A Day Out at Quirimba Island

Quirimba Island is located to the south of Ibo and can be walked to during low tide in about two hours through mangrove swamps. Plenty of offers for guides can be found all over the main village starting at about Mtc125.

The walk is interesting if somewhat tricky and swampy in parts, culminating in a huge expanse of sand bank.

following our guide through the mangrove swamp

expansive sandbank at low tide

blue shelled hermit crab

The village is quite large, although the inhabitants are not very polite to visitors. There is a small market and church as well as a guesthouse to stay in or to cook your freshly bought seafood. We just make do with fresh green coconuts straight off the tree for Mtc10.

coconut seller

Dhows charge Mtc500 to return you to Ibo at sunset.

late afternoon dhow

passing the mangroves

Ibo Island

the view of the main harbour

Ibo has the same haunting and majestic feel as one might find in the Angkor complex in Cambodia. However rather than crumbling Buddhist temples one witnesses nature reclaim old colonial mansions, creating the sensation time has stood still for hundreds of years and one is living on an elaborate film-set.



ruins on Ibo

strangling figs

Ibo has always been the larger though lesser island to Ilha de Mocambique. With a similar history of trade with the Arabs as well of strategic position for the colonialising Portuguese it also shares a darker history during the slave trades. Many of the colonial mansions are clearly in a state of complete disrepair, over-run by meandering roots, plants and general dilapidation, providing a haunting backdrop to this tropical paradise.

the cemetary

The island boasts three villages (a total of some 4000 people inhabit the island) three forts, and interesting cemetery and a lighthouse. The main fort is particularly magical at sunset and has stalls selling silver, textiles and other local crafts.

Bicycles can be rented by the day starting at US$5 for the most basic model from Two Trees Hotel.





Up until two years ago the island boasted its own electricity supply but the generator fell into a state of disrepair a couple of years ago, Allegedly it will return again to the island at the end of this year.

Places to Stay and Eat

Staying in the Karibune Campsite near the large fort and next to the Ibo Lodge boutique Hotel, i take a quarto, a room in a divided mud hut for Mtc400. A chalet is Mtc800 and camping is Mtc120 per person. It is quite basic, but has a small restaurant and a generator providing some electricity in the evenings. The Mama is very obliging and her sons speak English.

A much cheaper community alternative is Tikidiri. The opposite side of town a chalet is Mtc150 and Mtc100 t camp. Homemade meals are available at Mtc100.




The very smart Miti Miwiri (Two Trees) looks quality. This privately owned French place charges US$50 per night, offers a decent breakfast at Mtc120 including a pot of filter coffee, has evening meals pre-ordered for Mtc300, and light snacks are available throughout the dat. Internet access is available for Mtc60 per hour. Same room prices are available at the centrally located Cinqo Portales.

The Ibo Lodge is an expensive boutique hotel with large quarters and charge some US$450+ per night all inclusive.

For a cheaper food alternative check out the centrally located Sukira Muryu pasteleria where prices are inflated, not fixed and run by an eccentric woman and her equally eccentric daughter. A fish burger seems to be about Mtc50, coke for Mtc35 - 40 and donuts for Mtc15. You need to push to receive change.

Arquipelago Das Quirimbas restaurant looks good, but was closed possibly because it is Ramadan at the moment.

two friends

local girl

my catch partners

There is no Vodacom signal that i can find on the island although i am told MSI connections work.

From Wimbi to Ilha Ibo

Fortunately Duncan a 20 something Londoner on a two week holiday is heading to Ibo also so we share a taxi a 4am taxi back to Pemba charging Mtc300. We than have a forty minute wait for the truck heading first to Quisanga and on to the boat departure point of Tandanhangue. We are joined by James and Pippa, touring South Africans.

The sealed road quickly vanishes as soon as you head out of Pemba, and the journey is yet another rough one. Although Quisanga lies just over 102kms north, the truck bumps and bounces humans and assorted baggage alike, is filled to breaking point of both. It takes a somewhat ridiculous 5 hours going through small villages and regularly stopping off to pick up unfeasibly more passengers and/or produce bags. A small frenzy of sellers greet the truck at every village selling identical and goods in each village, bananas, cassavas, reed mats, etc.

Again various bags are dropped off at everyone’s houses in the small and compact Quisanga before heading onwards to the somewhat surreal Tandanhangue some 30 minutes further onwards. It cost Mtc150 including bag.

Tandanangue is very much a one baobab tree village in front of rich mangroves with a ”shop” selling extortionate warm water for Mtc50 or coke at a reasonable Mtc30.

The Captain comes over to introduce himself and informs us in Portuguesa that the boat won’t leave till 3pm, so we share our supplies of biscuits, smoke, listen to James’ MP3 player chew the fat and take a few photos or the driest dock i have ever seen.

the dry dock at Tandanangue

Fortunately the shore is extremely flat and the tide comes in quicker clearly than many of us expected. By 12.45pm we are told we can board the motorised dhow and sail by 1.30pm for the hour crossing to Ibo island. The sea is calm and the scenery stunning.



crossing the sea at Tandanangue

a picnic on a sandbank at Tandanangue

Pemba and Wimbi

Pemba is a quite pleasant town with a few market areas and a couple of decent eating and drinking options. Flor d’ Avinida offers espresso coffee, acceptable donuts, snacks and meals. For lunch i opt for a Hambeurga Completo at Mtc120 at Pemba Take Away and although the burger itself is only average it is served up with decent fries and salad. I eat an excellent and tender beef served with crispy fries and side salad for Mtc200 at Peroni’s.

The comfortable and centrally located Hotel Cabo Delgado has single rooms from Mtc550. It also has the advantage of being adjacent from the departure point for Quisanga as the entry point for the Quirimbas National Park and Archipelago.

Wimbi is some 5kms from the centre of Pemba and offers a very pleasant stretch of white sand beach with some upmarket hotels. Cheaper alternatives include Pemba Bay bush backpacker and Dive Centre, Pieter’s Place and Russel’s Place where i have opted to stay. It is a Mtc200-250 taxi ride from central Pemba. I take a single in a 6 bed dorm for Mtc400 and is quiet spot if a little far out for those wanting to take up diving options or be closer to Pemba. Fortunately it is quite self-contained with a good restaurant and free wifi.

Diving opportunities are available from both Pemba Dive centre and C I divers which Duncan recommends having undertaken his open water cert from here.

The area is particularly popular with South Africans buying up property, and numerous expensive yachts anchor in the bay.

The outrageously and somewhat tacky Palace Hotel offers decent homemade hamburgers at reasonable prices.

Strangely Tuk Tuks also feature as one of the transport options in both Pemba and Wimbi.

From Nampula to Pemba

A pattern has emerged of waking up between 3am - 5am to take chapas or buses onwards to further destinations.

Having been personally escorted by C-C from Isla to Nampula, However whilst CC knows the city well it becomes a disadvantage having him at my side. I am stopped twice by two different police officers who ask to see my passport, and although they take everything o be in order, the first asks for Mtc100, then Mtc50 and then Mtc20, whilst the second asks money for a coke – about Mtc20.


It is a return to a marginally better room at Brasilia - Room 11 has a flushing toilet. C-C insists on taking me to friends for dinner of salad, bread and a local tapioca dish.

I don’t even bother changing for bed and just sleep in my jeans and Watford football shirt.

It’s a 3am bus out of Nampula for Pemba on a reasonable bus which charges Mtc350 + Mtc50 for the rucksack. The bus doesn’t head off o 4am which is probably just as well iam stopped for a third time – this time by two officers. This time they are shaking their head and i become aware for the first time that there really is something wrong with my visa. Whilst the dates valid show 2 months as asked back in Swaziland, it transpires that in fact i am only entitled to stay in Mozambique for 30 days – i am almost a week over that already!.

I understand their Portuguesa although they insist CC to translate. I tell them i am very sorry, i had not realised and either had two previous officers who had cornered me earlier. I suggest i take the bus to Pemba which is waiting patiently. They muster, shake their head and say this is a problem and re-examine my passport. I first offer Mtc50 explaining i am just a student, but they are not having it. This is a “Big Problem” and it certainly feels it with the bus almost full and my bag already packed in the cargo-hold,

After another 10 minutes i offer Mtc100 which is also rejected and i reluctantly part with Mtc150 a further 10 minutes later. Fortunately the bus has not just been waiting for me as a few other waifs and strays emerge out of the darkness.

The bus takes a fraction over 6 hours, stopping off every 100 yards to personally deliver passengers as the town approaches.

ATMs, Pin Numbers and Mozambique

Is Hong Kong unique by issuing cards with 6 digit pin numbers?

It explains the “Mystery at Barclay’s Bank” which ate my cash/credit card on my first day in Maputo. Like almost all ATM cards only four digits are accepted, not least First National Bank which i used throughout Namibia and South Africa. I am therefore colossally grateful to Standard Bank which seem to be the only bank which enables me to withdraw money from. Fortunately many towns do have these although not Tofo (but in Maxixe) or Ilha de Mocambique (Pemba being the nearest).

True Friendships and Moslem Brothers

Brother CC

Following my rather embarrassing “experience” on the chapas from Quelimane to Nampula, it is lovely to meet Carlos Chall Nazir, a 25 year old local Moslem who seems to want to adopt me for no other payment than informal English conversation classes. He helps me from the bus, takes me to Grant’s (from PSJ) recommended Pensao Dona Kero (which is full) and onwards to Ruby’s, with a beautiful central location on one street adjacent (east) from the Captain’s building. (See Places to Stay). He also gives me a bag of herbal cigarettes and gives me a guided tour of the entire island. He accepts a 2M beer as payment.

Carlos-Chall Nazir is 25 years old and a college student in Portuguesa, Maths and Chemistry. His father is a painter and decorator, and is the same age as me! I really must be much older than i feel. All his fees are paid by the local authority, but he bemoans the high unemployment rates not just in Ilha but throughout the country. He has no idea what he will do on completion of his studies and fears he will have to relocate to Nampula to find himself a half-decent job. He suggests i get an English teaching in his college, and i give it more than a cursory thought – it is really beautiful here.

Although this is his home town C-C clearly appreciates it’s immense beauty as we wonder down the streets and he shows me places with a strong sense of pride. Everything fits into two categories with C-C – “really nice” or “really beautiful”.

C-C at the fort..."it's really beautiful"

C-C brings out a tracksuit top. It is some very unofficial looking England football top – he is clearly a real Anglophile.

He is also very keen to take me to “the Disco” at Nautico’s. I don’t do discos but i am curious to see more of that legendary Mozambique moves on the dance-floor. We head there on Friday night at around 11pm to find 2 people sitting in deckchairs next to a huge empty dance-floor and one person asleep in the bar.

I am invited to his home on my last night for some rather pungent fish, cold noodles and coconut rice. He insists in no uncertain terms on giving me a small silver Jesus on the crucifix which he ties on my neck like a dog-collar. It is a really nice gesture, but it will be removed as i head up out to Pemba. What would Ma say?

I am told it is in the Koran to invite strangers into your home and lives. I don’t care what you might have heard, Moslem brother’s rock.

Ilha de Mocambique

Ilha de Mocambique is the former capital of the Portuguese colony and is really a must see for visitors to Mozambique. Some 2000kms north of Maputo, it is surrounded by turquoise and azure waters. Unsurprisingly it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site - it is like living in a museum. It is connected by a causeway from the mainland originally constructed in 1964.

the causeway linking the island to the Mainland

The island is approximately 3.5kms in length and no greater than 500 meters at its widest point.

Coconut palms, wild and Indian fig, casuarinas and red acacias imported from Madagascar abound. The island also has two botanical gardens.

one of the gardens

Lonely Planet accurately describes it as both “haunting and magical”. It certainly is and one can’t help but immediately fall in love with this place. It’s very difficult not to.

The island is distinctly divided into two: the stone built colonial town (cidade de Pedra e cal) and Macuti town (cidade de Macuti) with traditionally built houses made with reeds and mud.

stone houses - some in better condition than others

the old courthouse

There are more tourists than travellers here – many of which i guess must have flown into Nampulo from Maputo or Vilankulo via Beira. The few over-landers are making their way south from Malawi. I guess flying would have been a much easier and more comfortable option, but after flying from London to Namibia in May i have had more than my fair share of carbon footprint for this year.

Despite its smallness there is a multiculturalism about the island. The majority are Moslems with a large minority of Christians and a few Hindus. Each all have their own graveyard on the southern tip of the island past the causeway. There is also a small number of NGOs (several of which are visibly from UNESCO). I bet they can’t believe such a paradisaical posting.


I seem to be regularly asked to buy necklaces, maps, old coins and tiles (some allegedly salvaged from off-shore wrecks – surely should be in the museum?) dhow rides and asked for pens, but none of it is hard-sell. Some people just want to walk with you and will ask if they can accompany you down the road. And take no offense when you say no! Kids will ask for pens but happy just to have their photos taken and results shown.

The town is safe and i carry The Beast with complete impunity for one of just handful of places since the beginning of my African Adventures. It gets a good work out.


Historical Overview:

The first phase of great sea voyages started with the Arabs in the 8th century bringing Islam into Mozambique and held the monopoly on trade. Subsequently both Chinese and Indian ships would trade in ivory, textiles, spices and gold.

Vasco da Gama arrived in 1498, and throughout the 16th and 17th centuries the Portuguese found it the ideal base for connecting East Africa with India. Mossuril Bay provided natural shelter if ships arrived too late to connect with the summer monsoon winds. and Isla da Mocambique was made the Portuguese colonial capital in 1507. Nonetheless it was still administered under Goan control until 1752.

Sao Paolo former Jesuit convent and Governor’s Palace

By 1763 the port gained even greater prosperity and together with Sofala, Quelimane and Ibo became vital ports in the slave trade. Appreciating the strategic importance, both the British and Dutch attempted to control the island but failed to defeat the well-fortified town. How Africa has been raped by their colonial “masters”! Slavery was not abolished until 1837. With the demise of the slave trade, the need for a deeper port and the need to deal with more local uprisings, the Portuguese moved their capital to Laurenco Marques in 1898 marking the end of its heyday.

The island was given World Heritage status in 1991.

reed houses in Macuti

Sights Around The Town:

Sao Sebastiao Fortress on the northern tip





battlements

security guard at the fort

the entrance way

the church within

Sao Paolo Former convent and Governor’s Palace is now a museum kept in pristine condition with interesting artefacts. Open daily from 8am, tickets include guided tours of the palace (no photography or shoes allowed inside) and nautical museum for Mtc100 with 50% off for students. You can also purchase tickets here for Sao Sebastiao Fort Mtc200 (50% off with student card.





The Fish Market and Harbour





The Central Mosque







The Hospital at Sunrise





Even More Churches
Sra. Saude Church

Santo Antonio’s church

Miscelanious Others
the main promenade

sunset over the wharf

dhows on the water

Maritime Administration building

one of two Municipal Markets on the island


Other Activities:

For me i am happy to meander around town, but other activities are available.

Boat trips are popular and can be done in either motor boat or dhow. Prices seem fairly standardised ranging from 2 – 3 hour trips around the island, snorkelling and fishing trips, for half day and full day trips including Ilha de Goa, Ilha de Sele Pous and Corrusca beach. Dhows can be rented for around Mtc1800 for the day.

The beaches are pleasant and Nautico beach by the fort is good for swimming and snorkelling with some offshore coral.

Ruby also has some bikes for rent.

Check out the selection of books (many in English) and wine in Books and Bottles just down the road from the Golden Anchor.

Places To Stay:

My original recommended guest house was full so C-C told me to check out Ruby’s Guest House. I love Ruby’s. In a traditional rose-coloured stone house, it offers two courtyards and an a quality rooftop hangout complete with comfy cushions and oil lanterns for after-dark sessions. There is an open bar, with help yourself and write down lemon tarts, chocolate mousse, sodas and even an espresso machine. And their special cashew pie is awesome. Spoiling myself again i take the large double unattached bathroom with running hot water (Mtc900) – it’s like staying in a castle, not least the mosquito net proving a four poster feel. The front lock is tic-tac-toe grid style, similar if smaller than my old rural Hong Kong farmhouse aka The Fish Farm (1991 – 1998). There are several dorm rooms (Mtc400) and a twin room (Mtc900). It is owned by a Germanic-Portuguese couple who moved into the place November 2009. Call Uwe or Claudia on 8439 5862 or email ruby@themozambiqueisland.com

the sun/moon terrace at Ruby's

With a big booking arriving into Ruby’s i transfer across to Casa Das Ondes where the twin room is like a museum and boasting gothic windows and classical furniture features. More of a complete boudoir than a bedroom. They charge Mtc750 but also has an attached bathroom and includes breakfast.

Other quality places might be found at Mooxeleliva, Casa Branca, Casa Louis, Casa do Gabriel or Casa Dona Kero.

The Pensao Escondidinho has rooms from Mtc1250 – 3300, a good restaurant and a swimming pool. There is even the four star Hotel Omuhipii just outside the fort if you really want to splurge in style, and there restaurant is not too expensive with steaks available from Mtc300.

Places To Eat:

I don’t do seafood – somewhat unfortunate when you have spent much of the last month on the coast of Mozambique. Please bare this in mind on these recommendations

Ancora d’ouro is just opposite the Museum of Sacred Arts and has a good menu including great thin crust pizzas from Mtc180, grilled chicken, fries and salad at Mtc160, good espresso, and a small selection of breakfast items which are a little overpriced.

Religuias offers a large selection of reasonable food at generally reasonable prices, but service can be real slow.

Flor de Rosa is open Monday to Saturday from 5.00pm. An interesting menu including chicken in wine, pasta with a variety of sauces from Mtc200 and lasagne (Mtc280). They also have two internet stations at Mtc60/hour. Music is cool and the ambience on the rooftop makes it a great place for a drink if nothing else although i found their espresso disappointing.

There are a couple of reasonable local eateries in the main square opposite the hospital.