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Mozambique travel guide

Bob Dylan sang that he'd "like to spend some time in Mozambique, the sunny sky is aqua blue..." If you're keen to discover what inspired him to write a song about it, then this Mozambique travel guide is for you. A 2,300km coastline, perfect for surfing and scuba diving; an elephant-filled national park; and offshore archipelagos promising Indian Ocean tranquillity surrounded by playful dolphin pods are just a few reasons...

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Mozambique travel guide

This former Portuguese colony, where the national language is still Portuguese, retains similarities to its former rulers. Not culturally, but in terms of tourism, hiding its glories under a bushel and being upstaged by its neighbours, South Africa, Zambia and Tanzania. Just as anyone who has explored the coast of Portugal and wondered why Spain gets all the brouhaha, Mozambique has some of the most stunning sandy beaches, surf and scuba diving, along its 2,300km of coastline, with the Lebombo Mountains separating sea from savannah.

I like to spend some time in Mozambique. The sunny sky is aqua blue. And all the couples dancing cheek to cheek. It's very nice to stay a week or two. And fall in love just me and you.

– Bob Dylan, from his song ‘Mozambique’

Two other great divides are the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, each creating meandering magnificence en route to the coast. One thing the Portuguese could neither emulate nor exploit, however, is Mozambique’s archipelagos. With an eclectic mix of posh privacy to camping cool, Bazaruto Archipelago in the south is simply to dive for, and Quirimbas in the north is for kayakers and sailors, a place to paddle and pootle in paradise. Read on in our Mozambique travel guide.

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Mozambique is…

only just starting to reveal its natural greatness, and with over 2,300km of crystalline coast is a pretty good starter.

Mozambique isn’t…

somewhere to go for the Big Five. Big Five-0 on the beach yes, fecund fauna not so much.

Things to do in Mozambique…

Very popular with South African divers, Mozambique is flying up the wishlist for other international travelers. Vilankulos is the go-to place, and gateway to the Bazaruto Archipelago, where coral reefs and clear waters allow dive sites with visibility up to as much as 40m. Plus you aren’t looking through the legs of thousands of other divers, unlike some other famous dive spots, especially if you head even further north or out to some of the uninhabited islands. Wherever you go, you have the joys of dolphins, humpback whales, whale sharks, leatherback turtles, manta and spotted eagle rays. Traditional dhows, mostly used by Mozambique’s Tsonga people to fish and trade for generations, are now becoming more prolific along this country’s long and – when you see the photos, much longed for – coastline. With many fishermen now offering sailing trips, island hopping from one divine dune to another, this is not only slow travel at its most elegant. It is to dhow for. Mozambique is also paddling paradise, and the Quirimbas National Park’s archipelago is the place to indulge in sumptuous sea kayaking. Paddling out to uninhabited islands, camping overnight, exploring mangrove forests one day, eating seafood you have caught off a palm-fringed beach the next.

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Things not to do in Mozambique...

Don’t think of Mozambique as simply an extension of South Africa. Mozambique has its own identity and, with so many islands, it has a laid back feel. Still very undeveloped, tarmac roads are few and far between except for the main one that follows the coast in and out of Maputo, the capital.

Mozambique has suffered from serious poverty since independence. Partly due to civil war, but also because the majority of people work in subsistence agriculture, even though only 7 percent of Mozambique’s land is arable. Diversification into tourism is at a delicate stage, so travel responsibly, spend money locally and let your hosts feel empowered by tourism rather than exploited.

Some of the coastal areas are cottoning on to the income potential of jet skiing, quad biking and bringing 4x4s onto the pristine beaches. Few are allowed by law, but rarely is it policed. So, please stay clear of such activities, and explain to your guide that not all tourists want to see their land and seascapes marred by such activities.

Mozambique travel guide