MOZAMBIQUE EXPLORER (ME)
(17 DAYS LAND ONLY)
Updated 28/03/2005
Mozambique offers an enticing and fascinating blend of cultures, from the overgrown remnants of Portuguese outposts along the mighty Zambezi to the ancient, mysterious Mwenu Mutapa kingdom and the enchanting and unique Islands.
Mozambique is situated on the east coast of southern Africa and covers an area of some 800,000km². The warm waters of the Indian Ocean, with its many lagoons, coral reefs and islands, washes along the magnificent 2,500km coastline.
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.
This journey, diverse in experiences, is an in-depth exploration of this friendly country, from the coast, game parks and Cahora Bassa.
Day 1: Lilongwe:
Barefoot Safaris will meet you at the airport. After which we will begin our ulendo by leaving the Central African Plateau driving down into the Rift Valley on the way to Mangochi. Tonight, we will enjoy our first sun downer whilst listening to the guide brief us about the tour. We will also have time to explore the most southern tip of Lake Malawi where it drains into the Shire River.
Chalets, 1 night
Day 2: To Nampula
After an early breakfast we cross into Mozambique via Mandimba border post. Mozambique was probably derived from the name of one of the more influential Arab slave traders. Sultan (or perhaps Sheik) Mussal A’l Bik, or Moussa Ben Mbiki, had his base on the tiny island off the mainland coast. The locals in all likelihood gave the arriving Portuguese his name when they were asked what the island was called, or who was in charge. The Swahili word for Mozambique, Msimbiji, lends further credence to the name’s origin. We travel through an ever-changing landscape, dotted by granite inselburgs and small scatterings of huts. Arriving late in the afternoon at Nampula, this offers us our first chance to sample the local food. In the event that the road is too slow-going, we will camp in the bush en-route. If we camp then dinner will be included.
1 night camping/pension (B, L)
Day 3: To Pemba
After breakfast our ulendo will take us to Monape where we turn north to Pemba, previously called Porto Amelia. Seen from the bay, the white, flat-roofed buildings of Pemba’s old town are typical of many of Africa’s original colonial towns. Built on a hill; the town climbs steeply from the quayside to the Art Deco cinema at the top of the hill. We settle in at Wimbe Beach, which has a great beach and good snorkelling. The afternoon will be at leisure.
2 nights camping/chalets
Day 4: At Pemba
Today we can explore Pemba and the surrounding area. You can go snorkelling, visit the sculptors at the Cooperitivo Makonda, laze on the picturesque beach and generally experience the local culture.
Bird watching in the surrounding area is quite productive and we have the opportunity to sample the fresh seafood in the local restaurants. Coral reefs provide a habitat for a large variety of organisms, which rely on the coral for food and shelter. Decapod crustaceans such as shrimps and crabs, as well as fish like the parrotfish (Scaridae) depend upon coral for shelter. Sponges inhabiting coral cavities as a protection from predators remove small chips of calcium carbonate from their hosts, thereby causing bio-erosion. Other organisms that inhabit the reefs include; crown-of-thorn starfish, sea urchins, jellyfish, clams, oysters, turtles and colourful sea anemones.
Day 5: To Isle de Mozambique
After breakfast we will drive for approximately half a day, turning south we through the tropical lowlands to the world heritage site of; Isle de Mozambique. Mozambique Island is located where the Mozambique channel is at its narrowest with Madagascar only 350km (217 miles) to the east, which is one of the reasons why first the Arabs and later the Portuguese, turned the island into a major fortified port city. Other features, which were favoured over a thousand years of foreign occupation, are safe anchorage and a fortunate location in relation to the monsoon trade winds. Although the Arabs probably began trading with East Africa around AD500, the formal documentation of their 1500-year dominance in this sector of the Indian Ocean was not a Portuguese priority. What is certain is that sultans held sway in this area when in 1498 the Portuguese explorer, Vasco de Gama steered his 150-tonne caravel into the calm waters off the island.
2 nights pension (L)
Day 6: Isle de Mozambique
Today we will explore on foot. This tiny isle, 2,500m (8,202ft) long and 600m (1,969ft) at its widest point, is a microcosm of the major tribal, cultural, historical and linguistic influences, which have formed modern Mozambique. The island has been dubbed Africa’s ‘meeting point of civilizations’. Persians, Indians and Arabs came to trade and stayed; the Portuguese settled for 500 years; the Dutch and the English tried, in vain, to dislodge them; and today African people still stop over here during fishing expeditions. Early commerce centred on cloth, beads and spices from the East, which were, bartered for ivory, gold, precious stones and slaves from the African hinterland. Eager to share in (and dominate) the ancient trade routes, King Emanuel of Portugal sent out scouts to blaze a trail to India. Nine years after Vasco da Gama clashed with Arab sultans on the island, the Portuguese formally occupied it, building a small stockade and leaving behind a mere 15 men to protect this outpost.
Fortaleza São Sebastião. In 1558, using granite quoins shipped as ballast from Portugal on the light caravels, construction on the fortress of St Sebastian began. Due to the lengthy voyage to and from the motherland, the 12m-high (39ft), 750m-long (2,460ft) walls of the fortress were complete only 40 years later. For years São Sebastião was Africa’s largest structure south of the Sahara, meant to symbolize the impregnable foothold of the Portuguese in Africa. However, it took the economic realities of the 20th century, not foreign invaders, to finally dislodge the settlers. Bigger modern ships needed deeper ports, and isolation, long an asset, now became and impediment. By 1960, the island had lost all of its former importance to the Portuguese and was left to rot.
Capela de Nossa Senhora do Baluarte. This church, which lies in ruins behind the fortress on the north eastern point of the island, was built in 1503. Although brutally vandalized and severely dilapidated, if you look inside you will see a crumbling memorial tablet.
Day 7: En-route to Gorongoza
The safari continues south through the heartland of the Zambezi province. En-route we cross the mighty Zambezi River by ferry at Cain. An interesting tribal divide, closely following the course of the Zambezi, is that the northern tribes are uniformly matriarchal, while those in the south are almost entirely patriarchal. However, the tribes of the Zambezi valley itself, as well as those influenced by the patriarchal Islamic religion along the far northern coast, contradict this pattern. From Pemba northwards, a distinctive language called Makua has developed, which is only vaguely related to the surrounding languages. Only a short distance inland from the coast, Makua gives way quite abruptly to Lomwe and Makonde. Please take note that this day is mostly spent travelling.
Bush camping (L, D)
Day 8: To Gorongosa National Park.
After breaking camp and a bush breakfast we continue our ulendo south. Entering Sofala province we travel to Gorongosa National Park. Of the big five only elephant and buffalo are commonly seen by visitors, rhino and leopard can also be found, but are exceptionally shy of humans due to heavy poaching in the past. Lions were mercilessly hunted during the past strife, but are making a comeback and are often found slinking around their old haunt, casa dos leões, the ruins of the original rest camp. Herds of rare sable and roan antelope, zebra, impala, kudu and eland, as well as the odd elusive cheetah also roam across the park’s vast expanse. The Gorongosa’s bird life could well be labelled the ‘little five hundred’, as this is approximately the number of species occurring in the area. The afternoon is spent on game activities.
2 nights camping at Chitengo Camp (BLD)
Day 9: Gorongosa National Park.
Today is spent on game activities. Gorongosa National Park was the base for the opposition Renamo movement from 1980 to 1986. The soldiers had to survive by hunting, which meant that the wildlife suffered badly. International attempts are currently underway to reintroduce herds of elephant, buffalo and other game, and visitors are already able to sip sundowners overlooking the waterhole at Chitengo Camp. A night drive is possible (optional).
(BLD)
Day 10: Vilankulo
After breakfast and after breaking camp we travel south to Vilankulo. Located about halfway between Mozambique’s two major towns, Vilankulo is the gateway to the Bazaruto Archipelago. After setting up camp we explore the town.
1 night camping (BL)
Day 11: Parque Nacionale De Bazaruto.
Today we take a dhow to the island. Africa’s version of the famed Galapagos Islands, the Bazaruto Archipelago and surrounding marine environment is a complex and unique ecosystem well protected by its isolation. Harbouring one of the last viable populations of dugong along the entire East African coast, the Bazarutos command some of the most pristine coral reefs in the Indian Ocean. In descending order of size Bazaruto, Benguerra, Magaruque, Santa Carolina and tiny undeveloped Bangué Island each have their own particular charm and character. Amid the turquoise shallows surrounding each island, in the tidal inlets and shaded sea pastures opening into the deep Mozambique Channel, a wealth of marine life exists. For conservationists the uniqueness of this archipelago lies in its fragile diversity. Wildlife ranges from migrant bird species, frigate birds and falcons to crocodiles lurking in the brackish inland lakes. At least five species of turtle have their breeding ground here, while various antelope, rodents, lizards and snakes inhabit the massive mobile sand dunes and adjacent scrubland. We charter a dhow and sail to the northern part. The dugong’s Latin name, Sirenia, drives from the mythical Sirens of Greek folklore who lured lovesick sailors to rocky shoals. These tales may have originated due to the fact that dugongs, which look similar to walruses, suckle their live-born young from teats that are situated high on the mother’s chest. Slow, sluggish and unafraid of humans, dugongs were hunted almost to extinction for their succulent flesh; however, recent studies indicate that they still occur and probably even breed around the Bazaruto Archipelago, and along the Inhambane and Zambezi coasts.
2 nights camping (B)
Day 12: Parque Nacionale De Bazaruto.
This day we will take at leisure with a number of optional excursions to choose from and of course your guide will assist you with booking any of the activities you wish to want to partake in. We can explore the island, which has some good birding and there is also an optional boat cruise to three-mile reef for snorkelling.
The three larger islands, Bazaruto, Benguerra and Magaruque were once joined, forming a, 70km (42 mile) sand spit moulded by a combination of wind action, changing sea levels and long-shore current drift. This giant sand dune broke into four pieces some 6,000 years ago (Santa Carolina, a rocky outcrop, had separated from the mainland 120,000 years previously).
Illha do Bazaruto. About 30km (18 miles) long and some 3km (2 miles) at its widest, Bazaruto is the biggest island in the archipelago, parallel with the mainland, on its northern point where the Farol do Bazaruto (lighthouse) last flashed out to sea 20 years ago (optional) visit.
Farol Do Bazaruto. Built by the Portuguese in 1890, this paraffin-powered lighthouse is just one of a string that guided mariners through the treacherous waters of the Mozambique Channel. Lighthouses were supplied, on an irregular basis, by a small ship, which steamed up and down the Mozambican coastline and sent out a rowboat with supplies. There are quite a lot of optional excursions to suit everyone’s needs.
(B)
Day 13: En-route to Cahora Bassa
After breaking camp we venture back by boat or by dhow to Vilankulo to continue with our ulendo northwest. The unique mixture of varying geological components, soils, relief, altitude and precipitation in the Manica and Tete provinces have produced a unique habitat that is rich in endemic fauna and flora. Here birds such as the green-headed oriole and the moustache warbler, draw bird enthusiasts from all over the world. Depending upon our arrival time at the mainland, we will continue en-route to Cahora Bassa.
Free camping (BLD)
Day 14: Cahora Bassa
Today we drive to Cahora Bassa. The name Cahora Bassa (Cabora Bassa in colonial times) is probably a corruption of the Chewa term kebrabassa, their name for the once magnificent stretch of rapids in the gorge across which the dam was constructed. Kebrabassa means ‘the end of the work’, an appropriate name for the point where traders and travellers, who were using the Zambezi as a route into the interior, were forced to turn back by the rocks and waterfalls. Boats paddled by locally ‘recruited’ slaves found their progress blocked at Kebrabassa (now Songo), and explorers like David Livingstone, who was searching for a navigable route into central Africa, could only drift back downstream to Tete, probably to the considerable relief of the pitifully treated serfs. We explore the area and there will be an optional boat cruise or a fishing expedition and a walking safari.
Camping, 1 night (BL)
Some facts about the Cahora Bassa Hydroelectric Project:
· Date of completion: 1974.
· Dam type: double-curved concrete arch.
· Dam height: 160m (525ft).
· Dam wall height: 331m (1,086ft).
· Length: 270km (168 miles).
· Capacity: 52,000 million m³.
· Average inflow: 2,800 cusecs (98,881 cusecs).
· Flood inflow: over 30,000 cubic metres per second.
· Area: 2,660km² (1,027 sq miles).
· Catchment area: 1,200,000km² (463,200 sq miles)
· Generating potential: 4,000 megawatt.
· Length of Direct Current (DC) transmission lines: (Songo-Apollo near Pretoria), 2,400km (1,491 miles).
· Length of AC transmission lines: (Songo-Chimoio and Songo-Nampula) 2,000km (1,243 miles).
Day 15: Zomba Plateau
After breakfast and striking camp we drive to the border with Malawi. Leaving Mozambique behind we drive to the enchanting Zomba Plateau, which rises 915m above the surrounding plains. This is a place of sheer beauty with its flowering trees and shrubs, clear mountain air, trout streams and fantastic scenery. We spend the rest of the day on the plateau with time left free for personal exploration doing nature walks or visiting one of the view points.
Overnight hotel (B)
After breakfast we follow the Rift Valley to Lilongwe. En-route we stop at Mua Mission where we visit the Kungoni Craft Shop, full of paintings and wood sculptures by local people. A visit to the Chamare Museum, an exhibition of traditional indigenous art, crafts, weapons, clothing, implements and ornaments (both modern and old) is worth while as there is nothing like this museum anywhere else in Malawi and few other in Southern Africa (optional). The afternoon is free for a last look around the Capital. We have our farewell gala dinner for those departing home.
Overnight lodge (B)
Day 17: To Airport
Transfer to Airport. End of services.