Lonely Planet Mozambique
Travel Report
Travelling through the north
Mozambique Island
South to Beira
Beira & Vilankulo
Inhambane & Maputo
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Travel Notes
Beira
Maputo
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Mozambique Island
Beira & Inhambane
Maputo
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Mozambique Drumming
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Travel notes from Maputo
Hi Everyone,
I spent a couple of days resting in Beira from my marathon journey south from Mozambique Island. The city dates back to the late 19th century and is the second largest city in Mozambique and the countries major port. The city was very different from those in the north, there was a lot of traffic, the roads paved and the services working, even a branch of Hungry Lion. It was an ugly place although I found a certain beauty in this ugliness. The buildings were your typical socialist era concrete monoliths, high-rise apartment blocks with no thought given to appearance, only practicality. This reflected the countries experiment with socialism since independence in 1975 and it's former links with the USSR and East Germany. The city is now the political headquarters of Renamo; the former rebel movement during the seventeen-year civil war now turned legitimate political party.
I didn't have long to recover before I was once again travelling south, getting up at 03.30 to get into the city to catch the 05.00 bus to Vilankulo. It made a change to be travelling in an ordinary bus along mostly good paved roads. We crossed the large suspension bridge over the Save River and I was eventually dropped off at the junction for Vilankulo by about midday. From there it was a 20km ride in the back of a pickup to the coast and the tropical beaches of Vilankulo. I planned to take a break from travelling here and stayed in a basic reed hut close to the beach, shaded by palm trees. Once I had made myself at home, the last week or so travelling caught up with me. At 16.00 that afternoon I felt tired and lay down on my bed and fell asleep; I didn't wake up until 08.00 the next morning, the longest I have ever slept in my life.
I spent four very quiet, relaxing days at Vilankulo. I didn't do much except hanging around my hut, reading and writing and taking a dip in the warm Indian Ocean when the tide was up. The sea here is very shallow between the mainland and the islands of the Bazaruto archipelago. When the tide was out the sea turned into a maze of sand banks and it was impossible to swim. Vilankulo is the country's main resort, although it is nowhere near as developed as other places in the world, but has certainly got a lot of potential; both potential for being a beautiful resort and also tourist hell. The future of Mozambique appears to be hanging on tourism and the country certainly has a beautiful coastline with plenty of activities such as diving, fishing and sailing. At the moment it seems to be mostly South Africans who are taking advantage of this tropical paradise.
After four days, one of which was my birthday, it was hard to tear myself away from beneath the palm trees and the endless white, sandy beaches, but it was time o move on. I took a pickup the 20km back to the main road and from there hitchhiked on the back of a truck south about 200km to Maxixe. It was a large, slow truck carrying sacks of maize and some plantains as well as about a dozen other locals hitching a ride. Also on board was the customary African farmyard including goats, chickens and ducks. It was a relaxing journey with plenty of room to stretch out although the weather was slightly dodgy with the occasional short rain shower. By late afternoon I was dropped off by the slipway in Maxixe and took a small motorized ferry across the bay to Inhambane, one of Mozambique's historic towns.
Even before the Portuguese arrived in Mozambique this town was an important port for Arab dhows sailing along the East African coast. The majority of the trade was in slaves and ivory. The port remained an important commercial centre during the colonial era until Maputo became the economic focus and the road was built. Today it is a quiet, sleepy place where not much happens. I spent a day wandering around the town looking at the many historic buildings. There was one other lad from England staying at the hotel and we decided between the two of us to charter a dhow and sail to Linga Linga, 15km north of Inhambane. After some frustrating time spent negotiating with various dhow captains we finally found one who was willing to take us. The plan was that it would take two hours to reach Linga Linga, where we would stop for lunch for an hour and two hours back.
We set off just after 10.30, the sea was calm and the tide was going out that helped our progress as we sailed, tacking against the wind. It turned out not to be as plain sailing as we expected. We were about half way at low tide and the shallow bay became an obstacle course of sandbars and we kept running aground. Once the tide turned progress came to an almost halt as we now battled against both tide and wind. It was becoming very apparent that our captain and two man crew really didn't have a clue about how to sail as we continuously sailed sideways. At one point they looked like they had given up and just sat helplessly staring at the sail. Just as the sun was setting we reached the island of Linga Linga, so much for our lunch. As we neared the beach I dived into the sea for my long awaited refreshing swim. We then had to decide whether to return, the crew didn't want to go anywhere. We eventually sailed back to Inhambane in the dark and with the wind behind us made the journey in just over two hours.
One more bus ride from Maxixe with a couple of dozen goats tied to the roof and I finally arrived in the capital, Maputo. Africa is full of little surprises and Maputo is one of them. Compared to places like Lusaka and Lilongwe, Maputo has some energy to it and some cultural heritage. There's plenty to see and do here with numerous museums and interesting buildings to look at. Compared to cities in the north, I feel as though I am in another country; there are even traffic jams here. So far I have thoroughly enjoyed my days in this city.
Regards
Geoff
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