A few weeks ago my friend Panda and I returned from an absolutely amazing trip to Ilha de Moçambique (Mozambique Island). Over the next few weeks I'll chronicle the various pieces of the trip but let's start with a basic overview of where we visited.
Mozambique
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| A typical idyllic Mozambique beach |
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| "Vascodagama" by Ernesto Casanova |
History
In 1498, the explorer Vasco da Gama first made shore in the area populated by both Bantu peoples and Arab and Persian traders. By 1505 de Gama's Portuguese brethren had established important posts here for their gold, ivory, and (ultimately) slave trade routes. In the 17th century, they divided much of the terrain through land grants called prazos but it wasn't until the late 19th century that true Portuguese control was established through a treaty with Britain. Between the 1920s and 1950s more and more colonists arrived as a result of ministry official and eventual Prime Minister António Salazar's policies barring non-Portuguese investments in Portuguese colonies. Mozambique obtained independence from Portugal in 1975 after close to 15 years of fighting. The new country struggled with infrastructure, education, and civil war. 1994 marked their first democratic elections and a new period of peace. Since that time Mozambique has been heralded as an example of the possibility of democracy and post war unity in Africa.
Today
Today, the land is primarily populated by traditional ethnic groups with only 10% speaking Portuguese (the official language). Of course, that one-tenth of the population is the fraction primarily seen in cities and vacations spots frequented by tourists (as we did). The majority of Mozambicans are employed in subsistence farming with just under 70% living in rural settings. As in most of Sub-Saharian Africa, Mozambique has been hit hard by the HIV epidemic with a world prevalence ranking of 8th and 1.567 million people living with HIV. The primary religions are Catholicism and Islam (we stayed down the street from a Mosque during Ramadan and were woken nightly at about 3 am with prayers). |
| A beach on the island |
The Ilha
Our trip was spent almost entirely on the Ilha de Moçambique. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is a 3 km long islet crowded with homes made through traditional methods and speckled with cobble stoned streets.
The name
The country was actually named after the island and not the other way around. When Vasco de Gama arrived he asked for the name of the place and locals said, "Ali Musa Mbiki". This was not actually the name of the island (it had none at the time) but rather an Arab trader who had become sultan. de Gama combined that into Mozambique which became the title for the island and later the territory.
History
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| The fort |
Prior to de Gama's arrival the island was already an important trading post between Madagascar, Persia, and Arabia and the introduction of the Portuguese expanded it to include routes between Western Europe, the Indian subcontinent, and China. The Fort of São Sebastião protected the island for centuries and still stands today as the oldest fort in Southern Africa. During a months long siege by the Dutch, Portuguese soldiers were able to hold claim to the island by retreating into the fort and closing the doors.
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| Items from shipwrecks (like the porcelain in the lower right) still wash ashore |
The importance of this stop on trade routes lead the island to be the capital of Portuguese East Africa until it was moved at the end of the 19th century. So many vessels coming through also meant many were wrecked in inclement weather. Artefacts continue to wash ashore from these sunken ships today.
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| A home made by traditional techniques |
Since the establishment of a port to this day the same building techniques have been used. Stone was mined from the centre of the island and transported to the edges for longer lasting buildings. The quarry was then turned into a settlement which holds a combination of brick and thatched homes.
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| One of the Catholic churches |
Today
The people of the island are a mixture of descendants of Portuguese, Bantu, Swahili, and Arab with a small expat community as well. There are two primary religions: Islam and Catholicism.
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| Fishermen repairing a net |
Fishing is the primary occupation with seafood dominating the diet on the island. Throughout the day men can be seen carrying their catch, repairing nets, and doing upkeep on wooden boats.
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| The Governor's Palace |
Tourism
There are several museums concerning the history of the island. The Fort, the former Governor's Palace, and the Maritime Museum are run by the same organisation and can be visited for one admission fee.
Locals can be hired for the day to take tourists across the bay to various beaches and islands but unless you are fluent in Portuguese it is very difficult. Only one or two English speaking guides are available. If you're interested they will find you in the square in front of the museum or on the dock. There is one tourism company called Ilha Blue (they will be getting their own post to come because they're awesome) which offers packages such as snorkelling, sunset cruises, whale watching, and a walk through a Swahili village.
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| A delicious seafood salad |
There are multiple restaurants scattered along the island. Most are run by expats with one or two run by locals. All have traditional food (primarily seafood) and employ locals. The establishments take turns for days off so business gets spread around.
There are a few hotels (Patio dos Quintalinhos, Casa Branca, and Hotel Omuhi'piti) but the cheapest lodging (and in my opinion best) options are home stays which operate like hotels in a local's house. Panda and I stayed at Amakuthini (also known as Casa de Luis) which was essentially a hostel in Luis's courtyard. She offered both dormitories and private rooms and for an additional nominal fee, dinner (which were some of the best meals we had on the trip). Other home stays are Casa de Dona Kero, Residencial Amy, and Casa de Dona Shamu.
Further Info
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| Panda and Jade at the Fort |
Like I stated earlier, I intend to go into much greater detail on specific parts of the trip so keep an eye out for that. But for now here are some sources I used to double check history and sites useful for planning the trip:
Lonley Planet-I used their Southern Africa guide and their website
~Jade
Hi Jade, we gonna visit Ilha de Moçambique in August. Would you recommend to stay in Casa de Luis ? Could we book in advance to ensure the accommodation?
ReplyDeleteThanks heaps in advance,
Cheers,
Tiph