Filipa Freitas, together with her husband, Ricardo Freitas, are the General Managers of Coral Lodge.

Filipa is originally from a city called Alenquer, in Portugal. At the age of 18, she left to study at a university in Santarém. It was during this time, whilst working in a café, that Filipa met her future husband, Ricardo.

Fate brought Filipa and Ricardo to Mozambique in 2015, where they got the opportunity to open a restaurant in Nacala, which started well, but then the economy of Nacala suffered severely that year, the restaurant industry was one of the worst affected.

In early 2016, an opportunity arose to manage Coral Lodge, and so, they decided to sell the restaurant and take on the challenge. However this time, there was three of them in their little family, as they took on the responsibility of looking after a young local boy called Alito, who was living on the streets. Both Ricardo and Filipa cared for him from the time they saw him, and soon he had started living with them.

“Our team are happy and our relationships between one another are genuine and healthy, we support each other in many different ways. Coral Lodge has changed my life because I started to look at life differently. I have learned to appreciate the little things and small details in life that previously were not that important to me. Now they are. I have also learned that so much can be done with very little if your heart is invested.”

“It is wonderful for our guests to see the teamwork and the love we have for one another at Coral Lodge, as well as the unique beauty of Mozambique, where we are blessed to work. Every day I am motivated when I wake up to such a magnificent place, and to work with true people, where there is mutual respect. It is good to know that they need me, and they know that I need them too.” says Filipa.

Filipa and Ricardo have since adopted Alito, their child, but Filipa has also become a lovely mother figure for many of the staff at Coral Lodge too.

Having worked in so many different positions in the service industry since then, including shoe shops, clothing stores, supermarkets, café’s, stationery stores, restaurants, and hotels, it is no wonder that Filipa is so great with working with people from all backgrounds.