UKC

Hello,

So this is my first post of any type really so i hope i won't make too many mistakes I'm planning a climbing trip to the north of mozambique, near the region of nampula. The exact goal would be to do some trad big wall projects there because they look amazing. Unfortunately i'm having quite a hard time finding any recent information about the state of climbing in the area. I found some good info from alard hufner and such but it mostly dates back 20 years or so and seems a bit outdated. So i was wondering if anyone has some more recent info? More particularly is a tour guide recommended? if so any contacts that you would know? Any other tips would be very welcome.

Thanks,

Kuba

Hi Kuba

I lived in Mozambique for 3 years but unfortunately never had the ability to climb there (i took my shoes).  By Nampula area do you mean the famous granite domes? 

Like you say there is zero info, i think there was a sponsored rock trip about 20+ years ago by the likes of petzl or similar to climb some of the granite domes.  That is all i found. Recently there has been some expedition climbing stuff in the gorongosa region but that was mainly for naturalist reasons, looking for new species in hidden parts of the jungle.  They found lots.  

What would you be looking for a tour guide to do? I can't imagine you'd find one that could cater to your requirements.  You'd be better off establishing links with local people, NGOs etc.  There is very little tourism around Nampula and that area in general.

One thing to be aware of is that some mountains might be considered sacred to some communities and you might need to introduce yourself to important community members before climbing.  I can't image they'd say no. But a few meetings will go along way in smoothing things over. 

Do you speak Portuguese?  English speakers are hard to come by.  Also take note of the recent political issues in the very north of the country.        

Beautiful country, best beaches in the world and because you'll be so close you should go to ilha de Mozambique, its another world.   

Happy to help more if I can. 

I climbed a little around there in 2007 as part of the Hot Rock expedition. It was a tough place to be back then and we ended up having some difficulties with local authorities, despite our best efforts to 'work with them' and keep things smooth. Moved on at gun-point, kind-of.....long story.....

No idea what it's like these days, however, for some general info and possibly some contacts in the area, can I suggest you get in touch with https://www.ukclimbing.com/user/profile.php?id=263231

He used to run Hot Rock and might be able to help you out, if not with recent info, then at least with some out-of-date-but-potentially-useful info.

Hot rock that's the one 😀.  Tough in what way? 

To answer I've dug out one of my old 'emails home' from 2007. Here's an edited section of the Mozambique bit:

'After several days of driving we found the great granite towers of rock we were after and set up camp. There was good climbing to be had. Some of us played on the smaller crags at the base of our 700m peak and three brave lads did a new route to its summit, a very long route and a very long day.

We had 5 days here. There were some negative aspects though. We were sitting ducks for the local people who stole what they could from us. We lost both of our shovels, a hoe, 3 water barrels, a truck battery and some parts of the truck's brakes (this had bad consequences later)

Someone turned up one morning with a snake in a bag and threatened to release it in our camp if we didn't give him some money.

Also, our spot seemed to fall under all sorts of different jurisdictions. We'd get a permit from one person one day only for someone else to turn up the next and say the first wasn't worth anything and we needed a different one. Finally on the fifth day we were moved on by the local head honcho who came with some armed chaps to encourage our expedient departure. We duly moved and started our journey to the coast.

On a more positive note though, we had fun in the local village trading our empty glass Coke bottles for chickens. '

So, on reflection, trying to work more closely with local people/communities and organisations, preferably in advance if possible, would no doubt reap benefits. 

Looks like you have found the perfect setting for real adventure, I would jump at it, given the chance, good luck!

I am sorry you had these negative experiences.   

Well, it's just a sample of one isn't it? Not necessarily a reflection on the country in general.

 It led to some interesting experiences though. Once we left, we had a crash on the way to Ilha de Mozambique. Someone pulled out in front of our truck and our brakes didn't work as they should (see earlier post) and we ran off the road into a tree. We were lucky no-one died, but the truck was smashed up pretty badly. As we camped by the crash site some passing property developers stopped, picked us up and let us sleep on the dance-floor of their night club on Ilha. We stayed there for a few days while we arranged a replacement truck to use while ours was being fixed.

There were a lot of crazy experiences really, but I must say out of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Bowtswana, Namibia..... Mozambique felt the sketchiest, scariest place. The rest were mostly pretty cool. This was a long time ago now though - 2007.

nampula has a bit of a reputation, but the rest of the country is fine IMO. Thankfully I never had any issues for 3 years and always felt safe, and i was a poor volunteer traveling on the local transport to some very isolated places.  granted it can be a difficult place but it is a very very poor country. 

Your story about the nightclub owners sounds very familiar, you get a lot of weird and wonderful things happening like that.

the best approach is to try to blend in and make as many friends as possible.  

There is also a peace corp volunteer in every village who are a valuable source of local knowledge and help.       

Have you seen this?

https://www.majkaburhardt.com/legado/

It's only 6 years old so Majka might be able to offer you some reasonably fresh beta.  They've also made short film of their expedition.

I also remember reading a detailed trip report from some Polish climbers who did an exploratory trip there.  A little older than 6 yrs I think.  I used to have a pdf of their trip - could probably dig it up if you can't find it online ("Mozambigwall" or something like that).

Hi,

Thanks a lot for your response . Indeed the famous granite domes would be our goal. Ye we read about an expedition that was not that old to mount namuli for naturalist reasons, but the climbing didn't look that amazing, it looked quite green. Unfortunately, none of us speak Portuguese, we do speak french, but i guess that wouldn't help too much. I guess the goal of a tour guide would be this most of all, someone to show us around and make communication with the locals smoother and show us the do's and dont's of the local culture. But thanks a lot for all the tips.

No haven't seen either of these expeditions but both seem to contain very good info. Especially the polish guys seem to have had quite the same goal with which we would set out so they might have some very good info! for those interested you can find the pdf here: http://www.team360.pl/node/2489 . Thanks so much for the info

Ye we have heard some quite mixed stories about the locals so far, both very motivating ones but also one that i couldn't really tell my mom But thanks for the tip!

Ye definitly seems like a huge adventure, really hope we'll manage to organise it. thanks

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/mozambique

Have you considered Malawi? I’ve had two excellent trips to Chembe in the Mulanje range. Excellent granite climbing with a mix of established routes and massive potential for new routing. The main face is two tiered with routes up to 1200m. Malawi is a very safe and welcoming country with easy logistics and stable weather. I’ve got a load of photos from a trip last year. Feel free to message me if you would like further info.