Blogs from Island of Mozambique, Northern, Mozambique, Africa

Mozambique isn’t really a tourist destination and Isle de Mozambique, off the coast, is not even known to many backpackers', yet. The little hotels are empty until Saturday night when some expat oil workers turn up for a weekend break. Isle de Mozambique was “discovered” by Vasco da Gama around 1498 and quickly became the capital of Portuguese East Africa. Long before Vasco's discovery, Arabs and Swahili locals had been trading gold and slaves here but it was the Portuguese who turned it into a city and this was the country's capital for 400 years. So it is very strong on faded grandeur. Everywhere there are decaying buildings longing for some love and money to restore them to their heyday. Our hotel was once a ruined trading house; now it is rather splendid. Hanging brass lamps ... read more

We got up and felt quite good. So, we negotiated a taxi to take us on a day trip to Mozambique Island, and also to Pemba tomorrow. The taxi was well cared and in excellent condition. It was going to be a good day! Mozambique Island has a similar history to Zanzibar Island. It was the capital of the country and was a slave trading centre that saw countless numbers of captives mistreated and boarded onto ships for transport to slave buying ports around the world. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and was the primary reason for us selecting Northern Mozambique in this trip. We'd initially planned on 2 nights on the island, but a day trip was just as good, since we had a good hotel in Nampula, the drive each way was going ... read more

From Tofo to Maputo, there is a door to door shuttle run by an independent company to Fatima's, leaving at 4am. It loads the bus with backpackers first, jamming the backpacks under the seats and most likely charging a premium. Then is rams in as many locals as physically possible. I get a seat with leg room, not on the wheel arch for once so can actually get some sleep. The journey is estimated at 5-10hours depending on what occurs on the journey, many new arrivals to Tofo took 9 hours so I have low expectations and am shocked when we get to Maputo Fatima's at 10am, only 6 hours! I try to fly to Nampula that day but the flight is full so I book one for 8am the next morning. I wander Maputo the ... read more

I reach the chapa park at an awkward time. The chapa to Ilha is already nearly full, meaning the boon of an imminent departure, but the vehicle is one where the front row of seats and an uncomfortable backwards-facing bench share legroom that is only adequate for one or the other. It's to the disappointment of all that my long legs are added to this mix. A foreign couple comfortably settled on the back seat view me with undisguised contempt, marking them out as French. The journey to Ilha is fortunately on a decent road, meaning the battle to prevent my right foot from going numb lasts only 2.5 hours. I'm relieved when, twisting round to face the front, I see the causeway leading over to the island. There's a slalom course of red and white ... read more

Ihla de Mozambique played a huge role in the history of eastern Africa, the slave trade and the Portuguese dominance over Mozambique. Before the Portuguese took over the island was used by Arab traders. Unfortunately for them and fortunately for the Portuguese their weapons weren’t that great and the Portuguese took over in the early 1500. They were quick to build the Chapel of Nossa Senhora de Baluarte, in 1522 which is considered to be the oldest European building in the southern hemisphere. Shortly after they realize that they cannot defend the Island with a bible and build the impressive Fort of São Sebastião. Both of which are still standing. The island was up until the early 1900 the focal point of Portuguese trade (spices, slaves and gold) to and from Africa and India and later ... read more