Mozambique

Maputo

The capital greets you with wide avenues and an atmosphere left over from colonial Portugal. See the railway station designed in Eiffel's workshop and the old fort down by the ocean. Life happens in the jazz bars, and for the freshest catch you go to the central fish market and pick your own.

Tofo

This small village has become a global magnet for divers and anyone serious about marine wildlife. Worth a trip for snorkelling with whale sharks and giant mantas. People here live barefoot in the sand, moving between the bars and the lodges.

Vilankulo

The town is the gateway to the Bazaruto islands and their improbable sand dunes. The settlement itself is busy and genuine, with a market and a beach full of wooden dhows. It is the best base to do dolphins and turtles in a day.

Ilha de Moçambique

The ancient capital, frozen in time on a tiny sliver of land in the Indian Ocean. Weathered ruins and the vast Fort São Sebastião make an extraordinary backdrop for a walk. There is no bustle here, only history and the quiet lanes of the stone town.

Ibo

A remote northern island where time stopped altogether among the colonial ruins. Getting there is difficult, but it pays off in empty beaches and walks through the mangroves at low tide. It suits anyone who wants genuine isolation.

Pemba

A large port turning into an industrial centre on the back of the gas industry. For travellers it is chiefly a staging post before heading to the wild northern archipelagos. Wimbe beach remains where people go to swim and meet in the evenings.

The Bazaruto Archipelago: enormous sand dunes running straight down into turquoise water, and the first thing to see in this country. Go out by dhow to look for the rare dugongs and to snorkel the reefs in water of startling clarity.
Tofo's marine giants: where to go for the underwater adrenaline, in the form of whale sharks. Between October and March you may also meet mantas with a seven-metre wingspan. There are few places on earth where such encounters are near-daily events.
Fort São Sebastião: the enormous fortress on Ilha de Moçambique is considered the oldest fortification in the southern hemisphere. Working through all its dark casemates and the 1522 chapel in a day is a job for the genuinely curious.
Gorongosa National Park: worth a trip for one of the great conservation comebacks in Africa. Lions, elephants and hippos here are not surrounded by convoys of tour jeeps, which gives you a rare sense of the place on its own terms.
The Quirimbas islands: an untouched paradise in the far north, where the beaches look like they were invented for a brochure. People come for absolute silence, first-class snorkelling and the chance to live at the pace of the fishermen.
Mangrove walking: on Ibo it is popular to walk out into forests that grow in the sea, at low tide. The water retreats for kilometres, exposing sand flats, and you find yourself walking across a desert that will be seabed again in two hours.

Currency: the metical is the only legal tender in the country, trading at roughly 64 to the US dollar. Prices in shops and cafés are quoted only in local money, so changing some is unavoidable.
Cash first: Mozambique runs on cash, particularly outside the capital and the main hubs. Bring US dollars in crisp new notes, remembering that anything issued before 2013 may be refused at an exchange counter.
Exchange: the best rates come from branches of the major banks or official bureaux. In the south near the South African border, private shops often accept rand as well, though at a rate that favours them rather than you.
Cards and ATMs: Visa and Mastercard work in Maputo supermarkets, chain hotels and expensive restaurants, and Amex almost nowhere. ATMs exist but impose low per-transaction limits, so treat cards as a backup rather than a plan.
Tipping: around 10% in restaurants where no service charge is added. Guides, boatmen and drivers on multi-day trips are usually given $5-10 a day, and it forms a meaningful part of their income.

Item	Price (USD)
Lunch in a local café	5.00
Grilled lobster dinner	15.00
Litre of petrol	1.10
Tuk-tuk ride in town	2.00
2M beer in a bar	1.50
1.5L bottled water	0.50
Intercity chapa ticket	12.00
Night in a simple guesthouse	25.00
SIM card with data	5.00
Single dive	75.00
Half a kilo of roasted cashews	4.00
Museum or fort entry	3.00
Fresh pineapple at the market	1.00
Coffee in the capital	2.00

Getting in: Maputo is reached mainly through Johannesburg, with connections also from Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Doha and Lisbon. Many travellers come overland from South Africa or Eswatini instead, which is straightforward if you have hired a vehicle with the right paperwork.
Chapas: these shared minibuses are how locals and thrifty travellers move around. They leave only when completely full, so bring patience, and expect to be squeezed in with loud music and a stop in every roadside village.
Intercity buses: operators such as Etrago and Nagi run more comfortable long-distance services with real timetables and assigned seats. Buy tickets the day before at the departure terminal for the popular routes.
Domestic flights: LAM links Maputo with the main coastal centres, saving days of driving on damaged roads at considerable cost. Flights are frequently delayed or cancelled without notice, so never book a tight onward connection.
Private transfers: between Maputo and Tofo, hiring a car with a driver is popular. It takes around seven hours and costs a fixed $285 for the vehicle, which makes sense for a group and is far pleasanter than a hot bus.
Dhows: traditional sailing boats are the essential transport to the remoter islands. The trip depends entirely on wind and tide, which turns it into a meditative sort of adventure and shows you the coast as sailors saw it centuries ago.
Car hire: you can rent in the cities, but a 4x4 is strongly advised for travel between provinces, since northern roads dissolve into deep ruts. Never drive at night, because of livestock on the road and potholes you will not see.

Backpacker lodges: in Tofo and Vilankulo these are the liveliest places, with shared kitchens, pools and bars. It is easy to find people to dive with or split a boat, and the staff always know where to eat.
Pensões: simple town hotels in old Portuguese buildings are found everywhere. They give you basic comfort, clean sheets and a plain breakfast, which is a sensible compromise for staying central without paying resort prices.
Booking: the global platforms work unevenly here and many budget places are not listed at all. Owners frequently answer only on WhatsApp, and in low season you can simply turn up and negotiate.
Homestays: on Ibo you can stay in local people's houses. It is the cheapest option and the most immersive, with spartan conditions offset entirely by the hospitality and the home cooking.
Beach bungalows: bamboo and reed huts at the waterline are the classic Mozambican coastal accommodation. They have fans rather than air conditioning, and the sea breeze and the noise of the Indian Ocean make a good case for switching your phone off.
Island hotels: accommodation on the archipelagos costs several times mainland prices because everything, from fresh water to fuel, has to be shipped in. What you get in exchange is a private beach and a night sky worth the money.

Piri-piri prawns: the country's headline dish, grilled over open flame with a sauce made from local chillies. A plate of enormous tiger prawns in a beachfront café costs very little, and it tastes best where it was landed two hours earlier.
Matapa: a thick traditional dish of cassava leaves, coconut milk and ground peanuts. Go carefully, because it is extremely rich and filling, even though the flavour lands somewhere near a refined creamed spinach. Small prawns are often stirred through it.
The day's catch: at markets and on the islands you can buy octopus, squid or fish straight from the nets. For a small fee any guesthouse will grill it over coals for you, which is the best-value eating in the country.
Pão: the descendant of the Portuguese roll, baked in small bakeries every morning. Fresh crusty bread with butter is the perfect cheap breakfast, and the smell of it moves through the streets at dawn.
Cashews and fruit: Mozambique is famous for its nuts, sold by the bucket along every main road. The pineapples, papaya and mangoes are exceptional. Salted roasted cashews are the best possible snack for a long bus journey.
Beer: 2M is a genuine national symbol and does its job in the tropical heat. Manica is also popular and usually served ice cold, and there are excellent tropical fruit juices sold in glass bottles.

General caution: the tourist areas in the south are welcoming and easy. The main risk is petty theft in crowded parts of the capital, so keep expensive gear out of sight and do not leave bags unattended on a public beach.
The north: Cabo Delgado province remains a risk area because of the ongoing insurgency. Before travelling to Pemba or the Quirimbas, check recent news and your own government's travel advisory, because the picture changes.
Checkpoints: document checks on the highways are common for both drivers and passengers. Always carry your original passport, and be polite and unhurried, which is the fastest way through the formalities.
Malaria and hygiene: malaria is present throughout the country, so prophylaxis and good repellent are genuinely necessary. Drink bottled water only and avoid ice in questionable places, and bring a basic medical kit from home.
After dark: move around towns at night only in a trusted taxi. Street lighting is frequently absent, and it is worth carrying your hotel's card with the address to show a driver.
Tides: the tidal range here is large and the water returns fast. Be careful on long walks across exposed seabed, and keep watching the water so you are not cut off on a sandbar.

The Portuguese layer: the colonial past shows up in the language, the architecture and a serious local commitment to good coffee. It makes for an unusual blend of European habits and African temperament, with old churches standing beside noisy markets.
Marrabenta: live music in the bars of Maputo is the quickest route into the city's melancholy soul. The rhythm gets everyone dancing without exception, and it holds different generations and incomes together.
Capulana cloth: bright printed fabric worn by almost every woman in the country. It is not just clothing but a universal tool, worn as a skirt, tied into a baby carrier or strung up for shade, and it makes an excellent cheap souvenir.
Greetings: people here are formal and value the ritual of meeting. A handshake is essential, often with the other hand touching your own elbow as a mark of extra respect, and refusing food offered in someone's home is not done.
Religion: Christianity dominates in the south and Islam along the northern coast. Dress modestly in traditional villages, and expect many cafés in the north to close during daylight hours through Ramadan.
Pace: forget European urgency, because everything happens at its own speed. Time is elastic and a bus will wait hours for a final passenger. Patience and a smile solve more problems here than insistence ever will.

Operators: Vodacom has the best coverage by a clear margin, and its SIMs work even in fairly remote coastal areas. Tmcel and Movitel are also common, and Movitel often holds a signal in the deepest rural districts.
Buying a SIM: you need your original passport, and the official registration takes a while. Buy in a branded shop at the airport or in a city centre rather than from a street vendor.
Data: mobile data packages are cheap and 4G is solid in Maputo and the tourist hubs. On the outer islands and in the national parks it slows to a crawl, so download offline maps for the region before you set off.
eSIM: if your phone supports it, buy an electronic SIM before departure. It costs more than a local package but gets you navigating from the moment you land, and Airalo and similar providers cover Mozambique.
WhatsApp: the primary communication tool in the country. Accommodation is booked through it, transfers are arranged through it, and almost every tourism business has a working number on it.
Language: the official language is Portuguese, and English is understood only in the pricier lodges and larger hotels. A couple of dozen basic Portuguese phrases will change your trip, and people genuinely appreciate the attempt.

English	Portuguese	Pronunciation
Hi!	Olá!	oh-LAH
Good morning	Bom dia	bong DEE-ah
Thank you	Obrigado	oh-bree-GAH-doo
How much is it?	Quanto custa?	KWAN-too KOOSH-tah
That's very expensive	É muito caro	eh MWEE-too KAH-roo
Where is the beach?	Onde fica a praia?	ON-deh FEE-kah ah PRY-ah
I'd like a 2M beer	Quero uma cerveja 2M	KEH-roo OO-mah ser-VEH-zhah doysh em
Delicious!	Está delicioso!	esh-TAH deh-lee-see-OH-zoo
Help me	Ajuda-me	ah-ZHOO-dah-meh
I don't understand	Não entendo	now en-TEN-doo
The bill, please	A conta, por favor	ah KON-tah por fah-VOR
No chilli sauce	Sem piri-piri	seng PEE-ree-PEE-ree
Yes	Sim	seeng
No	Não	now
Let's go! (slang)	Vamos txopar!	VAH-moosh choh-PAR
How's things? (slang)	Como estão os mambos?	KOH-moo shtow oosh MAM-boosh
Bread	Pão	pow
Water	Água	AH-gwah
Goodbye	Adeus	ah-DEH-oosh
Sorry	Desculpe	desh-KOOL-peh
That's fine	Está bem	esh-TAH beng
Beautiful	Bonito	boo-NEE-too

Entry paperwork: most visitors need to register online in the eTA system on the government portal evisa.gov.mz at least 48 hours before departure, and airlines check the confirmation at check-in. Longer stays require a full eVisa, and your passport needs six months of validity plus two completely blank pages, since the amendment pages at the back are not accepted.
Seasons: May to November is the dry season and the right time to come. Roads stay passable and the malaria risk drops. From December to March the rains make travel around the country considerably harder.
Power: sockets vary, most often European two-pin and British three-pin. Bring a universal adapter, and expect electricity on the remote islands to run only in the evenings.
Sun: the tropical sun burns even under cloud. Use the highest factor sunscreen you have, keep your head covered, and wear a UV-protective rash vest for long snorkelling sessions.
Markets and souvenirs: the things to buy are wood carvings, bright capulana fabric and roasted cashews. Haggling is not merely permitted but expected as part of the exchange, so check the quality of handmade items carefully.
Flights: use the LAM website for domestic schedules and tickets, but always reconfirm the status of a departure rather than trusting the printed time.