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 Information on Mozambique

Local kids at a village in Mozambique

  Due to a thirty-year civil war, which only ended in 1990, there has been very little recreational exploration in Mozambique. The infrastructure of roads, communication, water and electricity is very poor. 

Due to the remoteness of the climbing there are many objective dangers involved, such as malaria, cholera, landmines and bandits. 

We know these Granite domes exist because Mark Seuring and Alard Hüfner (both members of this expedition) went on a reconnaissance trip in 1998 to explore the area for possible climbing. So the exact location of Mlema 1 and Mt Rebawe is known.  Contacts with the local tribe chiefs and people were established.  

INFORMATION ON MOZAMBIQUE:

Facts at a Glance:

Full country name:        Republic of Mozambique
Area:                             801,600 sq km (309,500 sq mi)
Population:                   Capital city: Maputo (pop 1.3 million)
People:                         African (99%, including Shangaan, Chokwe, Manyika, Sena Makua)
Language:                     Portuguese (official), indigenous languages
Religion:                        Indigenous beliefs (50%), Christian (30%), Muslim (20%)
Government:                  Republic
President:                     Joaquim Alberto Chissano
Prime Minister:             Pascoal Mocumbi

Environment:

Shaped a bit like an upside-down Afghan hound, Mozambique stretches for
2500km (1550mi) on the south-eastern coast of Africa, bordered by Tanzania
to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the north-west, Zimbabwe to the west, and
South Africa and Swaziland to the south-west. The island of Madagascar lies
directly east, 400km (250mi) across the Mozambique Channel.
The coastal plain, as wide as 200km (125mi) in the south, rises to mountains
and plateaux in the north and west. Two of Southern Africa's longest rivers,
the Zambezi and the Limpopo, flow through the country. Other major rivers
are the Save and the Rovuma (which forms the northern border with Tanzania).
Massive Lake Malawi (also called Lake Nyasa) forms part of the border with
Malawi.

As you go westward, the land changes abruptly from a narrow, palm-studded
strip of beach along the coast to a broad belt of savannah and woodland,
then forested mountains. Trees include hardwoods, acacia and papaya. Fauna
include the rare, endangered black rhinoceros.

There are many regional variations in Mozambique, but generally the dry season runs from April to September, when the average daily high tops out at
27°C (80°F) on the coast, cooler inland. The rainy season lasts most of the
rest of the year, when the average daily high hits 31°C (88°F).

CLIMBING LOCATION:

The granite domes lie in northern Mozambique, in the province of Nampula between the cities of Cuamba and Nampula. The people in this area are extremely poor and survive on subsistence farming.  

Local People and Granite domes