MozGuide

The isolated provinces of Zambézia, Nampula, Cabo Delgado and Niassa make up the area north of the Zambezi River. As evidenced by the 2001 and 2006 floods, which displaced hundreds of thousands of people and prevented the Caia ferry from operating for weeks, the powerful Zambezi still forms a huge barrier to movement between and development of the northern provinces. This is mainly because there is no accessible road bridge over the river downstream from Tete – the 3.7km (21?2-mile) converted rail bridge (built in 1934 and converted for road traffic in 1998) between Sena and Morrumbala now being returned to rail traffic to serve the Moatize coalfields. Now there are two new and reliable 22-ton vehicle ferries operating at Caia, while the Inchope–Gorongosa–Caia highway was completed in 2003. Construction of a $85 million road bridge across the Zambezi at Caia is due to be complete by 2009. Thus the mighty Zambezi that divides Mozambique into two distinct regions – a south influenced by South Africa and Zimbabwe, and a north which relates to Malawi and Tanzania – will no longer be a barrier to progress.

At the end of a tarmac road north from Quelimane, which runs through an endless forest of coconut trees, you will discover Zalala beach and enormous succulent prawns. Dragged in by the local fishermen, barracuda (Sphyraene barracuda), squid or bluefin kingfish (Caranx melampygus) may also appear in the nets. Praia de Zalala lies wide and flat and, because it is so isolated, resembles a lost runway for some forgotten aircraft. The beach is long and hard-packed enough to have been considered for one of Sir Malcolm Campbell’s attempts at breaking the world land speed record. Should you own a land yacht, bring it to Zalala and sail off into the sunset.