Ilha de Moçambique
Trip Start
Feb 04, 2011
1
22
23
Trip End
Nov 11, 2011
Pemba, Cabo Delgado, Mozambique
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Our first contact with Ilha de Moçambique was by boat as we took a day trip from the resort. It was great to see the island from sea. The first glimpse we got was of the Fort of São Sebastião that was constructed in the late 16th century. Then we started to sea fishermen, old Portuguese houses, some renovated and colourful, some dilapidated but yet stunning. What a fantastic mix of old and new, of Africa and Europe. We couldn't wait to get to the island. The island isn't bigger than 3km long and 500m at its widest but it has had a great influence in East-African trading. As far back as 15th century it was an important boat building centre and a meeting point of cultures but also a hub of Indian Ocean trade. Vasco da Gama landed there in 1498 and 1507 a permanent Portuguese settlement was established on the island. The island became the capital of Portuguese East Africa until the end of 19th century when the government was transferred to Maputo, then called Lourenço Marques. Ilha de Moçambique never really recovered from the economical decline due to shift in government but also the construction of the deep Nacala Port in the 1950's.
These days the island partly consists of old Portuguese buildings being renovated and partly of a lively fishing community. One can easily get lost wandering around in the most picturesque setting sipping on occasional espressos, wondering if one is really in Africa. On the other hand, on the other side of the island is the very populated fishermen town, Makuti, with thatched-roof huts and narrow alleyways where children play and chicken squawk. Makuti Town is the island's
younger more colourful side dating from late 19th century; where most islanders nowadays live.
After a few days on the luxury resort with Erwan we drove around the mainland to get to the 3.5km bridge that takes one to the island. As one can't camp on the island itself we booked ourselves into a hotel and enjoyed a few hot days wandering around. It was easy to daydream and see ourselves live there. Renovating an old house and open up some kind of artist residence. Since the 1991 Ilha de Moçambique is a Unesco World Heritage site and it is a real pleasure to see that many of the old ruins are being restored.
Only about 100km north of Ilha de Moçambique is the big port town of Nacala, where it is still possible to find a little peaceful getaway a few kilometres out of town in Fernão Veloso. Libelula is the place for a relaxed holiday, with camping and accommodation between 8 to 75 USD. They also have a private beach and offer diving. Now we found ourselves dreaming of having a little place of our own, contrary to all our previous plans. It's surely interesting to see where we'll end up, doing what. In Libelula we met a Finnish couple, Maiju and Mikko, on their holidays. They just seemed to have all the odds against them. Their passports got stolen and the embassy wasn't very helpful, and they kept on forgetting bags here and there, but despite all that, their spirits were high and they had a constant smile on their faces. We managed to squeeze them in the car, with their luggage on the roof and headed on a back road to Pemba. With their bad luck we were quite relieved when we arrived in Pemba with no problems at all. As they only had one more night before flying down to Maputo we decided to check out Pemba Dive & Bush Camp, not far from the airport. It turned out to be a great place with the most stunning view and free activities such as kayaking. The next day we drove the Finns to the airport and while having a last coffee together they realized they had forgotten plenty of things drying in the camp. No worries! They got their stuff but we wondered if they would ever really make it to Maputo and not to say the least to Finland with no Passport and their Visa card maxed out. Latest news is that they made it to Maputo and their spirits are as high as ever.
We only planned to stay one more night at the Bush Camp but a sore throat and plenty of time on our hands, we decided to stay a few more nights. Our plan has been to go up north of Ibo and Pangane before crossing across, on a very bad road, all the way to Lake Niassa and heading north into Tanzania through Congresso Border Post. We planned to stay only a couple of weeks in Tanzania before heading into Malawi through the north. Now however there are heavy demonstrations in Malawi, with 18 people killed and many injured, just a few days ago. Malawi is suffering from the lack of hard currency, fuel and democracy. It might not, unfortunately, after all, be the right moment to visit Malawi. I find this very sad as we have been very much looking forward to visit this beautiful country. What we will do though is follow the situation, see in which direction things go, and just spend a few month in Tanzania if things don't calm down. To confuse ourselves and our readers even a bit more we also see ourselves
living in Pemba...
