Faded Glory of Ilha de Mozambique
Trip Start
Jan 20, 2005
1
41
58
Trip End
Dec 27, 2005
Isle de Mozambique,
Mozambique
Friday, July 29, 2005
It was recently named a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but the lack of good roads up here and the limited flights, as well as local resistance to development in mean that it is still a hidden treasure. The number one attraction is the Palace and Chapel of São Paulo - the former governor's residence - dating from the 1700s. This large building overlooks a large square inlaid with patterned stones. But the 60% of the island is covered with the architectural legacy of the Portuguese who first came here in the 1500ºs. The oldest European building in the southern hemisphere is a small chapel on the northern tip of the island next to the old Portuguese fort. This chapel was built in 1522.
The town has so much to offer if you like wandering that we spent 3 days taking in every corner of the 3kilometer by 500meter island. Its small, but built up very nicely and also has a large population built around a fishing community that still goes out into the shallow waters with the tide catching squid, snapper, reef fish, king fish etc. The people that live on the island are mainly subsistence fishermen and their families. Because tourism is not that built up, there are a few guest houses, hotels and 3 restaurants. There is only one shop selling assorted crafts, 3 local markets selling fish, vegetables, fruits, and some used clothing.
Coconuts
It really hasn't changed much in the last few hundred years. In fact, most of the locals live in the communities to the south of the island where they live in traditional thatch and mud brick homes rather than in the Old Portuguese buildings. I woke up at dawn most mornings to watch the sun go up over the northern tip of the island, where the old Portuguese Fort stands. This large fort was built using stone shipped in from Lisbon back in the day. Next to it is an old Swimming club building complete with dilapidated marble columns, an empty swimming pool and an odd looking set of stairs going up above the empty pool that was once the high dive. Its such a surreal feeling to walk around and see all the faded signs of opulence that must have abounded when the Portuguese traders ran this island. You can just imagine what it must have been like to sip a gin tonic beside the pool overlooking the same bay, but then the pool was full and colored bath towels were lying over sun chairs. Everywhere you go you see that life here must have been great for the rich. The old promenade that runs the Eastern side of the island used to have benches along it, gardens, and a mosaic tiled pathway. Now, this promenade well past its glory days and I don't think one bench is usable. There is a sports club with its faded crest still painted on the wall, but no ceiling on the building. Beautifully designed parks complete with tree-lined paths, gazebos, benches, and ornate plants and flowers. All have seen better days, but the island is clean and taken care of in its own way.
De Gama and a Square on Ille de Moz.
The streets are often lined with nice trees. The old Palace has a beautiful clock tower and its rooms are still furnished as they were hundreds of years ago - you can get a tour and even walk on the old carpets- theºll stop doing this when more people come here. It has a few old Churches and a Mosque built by the Arab Traders. The old shopping district has shops with big glass windows covered in ornate ironwork bars (none of the prison-like bars used today for protection, back then everything had style), but these shops are all empty except for a couple selling various sundries and some crafts. You can imagine how this will all look once it is developed. There will be beautiful little boutiques and so many tourists walking around to buy the latest designs, just as there once was when the Portuguese ran this island. In a way, thinking of how development will change this Island makes me a bit sad. It is exactly the sense of faded glory that really made this place special for V and I. It must be what it was like to see Venice before it became so overrun that you hear every language but Italian when walking the streets. This place is very special, and I encourage people to visit before it changes, because it won't be long...It's not only the beautiful setting that makes this island really special, the people are what do that. They haven't become inundated with foreigners to the point where they feel invaded or resent visitors. They are genuinely friendly and I found myself getting greeted by everyone I passed on my morning walks.
Houses along the beach on Ille
The children are also wonderful. They are so happy to see you and all want to be photographed. They love my digital camera and I seem to always get slowed up where ever I go as they want some pictures and then want to see themselves afterwards. V and I even made friends that followed us around. One morning we were walking and a little boy and girl no more than 3 walked up to V and held her hand. They just wanted to walk with us. Well, they ended up following us all the way to the end of the island and other islanders were asking what they were doing there as they lived on the other end. We asked if they were allowed to be there and they said no. I had tried to convince them to go back a number of times but they kept following us. They'd wait outside a shop patiently while we were inside. They didn't talk to us or anything, wouldn't even tell us their names. We decided to walk them home and passed a couple folks that said their mother was looking for them, but they told her that they had seen the kids and that they were just ªfollowing some white peopleª and she was apparently relieved. When we found their mother they were sad to leave us. On the Island and in the villages, a child watched over by everyone. Our extended time on the island had another reason - Virginie got a mild case of malaria, probably picked it up down in Vilankulo, but it manifested itself on the island and she was very tired and had hot and cold flashes. Because she was taking an anti-malarial the symptoms were a bit masked so we didn't know what she had.
My buddy looking out over the Indian Ocean
One morning when she really was tired, I decided that enough was enough and took her to the island's hospital. This hospital is something. It is one of the most amazing buildings on the island, complete with old fountains in the front courtyard. The front looks as though the it were bombed out or the site of heaving fighting during a war, but in the back are some rooms and tree-lined courtyards. The doctor was a nice guy who spoke Spanish as he got his degree in Cuba (Communist brothers of Mozambique's former regime). Within 5 minutes he diagnosed V with malaria, we got some pills and he sent us on our way after admonishing us for taking Doxycicline in This region of the world. He says western doctors who have never seen malaria in their lives always prescribe it and don't know how difficult it makes his job because all the drug does is mask the symptoms slowing his ability to treat it quickly. Anyway, after the lecture, we got the medicine and V started feeling a bit better. She was 100% after 3 days though so that made me feel better too. I tried to do some diving here too, can't get enough. The dive master told me about a 450 year old Portuguese wreck that was off the island and I was sold. Sure the wreck was probably going to look like a waterlogged Lincoln log set, but I would know that it is a 450 YEAR OLD SHIP!! Anyway, the wind was bad and the dive master got malaria - all these excuses he could come up with probably because he didn't want to get wet. Jeez.
We spent 3 great days on the island. V was a little out of it at times, but even the malaria didn't slow her down too much. In the evenings we'd have dinner at one of the islands 3 restaurants, then maybe a 2M or Manica Beer at the local's bar Copa Cabaña. Wandering the streets at night covered up some of the rough edges so it was even easier to imagine life back in this place's heyday. This is truly one of the most special places we have ever been.
