seeding, and I used to weed out a lot of these plants until I kept some rescued tortoises for a while and found out that they love these plants. They’re also edible and can be used in salads for the former, or cooked like spinach for the latter. Oxygonums have a sorrel-like or ‘donkey-weed’ flavour. Wild basil, Ocimum americanum and the various amaranth species can be used in cooking too.

Even more indigenous plants are coming into flower, and as I’m using this a little like a logbook, these are some of the newest plants to flower this week: Sesamum alatum, Kyphocarpa angustifolia, Indigofera holubii or alternans, Sida dregei, Gisekia africana, Ipomoea obscura, Heliotropium strigosum, Crotalaria sphaerocarpa, Commelina africana, Justicia flava, Spermacoce senensis, Vahlia capensis, Chamaecrista absus, Mollugo cerviana, Blepharis and Gomphocarpus fruticosus, plus an unidentified so far, and here comes the deluge of photos.

New grasses have also started flowering, and lots of insects like millipedes and red mites come out just after the rains

1-7 Dec We received 12mm, 8mm, 14mm and 22mm today, but its still raining, so will have a look a bit later.

In the vegetable garden: After the last rains in November to the beginning of December, the days were really hot and while the garden became a jungle in the space of two weeks some plants didn’t take too kindly to the blazing temperatures. The corn dried up, but I’m leaving it on in case some kernels have developed. The tomatoes became riddled with mealybug, but still producing thankfully. The chilis thought it was heaven, and so did the sorrel, sugar beet, chard, tomatillos and jerusalem artichokes. The sunflower in the garden has finished and set seed, but the one in the pot is only just about to flower. The potatoes are now about 20cm and so I’m going to mound them up.

In the herb garden: The nasturtiums died back in the last week, but are still putting a few new bonsai’d leaves. The mint, and gotu kola died back a bit, but still doing quite well. The rosemary, sage, oregano, parsley and lavender seem to have established themselves now, and they resisted the heat wave with ease. So too did the roses, catnip, ashwagandha and feverfew.

Our nameless floribunda that flowers prolifically every year

In the fruit garden: The goji and gooseberries are doing well. I planted out one of my custard apples just in time for this lovely rain. I haven’t found the right place yet for the avocadoes, mangoes, or grapes, so have found a couple of new spots, and going to try them out and see. The granadillas are loving this weather and spreading out over everything as always… if only I had a long road for an endless pergola of granadillas. The huckleberries have finally started to ripen, but they have a mass of mealybugs and bagrada bugs on them, so will see if they shake these pests off with the rain.

Garden huckleberries struggling with mealybugs and bagrada bugs

In the garden: The elder and arabian jasmine are competing for sky space by the herb garden entrance, and lovely white flowers canopy the whole area. The star jasmine has really done well this year and continues to flower. The potato bush has not stopped flowering and is just a mass of purple, it has interwoven through the grewia, so the yellow and purple flowers are giving the garden a real cheery look. The tropical garden survived the heat, but the curry bush got some sort of bug that laid its eggs in the growing tips (which I pinched off). The gauras didn’t like that heat, but have been watering so will see if they manage to come through. The leaves of the hypericum bush browned and curled a bit, although fresh green shoots below show that it will probably come about with this rain.

Grewia and Solanum rantonnetii (Potato bush) flowers

In the indigenous garden: More alive than ever and always providing hidden surprises, its now the turn of the Crotalarias and Commelinas to come into flower. The Eriospermum flagelliforme and Trachyandras are flowering too, with their dainty yellow flowers and white flowers. Heliotropiums, Lantana rugosa, Hermannia modesta and Chascanums too, and the Hermbstaedtias are just starting. The gorgeous Ipomoeas are also beginning to germinate and I. bolusiana is flowering all over.