Pemba, Mozambique

From Porto Amélia to the Shelter Port of Mozambique


sand happiness
Young girl from Pemba, sprinkled with sand, on Wimbe beach.
Shoots - Defends
Two boys entertain themselves with shots and saves on a still wet sand in Pemba.
low tide
Residents of Paquitequete walk at low tide off the bay of Pemba.
martial stunts
Boys practice stunts on a Pemba seafront.
Machel Machel
Statue of Samora Machel, the first president of Mozambique, in the Pemba Library.
One and a half meter octopus
Casal de Pemba displays an octopus just collected from fishermen in canoes.
vegetable peace
Client sitting on a small improvised terrace on top of a huge baobab tree.
Baobabs or Baobabs
Silhouettes of Pemba baobab trees on the banks of the Mozambique Channel.
Wimbe Football
Young men from Pemba play soccer on the sandy beach of Wimbe.
Mary Help of Christians
A passerby passes in front of the Church of Mary Help of Christians, in the upper town of Pemba.
Mother & Daughters
Mother and daughters from Pernambuco on the beach in Wimbe.
Aqswa Mosque
A resident of the Paquitequete neighborhood walks in front of the Awswa mosque.
Sand Fashion
Kids flour sand to impress photographers passing by on Wimbe beach.
golden fun
Kids flour sand to impress photographers passing by on Wimbe beach.
communal baths
Kids ecstatic for the bathing fun on Wimbe de Pemba beach.
Islamic architecture
Nook with Muslim architecture of the Aqswa mosque in Paquitequete.
Paquitequete. or paquite
The fishing district of Paquite seen from the upper city of Pemba.
back to the coast
Fishermen return from the Mozambique Channel to the outskirts of Paquitequete.
Attack Trio
Players from one of the teams about to face off on Paquitequete's naked.
In the Wind of the Channel
Small dhow sails towards the neighborhood of Paquitequete, on the coast of Pemba.
In July 2017, we visited Pemba. Two months later, the first attack took place on Mocímboa da Praia. Nor then do we dare to imagine that the tropical and sunny capital of Cabo Delgado would become the salvation of thousands of Mozambicans fleeing a terrifying jihadism.

We are in the middle of the dry season in Mozambique.

We wake up with another daya radiant. Clouds, just a cumulus caravan and stratocumulus devoid of moisture and whitening the sunny winter of this eastern African.

We walk along Marginal Avenue, through the north of the peninsula where Pemba sprawls.

The road curves under a sharp vertex of the coast, below a reef in the Mozambique Channel which there made the sea shallow and sandy.

We stop at the top of a rocky cliff. At that very moment, a group of fishermen lead their colorful canoes to the beach.

There, another party awaits them, equipped with buckets and bowls, receptacles for the fish and octopuses that the fishermen bring on board.

They are women in head scarves, with folkloric capulanas from the waist down.

There are also some young people in costumes with a little traditional, football team shirts, matching shorts and flip-flops.

That fishing transaction takes place on a daily basis so there is little to discuss. In a flash, buyers put the buckets and bowls on their heads and disappear into the heart of their lives.

Sellers take canoes to anchor on the other side of the bay.

We readjusted our gaze to a beach that the low tide was still discovering and that the sun was golden whenever it fell on it.

There, two boys competed in a match from goal to goal with a Champions final delivery.

Onward, a few small dhows glide over the emerald water, with a course similar to that of canoes.

We went down to the foot of the cliff. We found that, after all, a few buyers remained in its shadow.

A young mother with a sleeping baby on her chest.

And a man at her side who, to our amazement, unfurls an octopus with tentacles from head to toe.

We realized that fishing had not arrived for everyone.

In addition to this couple, three young people chirped, remelted. Intrigued as to where the muzugos, arrest them with shy smiles. They make it clear to us that they expected other fishermen to come ashore.

We returned to the top determined to extend the panoramic privilege. In the meantime, the traffic of pedestrians and boats crossing the shallow waters had increased.

Pemba, Mozambique, Capital of Cabo Delgado, from Porto Amélia to Porto de Abrigo, Paquitequete

Fishermen and boats in the section of Pemba inlet near Paquitequete.

More canoes and tiny dhows converged on the same natural anchorage, organized in front of the first wave of houses and coconut trees in the neighborhood of Paquitequete.

There we proceeded to discover Pemba.

It's Friday. About ten in the morning, the heat gets tight.

Even so, as soon as we reach the naked in the heart of the village we come face to face with three players fully equipped with the colors of their team: yellow jersey, bright purple shorts.

They prepare for a kind of local derby. The photographic time they allow us is short and does not entitle us to discounts.

More players arrive, some from the same team, others rivals, in any case, blessed by the Aqswa mosque that, behind them all, juts out above the houses.

The residents of Paquite, as the neighborhood is treated in order to shorten the hassle of calling it by its full name, are mostly Muslims.

As is the population of Pemba in general, without prejudice to the diocese and Catholic churches in the administrative heart of the capital of Cabo Delgado.

The area of ​​Pemba was already Muslim, counting more than half a millennium at the time of the pioneer passage of Vasco da Gama around these parts, in 1492, it is said that by islands of the Quirimbas archipelago.

She was a Muslim, with a strong Swahili influence and a speaker of the Kimuani dialect that almost half a millennium of Portuguese colonization never made disappear.

After all this time, the mosque of Paquite, Pemba and the people of northern Cabo Delgado find themselves afflicted with a jihadist madness (poorly) disguised as an Islamic faith.

Explanations from experts on African affairs say the problem began after Muslim leaders were radicalized by the teachings of the Salafi current, which is vigorous in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

Now, Salafism and its teachings are contrary to Christianity, animism, Western values ​​and even a more balanced Islam.

It worsened after their return, when armed rebels instigated by them, invaded traditional mosques and threatened to kill believers if they did not adhere to the radical ideals they defend.

These insurgents faced resistance from moderate muftis and the general population to accept a Muslim faith and life subjected to Salafism.

At some point in this insurgent process, the Ansar al-Sunna (Supporters of Tradition), a dissident faction, made its way in the region.

It was joined by elements that call themselves ISIS representatives, estimated to be Somalis, Tanzanians, Ugandans, Congolese and others.

As a practical terrorist result, since October 2017, attacks on police stations and other state entities, on indiscriminate churches, villages and towns have been repeated, increasingly destructive and bloodthirsty attacks.

They took place first in the city of Mocímboa da Praia and surrounding villages. Despite occasional and poorly coordinated military responses from the Mozambican police and armed forces, reinforced by others from South African and Russian private companies, the territory controlled by the dissidents has increased.

On March 24, 2021, Palma suffered the most devastating of attacks. This brutal attack caused an as-yet-to-be-determined number of victims, some foreigners. He left decapitated corpses in the streets, to be eaten by animals.

The attack on Palma put a brake on natural gas extraction operations from the offshore Rovuma field. It generated a new influx of refugees who tried to reach Pemba by all means.

At this time, Mozambican authorities closed mosques that they considered radicalized. Others remained open and moderate.

They contributed to the reception of around 700 refugees who continue to flock to Pemba by all means.

On foot, some after walking more than 100km with children and a few belongings on their backs. And disembarking from canoes, dhows and other overcrowded boats on the surrounding beaches.

The churches in the upper town of Pemba are now also covered reception centres, in the heart of improvised tent fields that increase day by day and reinforce the notion that, like the boats, Pemba has also exceeded its limits. .

Which is not surprising considering that, in normal times, the city is home to only 140 Mozambicans.

It is still hard for us to believe – let alone to understand and internalize – the whole atrocious scenario that we learned about from the successive bad news.

In July 2017, when, following Paquite, we ascended to discover the upper city, nothing in Pemba allowed us to imagine its current reality.

Under the dry heat intensified by the almost-sharp sun, we found that section of Pemba, overlooking Paquite, almost deserted, with a more than tranquil, sedative atmosphere.

The Maria Auxiliadora church remained closed, with no sign of the faithful, with a brownish façade outlining the blue sky.

One or another passerby passed in front of the Cathedral of São Paulo, without haste.

The provincial library was given over to the insinuating statue of Machel Machel, Marxist precursor and first president of the independence of Mozambique.

In the Pemba successor of colonial Porto Amélia, still full of Portuguese architectural and administrative legacy, only the sector surrounding Rua Comércio, adjacent to the port from which the goods (and now thousands of refugees) arrived, clashed with the apathy prevailing at the height of the city. .

Today, unlike then, victims of the economic collapse that accompanies the Covid 19 pandemic and the refugee crisis, shop owners say it makes less and less sense to keep them open.

Let's go back to the context why we traveled through the lands of Cabo Delgado, on the eve of the disgrace that would come.

In the afternoon, we walk along the Avenida Marginal in the opposite direction. We had lunch at a Pieter's Place.

Then, we walked along the immediate beach, to and fro, in search of the majestic baobab trees that insinuate themselves into the Mozambique Channel, as if beckoning to our Malagasy neighbors.

At sunset, we arrived at Wimbe beach.

The vast, white sand and the translucent waters of this seductive coastline made it the ultimate bathing resort in Pemba.

Luckily for a community of tourism entrepreneurs and the dissatisfaction of most of the people from Pernambuco who complain that, due to the fame of the beach, the cost of living in the city has become unaffordable.

At that time none of that mattered.

Wimbe was given over to the youthful frenzy that always precedes sunset here.

Teenagers competed in a fierce soccer match with the resident coconut forest as the estimated boundary of the field.

Others, younger, shared a long bathing ecstasy, diving and splashing in the waves that the cove's rounded gentle made.

Two or three of these bathers notice that we walk around with a camera.

"Look here, muzungo, look at us! “Thus, they guarantee our attention. In a flash, they flour and gild themselves with sand, like improvised mossiro masks.

In another, they generate a smiling human pile that almost slips through the lenses inside.

In July 2017, Pemba lived all this happiness and much more.

May God, whether Muslim, Christian or of any other faith, spare you.

NP Gorongosa, Mozambique

The Wild Heart of Mozambique shows Signs of Life

Gorongosa was home to one of the most exuberant ecosystems in Africa, but from 1980 to 1992 it succumbed to the Civil War waged between FRELIMO and RENAMO. Greg Carr, Voice Mail's millionaire inventor received a message from the Mozambican ambassador to the UN challenging him to support Mozambique. For the good of the country and humanity, Carr pledged to resurrect the stunning national park that the Portuguese colonial government had created there.
Enxame Mozambique

Mozambican Fashion Service Area

It is repeated at almost all stops in towns of Mozambique worthy of appearing on maps. The machimbombo (bus) stops and is surrounded by a crowd of eager "businessmen". The products offered can be universal such as water or biscuits or typical of the area. In this region, a few kilometers from Nampula, fruit sales suceeded, in each and every case, quite intense.
Ilha de Mozambique, Mozambique  

The Island of Ali Musa Bin Bique. Pardon... of Mozambique

With the arrival of Vasco da Gama in the extreme south-east of Africa, the Portuguese took over an island that had previously been ruled by an Arab emir, who ended up misrepresenting the name. The emir lost his territory and office. Mozambique - the molded name - remains on the resplendent island where it all began and also baptized the nation that Portuguese colonization ended up forming.
Ibo Island, Mozambique

Island of a Gone Mozambique

It was fortified in 1791 by the Portuguese who expelled the Arabs from the Quirimbas and seized their trade routes. It became the 2nd Portuguese outpost on the east coast of Africa and later the capital of the province of Cabo Delgado, Mozambique. With the end of the slave trade at the turn of the XNUMXth century and the passage from the capital to Porto Amélia, Ibo Island found itself in the fascinating backwater in which it is located.
bazaruto, Mozambique

The Inverted Mirage of Mozambique

Just 30km off the East African coast, an unlikely but imposing erg rises out of the translucent sea. Bazaruto it houses landscapes and people who have lived apart for a long time. Whoever lands on this lush, sandy island soon finds himself in a storm of awe.
Ibo Island a Quirimba IslandMozambique

Ibo to Quirimba with the Tide

For centuries, the natives have traveled in and out of the mangrove between the island of Ibo and Quirimba, in the time that the overwhelming return trip from the Indian Ocean grants them. Discovering the region, intrigued by the eccentricity of the route, we follow its amphibious steps.
Fianarantsoa, Madagascar

The Malagasy City of Good Education

Fianarantsoa was founded in 1831 by Ranavalona Iª, a queen of the then predominant Merina ethnic group. Ranavalona Iª was seen by European contemporaries as isolationist, tyrant and cruel. The monarch's reputation aside, when we enter it, its old southern capital remains as the academic, intellectual and religious center of Madagascar.
Morondava, Avenue of Baobabs, Madagascar

The Malagasy Way to Dazzle

Out of nowhere, a colony of baobab trees 30 meters high and 800 years old flanks a section of the clayey and ocher road parallel to the Mozambique Channel and the fishing coast of Morondava. The natives consider these colossal trees the mothers of their forest. Travelers venerate them as a kind of initiatory corridor.
Fianarantsoa-Manakara, Madagascar

On board the Malagasy TGV

We depart Fianarantsoa at 7a.m. It wasn't until 3am the following morning that we completed the 170km to Manakara. The natives call this almost secular train Train Great Vibrations. During the long journey, we felt, very strongly, those of the heart of Madagascar.
Zanzibar, Tanzania

The African Spice Islands

Vasco da Gama opened the Indian Ocean to the Portuguese empire. In the XNUMXth century, the Zanzibar archipelago became the largest producer of cloves and the available spices diversified, as did the people who disputed them.
Goa island, Ilha de Mozambique, Mozambique

The Island that Illuminates the Island of Mozambique

Located at the entrance to the Mossuril Bay, the small island of Goa is home to a centuries-old lighthouse. Its listed tower signals the first stop of a stunning dhow tour around the old Ilha de Mozambique.

Machangulo, Mozambique

The Golden Peninsula of Machangulo

At a certain point, an ocean inlet divides the long sandy strip full of hyperbolic dunes that delimits Maputo Bay. Machangulo, as the lower section is called, is home to one of the most magnificent coastlines in Mozambique.
Serengeti, Great Savannah Migration, Tanzania, wildebeest on river
Safari
Serengeti NP, Tanzania

The Great Migration of the Endless Savanna

In these prairies that the Masai people say syringet (run forever), millions of wildebeests and other herbivores chase the rains. For predators, their arrival and that of the monsoon are the same salvation.
Annapurna Circuit, Manang to Yak-kharka
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna 10th Circuit: Manang to Yak Kharka, Nepal

On the way to the Annapurnas Even Higher Lands

After an acclimatization break in the near-urban civilization of Manang (3519 m), we made progress again in the ascent to the zenith of Thorong La (5416 m). On that day, we reached the hamlet of Yak Kharka, at 4018 m, a good starting point for the camps at the base of the great canyon.
Itamaraty Palace Staircase, Brasilia, Utopia, Brazil
Architecture & Design
Brasilia, Brazil

Brasília: from Utopia to the Capital and Political Arena of Brazil

Since the days of the Marquis of Pombal, there has been talk of transferring the capital to the interior. Today, the chimera city continues to look surreal but dictates the rules of Brazilian development.
Adventure
Volcanoes

Mountains of Fire

More or less prominent ruptures in the earth's crust, volcanoes can prove to be as exuberant as they are capricious. Some of its eruptions are gentle, others prove annihilating.
Ceremonies and Festivities
Pentecost Island, Vanuatu

Naghol: Bungee Jumping without Modern Touches

At Pentecost, in their late teens, young people launch themselves from a tower with only lianas tied to their ankles. Bungee cords and harnesses are inappropriate fussiness from initiation to adulthood.
Leisure Channel
Cities
Amsterdam, The Netherlands

From Channel to Channel in a Surreal Holland

Liberal when it comes to drugs and sex, Amsterdam welcomes a crowd of outsiders. Among canals, bicycles, coffee shops and brothel windows, we search, in vain, for its quieter side.
Cocoa, Chocolate, Sao Tome Principe, Agua Izé farm
Meal
São Tomé and Principe

Cocoa Roças, Corallo and the Chocolate Factory

At the beginning of the century. In the XNUMXth century, São Tomé and Príncipe generated more cocoa than any other territory. Thanks to the dedication of some entrepreneurs, production survives and the two islands taste like the best chocolate.
North Island, New Zealand, Maori, Surfing time
Culture
North Island, New Zealand

Journey along the Path of Maority

New Zealand is one of the countries where the descendants of settlers and natives most respect each other. As we explored its northern island, we became aware of the interethnic maturation of this very old nation. Commonwealth as Maori and Polynesia.
Spectator, Melbourne Cricket Ground-Rules footbal, Melbourne, Australia
Sport
Melbourne, Australia

The Football the Australians Rule

Although played since 1841, Australian Football has only conquered part of the big island. Internationalization has never gone beyond paper, held back by competition from rugby and classical football.
jet lag avoid flight, jetlag, turbulence
Traveling
Jet Lag (Part 1)

Avoid Post-Flight Turbulence

When we fly across more than 3 time zones, the internal clock that regulates our body gets confused. The most we can do is alleviate the discomfort we feel until it gets right again.
China's occupation of Tibet, Roof of the World, The occupying forces
Ethnic
Lhasa, Tibet

The Sino-Demolition of the Roof of the World

Any debate about sovereignty is incidental and a waste of time. Anyone who wants to be dazzled by the purity, affability and exoticism of Tibetan culture should visit the territory as soon as possible. The Han civilizational greed that moves China will soon bury millenary Tibet.
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Got2Globe Portfolio

life outside

History
São Nicolau, Cape Verde

Photography of Nha Terra São Nicolau

The voice of the late Cesária Verde crystallized the feeling of Cape Verdeans who were forced to leave their island. who visits São Nicolau or, wherever it may be, admires images that illustrate it well, understands why its people proudly and forever call it their land.
Key West Wall, Florida Keys, United States
Islands
Key West, USA

The Tropical Wild West of the USA

We've come to the end of the Overseas Highway and the ultimate stronghold of propagandism Florida Keys. The continental United States here they surrender to a dazzling turquoise emerald marine vastness. And to a southern reverie fueled by a kind of Caribbean spell.
Era Susi towed by dog, Oulanka, Finland
Winter White
PN Oulanka, Finland

A Slightly Lonesome Wolf

Jukka “Era-Susi” Nordman has created one of the largest packs of sled dogs in the world. He became one of Finland's most iconic characters but remains faithful to his nickname: Wilderness Wolf.
silhouette and poem, Cora coralina, Goias Velho, Brazil
Literature
Goiás Velho, Brazil

The Life and Work of a Marginal Writer

Born in Goiás, Ana Lins Bretas spent most of her life far from her castrating family and the city. Returning to its origins, it continued to portray the prejudiced mentality of the Brazilian countryside
Graciosa, Azores, Monte da Ajuda
Nature
Graciosa, Azores

Her Grace the Graciosa

Finally, we will disembark in Graciosa, our ninth island in the Azores. Even if less dramatic and verdant than its neighbors, Graciosa preserves an Atlantic charm that is its own. Those who have the privilege of living it, take from this island of the central group an esteem that remains forever.
Mother Armenia Statue, Yerevan, Armenia
Autumn
Yerevan, Armenia

A Capital between East and West

Heiress of the Soviet civilization, aligned with the great Russia, Armenia allows itself to be seduced by the most democratic and sophisticated ways of Western Europe. In recent times, the two worlds have collided in the streets of your capital. From popular and political dispute, Yerevan will dictate the new course of the nation.
Aurora lights up the Pisang Valley, Nepal.
Natural Parks
Annapurna Circuit: 3rd- Upper Banana, Nepal

An Unexpected Snowy Aurora

At the first glimmers of light, the sight of the white mantle that had covered the village during the night dazzles us. With one of the toughest walks on the Annapurna Circuit ahead of us, we postponed the match as much as possible. Annoyed, we left Upper Pisang towards Escort when the last snow faded.
Tiredness in shades of green
UNESCO World Heritage
Suzdal, Russia

The Suzdal Cucumber Celebrations

With summer and warm weather, the Russian city of Suzdal relaxes from its ancient religious orthodoxy. The old town is also famous for having the best cucumbers in the nation. When July arrives, it turns the newly harvested into a real festival.
View from the top of Mount Vaea and the tomb, Vailima village, Robert Louis Stevenson, Upolu, Samoa
Characters
Upolu, Samoa

Stevenson's Treasure Island

At age 30, the Scottish writer began looking for a place to save him from his cursed body. In Upolu and the Samoans, he found a welcoming refuge to which he gave his heart and soul.
mini-snorkeling
Beaches
Phi Phi Islands, Thailand

Back to Danny Boyle's The Beach

It's been 15 years since the debut of the backpacker classic based on the novel by Alex Garland. The film popularized the places where it was shot. Shortly thereafter, the XNUMX tsunami literally washed some away off the map. Today, their controversial fame remains intact.
Ulugh Beg, Astronomer, Samarkand, Uzbekistan, A Space Marriage
Religion
Samarkand, Uzbekistan

The Astronomer Sultan

The grandson of one of the great conquerors of Central Asia, Ulugh Beg, preferred the sciences. In 1428, he built a space observatory in Samarkand. His studies of the stars led him to name a crater on the Moon.
Train Kuranda train, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
On Rails
Cairns-Kuranda, Australia

Train to the Middle of the Jungle

Built out of Cairns to save miners isolated in the rainforest from starvation by flooding, the Kuranda Railway eventually became the livelihood of hundreds of alternative Aussies.
Reindeer Racing, Kings Cup, Inari, Finland
Society
Inari, Finland

The Wackiest Race on the Top of the World

Finland's Lapps have been competing in the tow of their reindeer for centuries. In the final of the Kings Cup - Porokuninkuusajot - , they face each other at great speed, well above the Arctic Circle and well below zero.
Women with long hair from Huang Luo, Guangxi, China
Daily life
Longsheng, China

Huang Luo: the Chinese Village of the Longest Hairs

In a multi-ethnic region covered with terraced rice paddies, the women of Huang Luo have surrendered to the same hairy obsession. They let the longest hair in the world grow, years on end, to an average length of 170 to 200 cm. Oddly enough, to keep them beautiful and shiny, they only use water and rice.
Amboseli National Park, Mount Kilimanjaro, Normatior Hill
Wildlife
Amboseli National Park, Kenya

A Gift from the Kilimanjaro

The first European to venture into these Masai haunts was stunned by what he found. And even today, large herds of elephants and other herbivores roam the pastures irrigated by the snow of Africa's biggest mountain.
Bungee jumping, Queenstown, New Zealand
Scenic Flights
Queenstown, New Zealand

Queenstown, the Queen of Extreme Sports

In the century. XVIII, the Kiwi government proclaimed a mining village on the South Island "fit for a queen".Today's extreme scenery and activities reinforce the majestic status of ever-challenging Queenstown.