Mozambique

Mozambique - Africa's Secret Paradise

From the overgrown remnants of Portuguese outposts along the mighty Zambezi to the ancient, mysterious Mwenu Mutapa kingdom and the enchanting and unique Mozambique Island, Mozambique offers an enticing and fascinating blend of cultures. Arab dhows and modern speedboats crisscross the translucent tropical waters of a coral-fringed coastline, where scuba-diving opportunities rival the world’s best. One of the lasting legacies of Portuguese and Arab traders and colonists are the colourful settlements found along the coast. Maputo, Inhambane, Beira, Quelimane and Pemba display a variety of architectural styles – from Manueline to gaudy 1930s-inspired Art Deco.

So far, fortune-seekers have failed in their quest to find the legendary mines of King Solomon, said to contain hoards of gold, yet the stunning diversity of coastal, riverine, mountain and forest environments are Mozambique’s real treasure trove – home to a splendid array of fauna and flora, interspersed with traditional villages. Neglected during the civil upheaval, the Gorongosa National Park, Maputo Elephant Reserve, Bazaruto National Park and the Niassa Reserve are being rehabilitated, while tropical island gems like Benguerra, Bazaruto and the remote Quirimbas offer seclusion, luxurious accommodation and excellent diving, fishing and bird-watching. Whether you find yourself on one of the endless deserted beaches or diving off the coral isles, you will discover a country filled with the enchanting sights and soothing sounds of Africa.

The Land

Mozambique borders on South Africa and Swaziland to the south, Zimbabwe to the west and Zambia and Malawi in the northwest. The Rovuma River forms the remote boundary with Tanzania. The Indian Ocean’s Mozambique Channel flanks a splendid coastline which is over 2500km (1554 miles) long. The south of the country is characterized by the extensive, well-treed savanna of the Mozambican Plain, where altitudes rarely range above 200m (656ft). The Mozambican Plateau dominates the central and northern regions, where rugged highlands are deeply incised by river valleys, and peaks such as Binga and Gorongosa in Manica, Chiperone in Zambézia, Namúli in Nampula and Malema in Niassa are located. Most of Mozambique’s tourist destinations are located along the southern coastline, or tucked away on islands such as Inhaca and the unique Bazaruto Archipelago, yet the interior, from the hot springs of Zambézia province and the granite domes of Nampula to the Gorongosa forests and Quissico lakes, is not without its attractions.

MOUNTAINS AND RIVERS

Mozambique is cleft by the wide valley of the languid Zambezi River, which has gathered runoff from five countries and coursed over 3000km (1864 miles) before entering Mozambique at Feira. Here it is temporarily tamed by the 270km (168-mile) Lake Cahora Bassa, with its 160m (525ft) dam wall and the potential to generate 4000 megawatts of hydroelectricity. Below the dam wall the river passes under the bridges at Tete and Sena before dispersing some 600km (373 miles) downstream into the myriad channels of its 100km (62-mile) wide delta. Other major rivers that flow through Mozambique are the crocodile-infested Incomáti, Limpopo and Save in the south and the Licungo, Ligonha, Lúrio, Lugenda and Rovuma in the north. The latter is noteworthy: not only does it form Mozambique’s frontier with Tanzania, it also remains a formidable barrier. It isn’t spanned by a single bridge and only recently has a ferry at the mouth afforded overland access to or from the north – crossings of the Rovuma are otherwise possible by canoe only.

The 2436m (7993ft) Binga Peak in the Chimanimani sandstone range ranks as Mozambique’s highest mountain, while the granite crags of Mount Malema in Niassa present a challenge even to the most accomplished rockclimber. Religious ceremonies take place in caves on the slopes of Mount Namúli in Zambézia. In northern Tete province, which is notorious for its sticky tropical climate, the slopes of Mount Dómuè and the Moravian Plateau provide welcome relief from the oppressive heat.

SEAS AND SHORES

Over 1200 species of fish have been identified in the coastal waters of Mozambique, most of which inhabit the extensive coral reefs that line the coast, particularly off Maputaland, around Inhaca Island, in the region of Inhambane and Pebane and along the Quirimba Archipelago in the far north. Kingfish, mackerel, and tuna, a vital link in the food chain of the ocean and a popular catch with the locals, are attracted to the nourishment provided by the corals and their associated sea life. In terms of the variety of marine organisms, Mozambique’s reefs are on a par with Australia’s magnificent Great Barrier Reef, except that they are far less crowded and commercialized. Mozambique’s superb reefs are delicate and as yet unspoilt marine wildernesses, their beauty and commercial value increasing the urgent need for formal protection.

South of the Save River, the coast is characterized by a string of inland lakes not fed by rivers and cut off from the sea by high parabolic (bowl-shaped) dunes stabilized by vegetation. The largest expanses of water in this coastal lake zone are lakes Uembje (Bilene), Quissico and Inharrime. Travellers on the main road between Maputo and Inhambane will be treated to scenic views from convenient vantage points.

CLIMATE

Two major factors influencing Mozambique’s climate are the warm Indian Ocean current moving south from the equator, and the altitude of the Mozambican Plateau. Temperatures along the coast and in the lower-lying areas of the plain and the Zambezi valley increase as one moves further north. Mozambique experiences rain mainly during November–April, while August is the driest month in most areas. The wettest provinces are Niassa (Metangula receives 300mm, or 12in, during March) and Cabo Delgado (Pemba receives some 260mm, or 10in, between December and February). The driest part of the country is Pafúri in Gaza Province where average annual precipitation rarely reaches 300mm (12in).

TROPICAL CYCLONES

The tropical cyclone is one of the most powerful and potentially destructive forms of atmospheric circulation. Falling just outside the region between 8°S and 15°S, where the Indian Ocean temperatures are above 27°C (81°F), the Mozambique Channel experiences tropical cyclones every few years, few of which move further south than Beira. The most recent cyclones that have wreaked destruction on Mozambique were Eline and Gloria in 2000.

PLANT LIFE

Much of Mozambique’s temperate rainforests such as the ones around Dondo, Nova Vanduzi and Gogói have been devastated by logging and slash-and-burn agriculture. Yet magnificent mopane woodlands still dominate the southern plains, where battered old baobab trees flourish around Funhalouro in Inhambane province and along the northern coastline. Both species are important food sources: protein-rich mopane worms are widely eaten, while young baobabs are edible in their entirety. The woodland mahogany, or nkuhlu, is widely distributed throughout Mozambique. Its spread is often greater than its height and can sometimes be seen to shelter an entire African kraal (homestead).

WILDLIFE

Although the devastation of Mozambique’s wildlife is unprecedented in Africa in recent times, programmes to reintroduce those species which attract tourists are now gathering momentum. Elephant can be viewed in the extreme south (Fúti channel), and in the far north along the banks of the Rovuma River in the Niassa Reserve. Buffalo, lion, leopard, roan and sable exist, albeit in relatively small and threatened numbers, in the Gorongosa and Zambezi delta regions. Peace Parks straddling Mozambique’s borders, such as the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Reserve (www.great limpopopark.com/), are now open. Mozambique’s bird life is exceptional. Over 900 species have been spotted south of the Zambezi. The best viewing spots are the Mount Gorongosa and National Park region, Gurúè and Milange in Zambézia, Metangula and Cobúè in Niassa, Panda in Gaza and in the Maputo Elephant Reserve.

The People

Of the eight major tribal groups resident in Mozambique, the Tsonga (Ronga) dominate the south, the Shona and Zambezi Valley tribes (Chuabo, Sena, Nyungwe) the central region, and the Yao and Makua–Lómwè are dominant in the north. The 1820 Mfecane wars unleashed by Shaka, Zululand’s (South Africa) warrior king, generated violent waves of unrest which uprooted hundreds of thousands of people, and reached as far north as Kenya. Small groups of Nguni fled into Mozambique, but scattered on coming into contact with resident tribes to avoid being viewed as a threat. Remnants of the Nguni still cling to the fringes of the Lebombo Mountains near Namaacha, at the confluence of the Limpopo and Shangane rivers, at Espungabera at the headwaters of the Buzi River and on the Angónia Plateau in northern Tete province. Due to its past unsuitability for cattle (tsetse fly was rife), Mozambique was, for the most part, spared destruction by Shaka. The Makonde tribe of northern Cabo Delgado and southern Tanzania had a reputation for territorial aggression. They had always been staunchly independent, resisting incursions first from the Arabs, and later from the Portuguese. The liberation struggle in Mozambique started with Makonde herders being evicted from their land by Portuguese farmers, a move that was bound to end in bloodshed.

Language
Of the 17 more important ethnic languages spoken in Mozambique, the most common are, in the south: Shangaan, Tswa and Ronga; in the central region: Shona, Sena and Nyanja; the main vernaculars in the north are: Makua, Lómwè, Chuabo, Yao and Makonde and Swahili. Portuguese was and still is the everyday language of commerce and technology – even the Frelimo government declared Portuguese to be the country’s official language. A survey undertaken in 1980 revealed that only about 25% of the total urban population could speak Portuguese, with about half this number applicable in the rural areas. Only 10% of Maputo’s citizens spoke Portuguese at home, while the proportion of Mozambican citizens who grew up speaking Portuguese was less than 2%. English may not easily be understood away from up-market hotels, lodges and restaurants, but don’t be surprised if a street urchin in Beira or Maputo suddenly berates you in perfect English for not giving him or her money. Many of Mozambique’s children who are under the age of 16 grew up in refugee camps in one of the English-speaking countries surrounding Mozambique. Funakalo, the discredited language once spoken mainly by South Africa’s black miners, remains a valuable communication medium. However, a few phrases of Shangaan will elicit more smiles.

Religion
During Mozambique’s Marxist period, organized religion was suppressed by the Frelimo government, thus no accurate statistics have been kept for this period. The urbanized population has adopted Catholicism, most common in the south, while further north Islam becomes more dominant. Traditional practices such as ancestor worship and animism are still widespread. This was used to profound effect by the protagonists who influenced the Mozambicans both during the period of conflict as well as prior to the first democratic elections in 1994.

Cultural Heritage
With a coastline settled by adventurers from Arabia, India, China and southern Europe as well as diverse wandering African tribes, Mozambique is a unique mix of cultural practices and beliefs. Although geographically part of southern Africa, this former Portuguese colony has a historical and cultural heritage more closely related to Muslim northeast Africa, while its population also exhibits a lively, Latin outlook on life. Whether you enter the country from Malawi, Tanzania (Rovuma crossing by vehicle ferry and dugout at the mouth), Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa or Swaziland, by boat via one of the many harbours or by air into Maputo International Airport, you will be faced with the challenge of communicating with people whose command of the English language is weak. Most popular tourist destinations lie along the coast where people live in fishing villages, and dhows are the main means of transport. From meeting places under trees in mud-and-straw ‘suburbs’ to chic nightclubs in the cities, the music that is belted out everywhere ranges from sensuous samba, salsa and rumba to rowdy marimba/ timbila (xylophone) and awesome Afro-Caribbean.

Food and Drink
A continental characteristic which has remained firmly entrenched in the larger Mozambican towns such as Maputo, Beira and Quelimane is the love of wine, company and song. The Portuguese standard here is: entradas (entrées) of prego (steak roll), chouriço (spicy sausage), rissois (shrimps in batter) and sopa de mariscos (shellfish soup) followed by a main dish of perhaps lulas grelhado (grilled calamari), espetada (kebab), galinha inteiro com piri-piri (whole chicken piri-piri), peixe cozido com todos (boiled fish, usually cod, with rice or potato chips, and tomato salad) or perhaps caranguejo recheado (stuffed crab). Top it all with a pudim (pudding) of gelado sorvete (ice cream sorbet) and salada de frutas (fruit salad). Since Mozambique’s climate ranges from tropical to temperate and from arid to very humid, indigenous and cultivated fruit and vegetables available are rich in variety. Rainfall, generally speaking, increases from south to north, decreasing from east to west, and so does the availability and assortment of food. Fresh Portuguese-style bread rolls (pãozinho), often baked in hollowed-out ant hills (termitária), are widely available throughout the country, even in the most isolated places. As long as you have something to smear on that hot loaf (pão), you need never go hungry. To savour the delicious assortment of Mozambican fruit and vegetables at its best, it is necessary to take the effect of seasonal influences into account. Nicoadala near Quelimane may produce some of the world’s largest, juiciest and sweetest pineapples, while the papaya at Pemba is surely worth the airfare on LAM from Maputo. But if you arrive in August (winter in Mozambique), both these delicious crops will be in extreme short supply and you will have to settle for bananas, tomatoes and green vegetables. Of course, along the coast there is always seafood, while inland the staple diet is mandioca (cassava) and sima (corn porridge). If you are cooking for yourself and intend shopping at the markets, carry a small fisherman’s scale, as well as your own selection of condiments and herbs.

History in Brief

About 2000 years ago, climatic shifts caused the Sahara Desert of North Africa to expand southward, triggering a wave of migration from northwest Africa through the equatorial regions to southeast Africa. Northern Bantu-speaking tribes clashed with the nomadic hunter-gatherers of the south and displaced them. By the time (around AD300) Arab traders first landed on Mozambique’s offshore islands, the aboriginal mainland inhabitants had been absorbed into Bantu society. Muslim traders, masters of the nuances of African trade and cultural practices, established alliances with tribes through intermarriage. Vasco da Gama is generally honoured as the ‘discoverer’ of Mozambique. The span of coast which his small fleet of four vessels passed on Christmas Day 1497 was named Natal. Early in 1498 he anchored off an estuary near Inharrime in what is now Inhambane province. From AD300–1500, none of the Indian Ocean powers maintained a fleet, and so they were helpless when Portuguese warships arrived at Sofala and Mozambique Island in the early 16th century. After erecting a fort here, Portuguese soldiers began demanding ‘duties’ on the cloth, ivory and gold leaving the area.

The Mwenu Mutapa
Portuguese traders were largely ignorant of the interior, but desperately desired to eclipse Spanish successes in the Americas, and so fabricated the myth of a fabulously rich empire which they called Monomotapa, after its leader, the Mwenu Mutapa. During the 18th century it was not so much the promise of untold wealth that motivated the Portuguese crown to pacify the tribes of the interior, but rather the murders of several missionaries and traders.

Portuguese Expansion and Local Resistance
By 1550, the Portuguese had wrested the coastal trading monopoly from the Arabs. The coastal forts needed to guard their dominion, however, were disease-ridden, the pay was low, discipline oppressive and Portuguese women a rarity. Men frequently ventured inland to trade firearms, and married the daughters of chiefs just like their Islamic predecessors. These opportunists had no official sanction and were largely ignored by the Portuguese authorities until the murder, in 1561, of Gonçalo da Silveira, a fanatical Castilian missionary bent on the conversion of the Monomotapa. His murder came at a time when Portugal was looking to place more people under its land tax umbrella. In 1571 the Portuguese king sent a consort with presents (never to be delivered) for the Karanga king. Four years later Francisco Barreto left for the Monomotapa gold mines, only to be thwarted by local tribes. In 1573, a second expedition wiped out Muslim traders at Sena and erected earth-walled forts at Tete and Sena. This extension of Portuguese control enabled them to subjugate most of the Karanga chieftaincies by the mid-18th century.

The Prazo Problem
Until they were outlawed in the 1930s, the prazos de coroa (leased crown estates) were one of Mozambique’s most fascinating features. They were not introduced to deprive indigenous people of their land, but evolved when white renegades established niches for themselves within African society, often through marriage. The prazo communities produced new cultural and social practices reflecting their Afro–Asian–European mix. The Portuguese crown granted land to religious orders, noblemen and discharged soldiers who often recruited private armies to extract further concessions from local chiefs. By 1670, muzungo (Afro-Portuguese) warlords had extorted most of northern Karangaland for themselves. Predictably, this lawlessness prevented the development and taxation of the region, thus becoming a major headache for the Portuguese administration. The government offered to recognize land claims on condition that prazo holders kept order, maintained roads, provided soldiers and paid for the upkeep of government buildings. In an attempt to increase the number of European women in Mozambique, prazo concessions were granted to orphaned girls and widows. Since women were often left widowed several times, some (the famed Donas) managed to accumulate vast tracts of land by way of a succession of marriages.

Slaves, Pirates and the Scramble for Africa
In 1808 a fleet of war canoes appeared along the northern Mozambique coast, the biggest of several assembled by Betsimisaraka chiefs from Madagascar between 1800 and 1820, in search of slaves. The ferocity of the invaders partially depopulated the coast from Kilwa (Tanzania) to Ilha de Moçambique (Mozambique Island). In 1816 the Afro-Portuguese on Ibo retreated to the protection of the fort and repelled the pirates. These attacks decimated communities which had themselves lived off the slave trade for centuries. The east African slave trade accelerated when France, expanding sugar plantations on its Indian Ocean possessions, needed extra labour. Despite having banned other European powers from trading on the Mozambican coast, the Portuguese quickly instituted large-scale slaving, receiving foodstuffs and silver in return. By 1775 the French were exporting about 1500 slaves a year from the islands of Ibo and Mozambique. When the Napoleonic Wars disrupted the slave trade between West Africa and America, buyers looked to Mozambique, which exported 30,000 souls in 1828. In 1875 the Portuguese abolished slavery and prazos, attempting to replace them with citizenship, legal rights and the duty to pay taxes and do military service. During the 1884 Berlin Congress, Britain contested Portugal’s presence in Mozambique, insisting that effective occupation was the only acceptable basis for territorial claims. When Cecil J Rhodes’ British South Africa Company officially claimed free navigation of the Zambezi, Portugal countered by sending two steam gunships upriver to protect Massingir. The British demanded their retreat and issued orders to mobilize their own fleet. The Portuguese capitulated in January 1890, and although some wrangling followed, Mozambique’s borders have changed little since then.

Greater Autonomy and World War I
Ilha de Moçambique lost its capital status to the southern port of Lourenço Marques in 1902 due to the latter’s increased economic links with South Africa. Despite Lisbon giving increased autonomy to Mozambique in the 1920s, Portugal-oriented administrators continued to rule the colony, excluding the settlers and Afro- Portuguese from power. During the closing stages of World War I Portugal joined the winning side to secure its colonial possessions. In 1926 a military coup overthrew the government of Portugal and by 1930 a professor of finance, Antonio Salazar, began to take control of the country’s affairs, creating a closed economic system with the colonies. The Colonial Act of 1933 made Mozambique a province of the Portuguese state, with a common law and centrally planned economy.

From Liberation Struggle to Democracy
After World War II, awakening African nationalism began to challenge the colonial powers. Portuguese attempts to isolate Mozambique from this trend were thwarted by returning migrant labourers who had been exposed to liberation politics. Manu, an early Mozambican independence movement, gathered in 1960 to petition the Portuguese administrator in Mueda, but troops ended the demonstration by shooting dozens of civilians. Atrocities like this helped to politicize Mozambicans, and Frelimo (Mozambican Liberation Front) was formed in Dar es Salaam in 1962. Frelimo’s armed wing, the FPLM (Popular Mozambique Liberation Forces), launched its armed struggle with an attack on Chai in northern Mozambique on 25 September 1964. Initially, Frelimo’s campaign was unsuccessful, but after the assassination of leader Eduardo Mondlane in 1969, new commandant Samora Machel mounted attacks as far south as Tete and Manica. Meanwhile the Portuguese had been diverting investment from Mozambique to the EEC (European Economic Community). When the April 1974 revolution brought a new anticolonial regime to power in Portugal, Mozambican soldiers defected, political prisoners were released and the governor general recalled to Lisbon. Chaos ensued and white settlers fled to South Africa in their thousands. On 25 June 1975 Mozambique gained independence, Portugal recognizing the Frelimo government without insisting on elections. Shortly afterwards, almost all skilled administrators and workers departed, leaving behind Frelimo personnel who adopted (often disastrous) policies rooted in Marxist theory rather than on any knowledge of the job at hand.

Civil War and the New Mozambique
In 1977 the government of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) secretly formed the rebel Renamo (Mozambique National Resistance) movement to destroy transport and communication links. From 1977–92 Mozambique was devastated by banditry and civil war which destroyed the social and economic fabric of the entire nation. During this period Frelimo experienced many difficulties in trying to govern Mozambique. After Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980 and its withdrawal of support, South Africa backed Renamo which sought external credibility as an anticommunist movement. In 1984, presidents Botha of South Africa and Machel of Mozambique signed the Nkomati Accord, agreeing not to support armed insurrection in each other’s countries. Machel travelled abroad, shunning his Marxist backers by visiting Britain and Portugal, a campaign cut short by the 1986 air crash which tragically ended his life. It was left to Joaquim Chissano to bring Renamo to heel. At its third congress (1990), in keeping with world trends, Frelimo formally departed from its disastrous Marxist- Leninist ideology, while the collapse of the Soviet Union hastened the Russian departure. Renamo rebels continued to sabotage the infrastructure until a cease-fire agreement was signed on 15 October 1992. UN-supervised democratic multiparty elections were held in 1994. Mozambique’s reconstruction progressed quickly. Truce paved the way for the deployment of a UN peacekeeping force (Onumoz) which facilitated the disarmament of all armed groups. In the face of a sceptical world, Frelimo and Renamo laid down arms and began campaigning in the political arena. Finally, in 1997, the reopening of Gorongosa National Park, formerly Renamo headquarters, as well as peaceful elections in 1999 and 2004, symbolized a peaceful and prosperous new era for the country.