DESTINATION MOZAMBIQUE 2013 Contents 3 Foreword Come and share the beauty of our wonderful land Mozambique Tourism Authority Tel: +258 21 307320/1 4 IntroduCtIon Fax: +258 21 307322/3 Idyllic beaches, superb wildlife Email: [email protected] www.inatur.org.mz 9 AFro Art ArenA Destination Mozambique Is published by: Wonderful art is welcome legacy of turbulent times Land & Marine Publications Ltd 1 Kings Court, Newcomen Way 13 rhythm In blue Severalls Business Park, Colchester Variety is spice of life for nation’s music lovers Essex, CO4 9RA, UK Tel: +44 (0)1206 752902 17 seen nowhere else Email: [email protected] Thrilling encounters with rare species Africa Office: Land & Marine Publications (Kenya) Ltd Suite A5, 1st floor, Ojijo Plaza 19 InsIder tIps Plums Lane, off Ojijo Road, Parklands Key advice for visitors to Mozambique PO Box 2022, Village Market 00621 Nairobi, Kenya 21 hotel trainIng sChool Tel: (wireless) 020 232 4343 Trainees aim to be ‘the host with the most’ Email: [email protected] www.landmarine.com 23 Food lovers’ pArAdIse So many great flavours to savour Printed by: Buxton Press The opinions expressed in this publication 25 AFrican eden are not necessarily those of the editor nor of Glorious game-viewing in revitalised any other organisation associated with this national parks publication. No liability can be accepted for any 27 here be monsters inaccuracies or omissions. Mozambique’s big fish attract avid anglers 38 hotel ListIngs ISSN 2045-6468 38 Maputo City © 2013 Land & Marine Publications Ltd 29 Mice Is nice Maputo has top status as conference 41 Maputo Province destination 43 Gaza Province 44 Inhambane Province 30 IslAnds And beaches 48 Sofala Province A perfect blend of island gems and 48 Manica Province sleepy lagoons 49 Tete Province 32 ArChIteCture 50 Zambezia Province Maputo’s architectural heritage is a joy 51 Nampula Province 53 Cabo Delgado Province 34 locatIon mozAmbIque 55 Niassa Province 36 hotel Index 56 DireCtory 1 Foreword Come and Share ThE beauty oF our wonderFul lAnd elcome to the second edition of Destination and over the building of lodges and camps in our truly WMozambique, a truly comprehensive tourism amazing wildlife reserves. guide to our beautiful and remarkable country. So, restored and revitalised, Mozambique has chosen to Mozambique is one of the world’s most intriguing and remain exclusive as a destination and not just to chase visitor delightful destinations, a colourful fusion of languages, numbers. cultures, vistas and landscapes, all influenced for hundreds of years in one way or another by the Portuguese. CoAstlIne As a nation we have been through some tough times, but in We have an almost endless coastline stretching for 2,600 a comparatively short period Mozambique has been dramati- km, so it’s only natural that our beaches and islands are cally transformed in almost every way. And over the last 10 unspoilt – and we plan to keep them this way. years or so Mozambique has performed as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. Our tourism sector has I believe our hotels and the services we provide are among experienced similar development. the best in the world, while our mouth-watering cuisine – especially our abundant seafood – brings visitors back time yet fast development does not mean we do not care for our after time. environment. That’s why we have placed strict controls over hotel construction at the coast In fact, Mozambique is truly amazing. I hope you will come Hiuane Abacar and find out just how amazing it is. Director General Mozambique Tourism Authority 3 IntroduCtIon IDyllic beaches, superb wildlife... mozAmbIque hAs It All ew destinations compare with Mozambique – Moreover, the influence of Portugal, the former colonial power, Fhome to a vibrant and forward-thinking nation has left an intriguing legacy in its language, extraordinary that is newly emergent from a difficult recent past cuisine and, of course, architecture. As the only lusiphone and ready to extend the broadest of smiles to visi- (Portuguese-speaking) country in southern Africa, Mozambique tors. A warm welcome lies in store for those keen offers something different from its immediate neighbours. to discover a remarkable combination of deserted beaches, Robinson Crusoe islands, big game and cities where the fun never seems to stop. herItAge A centuries-old heritage can be found in historical and Mozambique boasts one of the world’s last truly untouched unspoilt locations such as the Island of Mozambique (a tropical coastlines – all 2,600 km of it. This wild and exten- Unesco World heritage site), once the capital of Portuguese sive shoreline is dotted with coral reefs and magical islands. East Africa, where some of the stone buildings date from the INTERESTING FACT: here, visitors will find sleepy lagoons and soft-sand white early 1600s. The Portuguese influence is at its strongest in the Maria de Lourdes Mutola, beaches where footprints are still an oddity, all set against major cities of Maputo, Beira, Nampula and Nacala; but in the the Olympic 800 metres an Indian Ocean backdrop where an occasional fisherman is past 20 years a post-colonial, made-in-Mozambique vibrancy champion in Sydney, is the only life form. has taken hold. This is best illustrated by the charming resto- known as the Maputo ration of many fine old buildings and also in the completion Express. of many smart new hotels for both leisure and business, the building of better roads and the construction of gleaming new airport terminals. 4 Modernity has not dented the love of life for which Mozambicans are rightly famed. Soaking up the ling six-island Bazaruto atmosphere, both day and night, Mozambique’s pulsating Art Archipelago and the national marine Deco capital, Maputo, is a special attraction. Come and enjoy park. For many, this is Mozambique’s some of Africa’s finest cooking, with seafood so delicious that jewel in the crown location, with many South Africans drive hundreds of kilometres across the untouched islands and an easy- border each weekend just going atmosphere. to sample the delicious ‘LM prawn’. There is no better place to try a plate of these ParAdIse than the city’s legendary But Bazarato’s iconic paradise status Costa do Sol restaurant – is more than matched, however, perhaps accompanied by by the 32 islands to the north that an ice-cold glass of 2M or make up the Quirimbas Archi- Laurentina Clara beer. pelago and its own national marine park. Touched by Arab influences Elsewhere, two destina- of the kind that can also be seen tions dominate. With in Zanzibar and elsewhere along its good international the East African coast, Quirimbas connections, Vilankulo is an ultra-low-impact destination is the preferred gateway and the location for several eco- to the truly compel- friendly properties. 5 INTERESTING FACT: Mozambique has some of the world’s biggest coal reserves. Others are also gaining a reputation for their growing numbers of game – with some of the animals being translocated from elsewhere in the region to restock depleted parks – and Mozambique has formed close ties with its neighbours in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Swazi- land to create a series of truly immense Transfrontier Parks and Transfrontier Conservation Areas that allow animals Beyond the Bazarato and to migrate over huge areas as they did Quirimbas archipelagos, the mainland has its fair share of long before official borders existed. exotic locations including still more of those powder-white beaches. There are plenty from which to choose. Praia da More still needs to be done in some Macaneta can be reached by boat from Maputo. Then there is areas, but the country is once again Ponta do Ouro, which involves a trip in a 4x4 vehicle and has able to offer spectacular wildlife some really nice properties. Close by are Ponta Malongane, viewing. When this is coupled with sheltered Xai-Xai and the 27 km long Bilene Lagoon. The list is the allure of nearby beach attractions, almost endless and every one of Mozambique’s coastal prov- Mozambique really does offer bush inces can claim its own special slice of oceanside paradise. and beach as a seamless destination. Surely, it’s impossible to resist. RESTORED Away from the coast, Mozambique can rival any destina- tion for the quality of its game. Once-abandoned national parks and reserves have been and are being restored to their former pre-civil war glory. Gorongosa is easily Mozambique’s best-known national park – so spectacular and dramatic that it attracts wildlife film-makers from across the world. It was once southern Africa’s greatest game park and today is busy reclaiming that hard-won accolade. 7 AFro Art ArenA Wonderful art is welcome legacy oF turbulent tImes ozambique’s turbulent history has given rise his works have always projected a bold vision of life, depicting Mto an inspiring range of visual art that began a communion between human, animal and plant life. long before independence in 1975 and is still going INTERESTING FACT: strong. Malangatana spent his early life attending mission schools Capulana fabric is a and helping his mother on the farm. At 12 he found work in traditional cloth worn The culture of Mozambique has been enriched by many Lourenço Marques (now Maputo) as a ball boy at a tennis by women in both experiences, from its early beginnings as a port of call for club, went to night classes and developed an interest in art. Mozambique and Angola. Chinese and Persian traders, through the days of the Portu- A member of the tennis club gave him materials and helped guese and the struggle for independence to the civil war that him to sell his art.