Bradt Travel Guide: Mozambique

About this book

This new seventh edition of Bradt Travel Guide: Mozambique remains the most established and only standalone guide to this alluring country. Complete with in-depth coverage of transport, wildlife, history, culture and accommodation, plus invaluable practical advice and regional and local maps, this honest handbook will help you plan the perfect visit. Particularly useful is the selection of reputable local tour operators.

Mozambique is very much a country of two halves. The tourism-savvy south offers palm-lined tropical beaches, luxury lodges and diving to rank with the best in the world, plus the capital Maputo, a city oozing with Afro-Mediterranean flair. The undeveloped northern mainland, by contrast, is one of Africa's last frontiers, with thrillingly vast game reserves and stunning coastal panoramas that draw intrepid travellers to those hankering after barefoot luxury.

With economy-boosting oil and natural gas potential on the horizon, Mozambique is on its way to reclaiming its standing as one of Africa's top destinations. However, despite being one of Africa's fastest developing tourist countries, it still offers the opportunity to experience the 'quintessential Africa'. Having once stood in the ranks with South Africa, over twenty years of post-civil war development and one of Africa's highest growth rates are drawing tourists back to its 2,500km of pristine, palm-fringed coastline.

Best visited between May and October, Mozambique is dotted north to south with natural, historical, cultural, and architectural wonders remnant of its varied and notable past history of exploration, trade, and cultural fusion. Highlights include the UNESCO world heritage site, Ilha de Moçambique, a 16th- century Arab and Portuguese trading post, ancient rock art at Chinhamapere Hill, tea plantations and an exploration of Mount Namuli from the highland mountain town of Gurué, while the coast – home to more than 2,000 species of marine fish and five of seven endangered sea turtle species – boasts a plethora of delights, from windsurfing in Pemba and surfing in Tofto to diving and snorkelling off the islands of Bazaruto Archipelago (Bazaruto National Park), not to mention some of the richest coral reefs in the world., home to over 1,200 species and five of seven endangered sea turtles.

Contents

Introduction

PART ONE GENERAL INFORMATION
Chapter 1 Background Information
      Geography, Climate, History, Government and politics, Economy, People, Language, Religion, Culture
Chapter 2 Natural History
      Vegetation, Mammals, Birds, Reptiles, Marine life
Chapter 3 Practical Information
      When to visit, Highlights, Tourist information, Tour operators, Red tape, Getting there and away, Crime and safety, Women travellers, Gay travellers, Travellers with a disability, Travelling with children, What to take, Money, Budgeting, Getting around, Accommodation, Eating and drinking, Public holidays, Shopping, Photography, Media and communications, Responsible tourism, Getting involved
Chapter 4 Health
      Preparations, Medical problems, Other safety concerns
Chapter 5 Diving and Snorkelling
      Choosing an operator, Preparations before diving, During the dive, Snorkelling

PART TWO SOUTHERN MOZAMBIQUE
Chapter 6 Maputo
      History, Getting there and away, Getting around, Where to stay, Where to eat and drink, Nightlife, Safety and hassles, Entertainment, Shopping, Other practicalities, What to see and do, City walks, Day trips from Maputo
Chapter 7 Maputaland
      Inhaca Island, Catembe, Bela Vista and Salamanga, Maputo Special Reserve, Ponta Mamoli and Malongane, Ponta do Ouro
Chapter 8 The Limpopo Valley and Coast South of Inhambane
      Marracuene and surrounds, Bilene, Limpopo National Park, Xai-Xai, Beaches around Xai-Xai, Northeast of Xai-Xai
Chapter 9 Inhambane and Surrounds
      Inhambane, Maxixe, Beaches around Inhambane, North of Inhambane
Chapter 10 Vilankulo, Inhassoro and Bazaruto National Park
      Vilankulo, Inhassoro, Bazaruto National Park

PART THREE CENTRAL MOZAMBIQUE
Chapter 11 Beira
      History, Getting there and away, Orientation and getting around, Where to stay, Where to eat and drink, Other practicalities, What to see and do
Chapter 12 Chimoio and the Manica Highlands
      Chimoio, Lake Chicamba, Manica, Penhalonga, Chimanimani National Reserve
Chapter 13 Gorongosa and the Caia Road
      Gorongosa National Park, Mount Gorongosa, The EN1 from Inchope to Caia
Chapter 14 Tete
      Tete, Around Tete

PART FOUR NORTHERN MOZAMBIQUE
Chapter 15 Zambézia
      Quelimane, The Quelimane-Nampula Road, The Western Highlands
Chapter 16 Nampula
      Getting there and away, Where to stay, Where to eat and drink, Other practicalities, What to see and do, Around Nampula
Chapter 17 Ilha de Moçambique and Surrounds
      History, Getting there and away, Where to stay, Where to eat and drink, Shopping , Other practicalities, Exploring Ilha de Moçambique , Mossuril Bay, Nacala
Chapter 18 Pemba and the Northeast
      Pemba, Montepuez, Towards Tanzania
Chapter 19 The Quirimbas
      History, Ibo, Other islands of the Quirimbas, The Quirimbas mainland, Pangane
Chapter 20 Niassa Province
      Cuamba, Mandimba and Massangulo, Lichinga, Lago Niassa (Lake Malawi), Niassa Reserve

Appendix 1 Language
Appendix 2 Further Information
Index

Customer Reviews

Biography

Philip Briggs has been exploring the highways, byways and backwaters of Africa since 1986, when he spent several months backpacking on a shoestring from Nairobi to Cape Town. In 1991, he wrote the Bradt Guide to South Africa, the first such guidebook to be published internationally after the release of Nelson Mandela. Over the rest of the 1990s, Philip wrote a series of pioneering Bradt travel guides to destinations that were then – and in some cases still are – otherwise practically uncharted by the travel publishing industry. These included the first dedicated guidebooks to Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Ghana and Rwanda, all now in their fifth to seventh editions. More recently, he authored the first dedicated English-language guidebooks to Somaliland and Suriname, as well as a new guide to The Gambia, all published by Bradt. Also a prolific writer for magazines, he spends at least four months on the road every year, usually accompanied by his wife, the travel photographer Ariadne Van Zandbergen, and spends his rest of the time battering away at a keyboard in the sleepy South African coastal village of Wilderness.

This edition has been updated by Sandra Turay, a graduate of Ethnic Studies and Journalism whose curiosity for the world's peoples and places has led her to study, work, teach, volunteer (Peace Corps Ethiopia) and travel throughout Africa and hideaways across the globe.