Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
guerrilla commander during the independence struggle, one of the founding members of
Frelimo and a former minister of defence - is also buried here. Just behind this monument
is a ravine (known locally as
xiudi)
over which countless Mozambicans were hurled to
their deaths.
The outlying villages are good places to see Makonde woodcarvings.
Sleeping & Eating
Pensão Mtima $
( 86-314 5303; Rua 1 de Maio; r with/without bathroom Mtc800/500)
On the main
road, with basic, clean rooms with bucket baths and meals on order.
PENSION
Getting There & Away
Grupo Mecula has a daily bus between Pemba and Mueda via Moçimboa da Praia
(Mtc280, nine hours), departing at 5am. Several vehicles go each morning between
Mueda and Moçimboa da Praia (Mtc150, two hours). There's also one vehicle daily to the
Negomano border (Mtc500), departing between about 8am and 9am. All transport leaves
from the main road opposite the market. After about 10am, it's difficult to find vehicles to
any destination.
If you're driving there are two roads connecting Mueda with the main north-south
road. Most traffic uses the good road via Diaca (50km). The alternate route via Muidumbe
(about 30km south of Diaca) is scenic, winding through hills and forests, but rougher.
Near Muidumbe is
Nangololo
, a mission station and an important base during the inde-
pendence struggle, with an old airstrip large enough to take jets.
THE MAKONDE
The Mueda Plateau around Mueda is home to the Makonde people, who are renowned throughout Africa for their
amazing woodcarvings. Like many tribes in the north, the Makonde are matrilineal. Children and inheritances
normally belong to the woman and it's common for a husband to move to the village of his wife after marriage,
setting up house near his mother-in-law. Settlements are widely scattered - possibly a remnant of the days when
the Makonde sought to evade slave raids - and there is no tradition of a unified political system. Each village is
governed by a hereditary chief and a council of elders.
