Vacation Guide to Mozambique Capitale Maputo 2023
Vacation Guide to Mozambique Capitale Maputo 2023
Mozambique is a country located in Southeastern Africa. The Mozambique capitale Maputo, formerly (until 1976) Lourenço Marques is a port city and the most populated city in Mozambique.
Table of Contents
Mozambique Map
Informations
Temperature: The best time to visit Mozambique is from May to November, when is the winter, followed by a small chance of rain and lower temperatures.
Language: Portuguese is the country’s official language, but it is only spoken by around half of the population.
Currency: Mozambican Metical (MZN) aprox. 1$=61 MZN 1€ =75 MZN
Food Prices: Meal in a cheap restaurant=8 USD, Meal for 2 People, Mid-range Restaurant=32 USD
You can find more information about the visa here.
Things to do
Maputo Special Reserve
Maputo Special Reserve is a nature reserve in Mozambique. The reserve is located on Maputo Bay, approximately 100 kilometers southeast of the city of Maputo, Mozambique. The Reserve is 1,040 km² in extent and was originally proclaimed in 1932 to protect a small population of coastal elephants resident in the area.
Ilha de Moçambique
The Ilha de Moçambique is an island and at the same time a city in Mozambique and namesake of the country. It is located in the province of Nampula. The Município Ilha de Moçambique has 54.000 inhabitants; 14,000 of them live on the island.
Limpopo National Park
The Limpopo National Park in Mozambique was founded on November 27, 2001 by amalgamating former hunting areas and placing them under protection. The national park is named after the most important river in the national park, the Limpopo.
Quirimbas National Park
The Quirimbas National Park is one of six national parks in Mozambique. It is located in the province of Cabo Delgado in the north of Mozambique and covers an area of 7506 km². The most important part of the national park are the eleven southernmost islands of the Quirimbas archipelago in the Indian Ocean, which gave the park its name.
Ilha dos Portugueses
Small island & popular cruise stop offering beach recreation, plus places for local food & beer.
Niassa Game Reserve
The Niassa Game Reserve is a nature reserve in the Niassa Province in northern Mozambique. It is part of the 740,000 square kilometer Selous Niassa ecosystem and is connected to the Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania by a so-called “wildlife corridor”. As part of the founding of the Peace Park, this park will be developed into a cross-border park with Selos Park.
Museu de História Natural de Moçambique
The Museu de História Natural de Moçambique, Portuguese for Natural History Museum of Mozambique, is a natural history museum in the Mozambican capital of Maputo. It is located in the Polana district, on Praça Travessia do Zambeze. The museum opened in 1913 as the Museu Provincial (Provincial Museum), moved to the present building in 1932/33 and bore the name of a Portuguese governor, Museu Dr. Alvaro de Castro.
São Sebastião
The São Sebastião fortress is located on the northern tip of the island of Ilha de Moçambique and is the oldest preserved fortress in sub-Saharan Africa in its original form. The Portuguese began under Afonso de Albuquerque in 1508 with the construction of the “Fortress of Saint Sebastian”. According to other sources, the current fortress was built between 1558 and 1620.
Tunduru Botanical Gardens
The Tunduru Gardens is public park and garden in downtown Maputo, Mozambique. It was designed in 1885 by British gardener Thomas Honney. It is home to tennis courts owned by the Mozambique Tennis Federation.
Catedral Metropolitana de
Nossa Senhora da Conceição
The Catedral Metropolitana de Nossa Senhora da Conceição, often just called “Sé” or “Catedral”, is a Catholic church on the Praça da Independência in the Central district of the Mozambican capital Maputo. The church, built between 1936 and 1944, was designed by the engineer Marcial Simões de Freitas e Costa. The church is the seat of the Archdiocese of Maputo.
Praia do Xai-Xai
Praia do Xai-Xai is a beach which is a tourist destination in Mozambique. Located approximately 10 kilometers from Xai-Xai, the seat of Mozambique’s Gaza Province, the beach attracts visitors who are interested in exploring the massive coral reef that runs parallel to the shoreline
Casa de Ferro
The Casa de Ferro is a building on Avenida Samora Machel in the Central district of the Mozambican capital Maputo. The all-sheet metal building, designed by Gustave Eiffel, was brought from Belgium to Portuguese East Africa in 1892 to serve as the seat of the then governor of the colony. However, the building never served this purpose.
Igreja de Santo António da Polana
The Igreja de Santo António da Polana, in English Church of Saint Anthony of Polana, also just Igreja da Polana, is a Franciscan church in the Sommerschild district of the Mozambican capital Maputo. It is located between Rua Kwame Nkrumah / Avenida Dr. Egas Moniz / Rua Luis Pasteur and was completed in 1962 to plans by Nuno Craveiro Lopes.
Praia do Wimbe
Not far from the coast, there is a coral reef with exotic fish, golfinhos and baleias, which is easily reached by swimming. A beach and farm are covered by fine golden sand. At the entry of water it is smooth, at depth it increases gradually. Water is clean, limpid and emerald fear. The conditions are suitable for fairs with children. The territory is quiet, calm and comforting. Wimba is lotada, interesting and exciting. Tourists sunbathe, swim, ride scooters, boats, play beach volleyball and soccer
Praça da Independência
Praça da Independência (English: Independence Square) is a public square and focal point of Maputo,Mozambique. It was built by the Portuguese as Praça Mouzinho de Albuquerque (Mouzinho de Albuquerque Square) and was dominated by a statue of Mouzinho de Albuquerque,the former governor-general of Portuguese Mozambique.
More Attractions – Maputo Fortress, Maputo Iron House, Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique National Ethnographic Museum, Zambezi River Delta, Church of Nossa Senhora de Baluarte, Sao Sebastiao Fort, Church of the Misericordia.
Things to Do – diving, game fishing, horseback riding safaris, wildlife safaris, national monuments.
Where to stay
A good night’s sleep is particularly important when you are travelling. Mozambique offers its guests a host of luxurious, charming and also out-of-the-ordinary accommodation.
Whether in the heart of the city, near the lake or surrounded by nature – Mozambique‘s hotels, B&Bs and guesthouses guarantee a relaxing and invigorating stay.
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Top hotels we recommend in Maputo: Joli Guesthouse, StayEasy Maputo, Hotel Maputo
Mozambique has a good choice of affordable restaurants, bars, and nightlife in Maputo, Beira, popular historic towns, and the resorts along the Indian Ocean, although options in the rest of the country are a bit limited. Maputo in particular comes alive after dark, with pulsating DJ music, live performances, and dance parties. Diverse cuisine, including African, Portuguese, Indian, and Pakistani, are served in eateries of all price levels from upscale hotels to local restaurants. Beira’s nightlife and restaurants are equally enticing, but the coastal resorts are geared toward visitors looking for a great night out after a fun day on the beach.
Restaurants
Mozambican cuisine is some of the most interesting in Africa due to the strong Portuguese influence over the 400 years of colonization. Seafood is the main ingredient along the coast, with maize-fed partridge cooked with Portuguese flair a favorite dish inland. Maputo offers diverse foods, including Mediterranean and Asian specialties, while the coastal tourism hubs have a wide selection of eateries from upscale hotel restaurants to beachside cafés. A Maputo institution, Restaurant Costa del Sol, (Av Marginal Costa del Sol, Maputo), is located just back from the beach and is famous for its fish.
Another waterside delight in Mozambique is Dock’s (Av Marginal E Maputo, Maputo), with an extensive seafood menu, Thursday jazz night and 2:00 a.m. bar, while Piri-Piri Chicken (Av 24 de Jilho E Maputo, Maputo) serves grilled chicken with (or without) the classic hot, spicy piri-piri dipping sauce. Classy Micasa( Av Juluis Nyerere, Maputo), with its subdued, candleli, ambiance offers meat, seafood and pasta and is the place for elegant dining. The old-world feel of Las Brassas Restaurant and Cigar Bar (Av Juluis Nyerere, Maputo) goes well with its traditional Portuguese cuisine.
Set in one of Pemba’s pretty plazas, Pastelaria Flor d’ Aveneda (town center, Pemba), is a long-established favorite for its informal, streetside tables, regional cuisine and vegetarian options, while Beira’s Pic-Nic (city center, Beira) is one of the best choices in Mozambique for large portions and a lengthy menu. Vilanculos has a number of good restaurants, as well, with the Complexo Ancora Seafood Restaurant (port waterfront, Vilanculos) serving delicious seafood dishes, apple pie desserts and New York-style pizzas, but for gourmet fare and exquisite fish, a visit to Casa Rex (city center, Vilanculos), an all-time local favorite, won’t disappoint. The best Vilanculos restaurants are found in guest houses and small hotels.
Travel Tips
- Mozambique’s official currency is the Metical (plural Meticais) but if you’re traveling in southern Mozambique both the South African Rand and US Dollar are widely accepted.
- Go back in time on delightfully crumbling Ibo island, in the Quirimbas Archipelago
- Go diving at unspoiled Two Mile Reef which teems which tiny coral fish and manta rays
- If you are pulled over by traffic police (white shirt/blue pants)and given a ticket make sure to get a receipt
- You Can See Dugongs In Mozambique!
- Mozambique is high-high-high risk for malaria.
- Walk with lions (before everyone else does) in resurging Gorongosa National Park
- Go north to the marula-thatched huts, Makonde carvers and beautiful beaches around Pemba
- The best time to visit is May to October
- All travelers (except citizens of Swaziland, South Africa, Tanzania, Botswana, Malawi, Mauritius, Zambia and Zimbabwe,) need a visa to enter Mozambique.
- When traveling to Mozambique, you’ll need a power adaptor.
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Shopping
For most visitors to Mozambique, local African crafts and artwork is a favorite for souvenirs and gifts as they represent the ancient cultures and beliefs of the region. Traditional handicrafts include wood carvings with vibrantly-colored masks the most popular buy for their individuality and tribal significance. Each represents a different character from one of the dances. Other great souvenirs include traditional tribal jewelry, soapstone and malachite carvings, gaily-printed textiles, mats and baskets woven from reeds, pottery, decorative home wares, and leather articles.
From Maputo’s malls and department stores, huge markets and rows of little stores to roadside stalls and the local markets in every Mozambique town and village, there’s a huge choice of shopping venues. Pemba is known for its unique curios and handicrafts including the iconic Makonde carvings and Ibo Island jewelry. The Mezimbite Forest Center outside Beira is another great source of wood carvings as well as a hub for local forest conservation and the training for artisans doing high-quality carving, jewelry design and furniture making..
Maputo’s massive Central Market on Avenida Septembro is a unique experience for people-watching as well as shopping. Everything from food and clothes to traditional arts and crafts, cookware and home goods are on display with bargaining accepted amidst a surprisingly laid-back vibe. In the beach resorts you’ll find rows of street stalls backing the sands and offering a wide selection of handicrafts, while the markets in the small towns sell everything under the sun. Batik paintings make great wall-hangings and are extremely inexpensive from roadside stalls.
If you’re looking for more formal shopping in Mozambique, the eight malls in Maputo cater to the expat community and offer a choice of fashions and imported goods, but aren’t nearly as much fun as the markets. For upscale souvenirs and clothes at a higher price point, the shopping arcades in the better city and beach resort are useful, and Pemba’s Artes Maconde will take orders for large wooden items to ship them to your home country. If you’re shopping in the markets, use common sense and take good care of your belongings as pickpockets congregate in crowded places.
Getting Around
Mozambique’s bus network covers all major cities and towns with at least one service a day. Bus travel is cheap, reliable and on time, but can be very uncomfortable due to road and vehicle conditions. A number of companies provide the service, but breakdowns are common making even short journeys take a while. Traveling from the north to the south of the country by bus can take a week.
Trains run from Maputo to Coba and Ressano Garcia and from Isla de Mozambique and Nacala via the Monapo rail junction to Lichinga and Nampula. The formerly closed line between Maputo and Neira may now be reopen and for those planning on entering the country by land from South Africa, there’s regular train connections to Maputo.
Taxis are now found in many Mozambique cities as well as in the capital, Maputo. Meters are a foreign concept and unused, leaving passengers to negotiate a fare with the driver before departing, although payment can only be made at the destination. Don’t expect a comfortable ride, as vehicle maintenance here isn’t a priority.
If you’re planning on renting a car especially in rural areas, getting a 4×4 is highly recommended due to the poor state of the country’s roads.
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Getting to Mozambique
When travelling to Mozambique from the Americas or Europe most flights are routed via Johannesburg. Mozambique’s main airport is Maputo International Airport (MPM), located about 3km/2mi from the capital, Maputo. Aside from fly-in beach holidays, Mozambique is mainly a self-drive destination. You can either rent a car in Maputo or in Johannesburg (South Africa), from where you can drive to Maputo. Mozambique is a large country, so unless you have a couple of months, most self-drive is restricted to the south of the country.
Travelling from Johannesburg to Mozambique is easy as the roads are well maintained. Head out to Nelspruit on the N4 and continue onwards to Komatipoort. You will cross the border at Lebombo and enter Mozambique at Ressano Garcia. In order to take your vehicle across the border you will need to have the vehicles original registration papers or a certified faxed copy of them. If you are driving a rental car you will need a letter of authorisation from the rental company giving permission for you to take the car across the border. It is a good idea to carry certified copies of your driver’s licence and passport as well as the original documents.
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