Pomene is blessed with the best of both worlds; with a natural, flamingo filled mangrove estuary on the one side and a spectacular beach on the other; Pomene Lodge occupies the long sliver of land that lies between the two.

Unfortunately our initial impression of the lodge itself was that things were a little disorganised. The new management team had only recently arrived and we weren’t convinced that they were particularly well suited to the job. At the same time, a number of the baraccas and chalets facing the beach had been badly damaged during some heavy rains and high seas, not to mention the tree festooned beach.

As if this was not enough, the entire reception, bar and restaurant area had recently burnt to the ground following a fire in the kitchen and while mostly rebuilt, was still undergoing final modifications.

This was more then made up for by the superbly run activity centre (thanks Rob) that offered a host of reasonably priced activities; such as an ocean safari in search of whale sharks and dolphins, a sunset cruise on the estuary, guided birding walks, quad bike trails, horse riding along the beach, scuba diving and kayaking.

Having the advantage of both the ocean and estuary sides, Pomene Lodge is also home to some magnificent sunrises and sunsets, with the restaurant, bar and soon-to-be swimming pool in a perfect position to enjoy sundowners.

We enjoyed a leisurely sunset cruise on the estuary on our second day with the whole boat to ourselves and a great guide to take us round the estuary and up to mouth.

We managed to get up close and personal with the resident flamingos; watching them take to the air when we got too near, their beautiful pink wings flapping and their gangly legs and running like mad before being able to ease into a graceful flight.

We returned an hour and a half later with another outstanding sunset behind us (not to mention a gin and tonic or three).

As we walked along the beach that stretched from Pomene Lodge to the Old Pomene Hotel we found that it was littered with the bleached white corpses of a considerable number of trees that had been washed up by the sea since the big flood.

Thankfully the beach was large enough to swallow up the debris and still provide beautiful sandy spots for sun tanning and long walks. This was especially true along the four kilometre stretch down to the estuary mouth, which was really quite stunning.