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 Beira
Hi Everyone,
I made an early start from Blantyre Tuesday last week by getting to the bus station at 05.00 and then having to wait for a couple of hours for the first bus to leave for the Mozambique border at Muloza; my destination in Mozambique was Mozambique Island, the former Portuguese colonial capital until 1898. I reached the border where all the Malawi transport stopped and turned around; there were no vehicles crossing the border only hundreds of bicycles and pedestrians. I took a bicycle taxi the 3km from Muloza to the Mozambique border town of Milange.
When I arrived in Milange I was immediately struck by how economically deprived the place looked, the most notable thing was the lack of traffic, the wide main boulevard was devoid of vehicles. On my whole trip through the north of the country the towns all looked the same; no longer war ravaged, but they looked like no one had done any maintenance for the last twenty-five years. My bicycle taxi dropped me off by a pickup truck that was already loaded with cargo and people; this would be my transport for the next leg of my journey 200km to Mocube. It was slow going along a poor dirt road, stopping to pick up more people and cargo, it was a battle for five hours to hang on to the back of the pickup without falling off over one of the many bumps. It was 16.00 when we finally rolled into Mocube, too late to start the next leg of my journey 450km north to Mozambique's third largest city, Nampula.
Day two of my journey to Mozambique Island began at 06.00 at the Mocube bus park; the bus eventually filled up and left at 11.30. The road north was paved and in good condition, mainly because of the lack of any traffic, although some sections were missing. At 16.00 we arrived in a town that I thought must be Nampula, it wasn't, we were in Alto Molocue only half way. The bus driver decided to give up for the day but paid a truck driver to take me the rest of the way to Nampula. I climbed into the cab and spent the next seven hours bouncing along a terrible dirt road that hadn't been repaired since the end of the rainy season and was badly rutted and potholed. We arrived in Nampula at 01.00; I didn't want to waste money on a hotel to just to sleep for five hours so looked for somewhere convenient on the streets. Unfortunately there was a policeman on every street and I was being stopped and ID checked until a policeman escorted me to a cheap hotel that was full. I bribed a night watchman to let me sleep a few hours and as dawn broke once again hit the road for the last 180km of my journey. One more bus ride and finally a ride in the back of a pickup and I was at last crossing the 3km bridge from the mainland to Mozambique Island, two and a half days after setting out from Blantyre.
The island is about 2.5km long and only 500m across at it's widest and is completely urbanised and divided in two, the northern half being Stone Town and the southern half Makuti Town. It is very much like the other East African islands of Pemba, Zanzibar and Mafia. The Portuguese first arrived here at the start of the 15th century and established a settlement, which flourished as both a trading post and a naval base along the sea route from Europe to Persia, India and beyond. Stone Town developed over a long period of time as the Portuguese administrative centre and capital of Portuguese East Africa. The architecture is unique, blending influences of Arabic, Indian, African and European together, but what is so special is the amazing uniformity of style over hundreds of years as the Portuguese adopted local building techniques. Makuti Town is a lot newer dating back to the late 19th century when the local population moved back to the island, it is mostly residential traditional reed and mud huts. This uniqueness and architectural cohesiveness earned the island World Heritage Status by UNESCO in 1991.
The island began it's long decline with the abolition of the slave trade, the moving of the capital in 1898 to Lourenco Marques (now Maputo) and the opening of the Suez Canal and the building of a new port on the mainland at Nacala. Today Stone Town is part ghost town as many buildings have fallen into disrepair or collapsed completely, although an effort is now being made by UNESCO to find a sustainable way of preserving the buildings, which are now the island's only asset. Anywhere else in the world and this island would be a major tourist attraction, but in the north of Mozambique it's like time has stood still. I spent three enjoyable days wandering about this enchanting island before I began my journey south to Beira and back to civilisation.
It took three days to reach Beira; I left the island at 06.00 in the back of a pickup, swapped for the back of a truck at Monapo and reached Nampula at 11.00. By then all the transport south had already left so I hitchhiked and a couple of hours later got a ride in the back of a pickup all the way back to Mocube. It was the most comfortable journey as there were only two of us in the back and there was plenty of room to stretch out. Spent a few hours in a sleazy hotel in Mocube before taking a minibus at 04.00 to Quelimane, where I needed to find transport to Beira. A bus was due to leave at 16.00 that afternoon so I slept for five hours in the bus park while I waited. By 17.00 I was back on the road and we travelled as far as the Zambezi River, 170km south where we stopped for the night to wait for a ferry. It was like a refugee camp along the banks of the Zambezi as everyone bedded down for the night, I found a room in a mud shack behind a makeshift bar.
As dawn broke the small boats began to ferry passengers across this giant river through the mist. Another bus was waiting for us on the other side and soon we were on our way again along a horrendous road that would surely be impassable during the rainy season. En route we developed mechanical problems, a blocked fuel line that the driver was able to repair and at last at 15.00 we arrived in Beira.
Adeus,
Geoff.
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