Gurué

Today I ventured into Zambézia Province, in the direction of the very lovely looking town of Gurué in the western highlands. Making it to Zambézia leaves just one of Mozambique’s ten provinces that I haven’t visited, namely Tete in the far west of the country. Tete protrudes up into Zambia and should by rights probably be part of Zimbabwe, Malawi or Zambia. But we all know what fun Europeans had drawing borders with no regard for the future need for national unity in the countries created.

I was immediately struck by Gurué. It’s got a typical highland (about 750 metres) town vibe, and it is wetter, danker, and with redder soils than its lowland sisters. Its setting is spectacular, among the mountains and close to Mozambique’s second highest peak, Namuli. The town is a mixture of orderly and chaotic, depending on which street a visitor walks down.

Accommodation options are limited and the pensão (guesthouse) I have checked into has seen better days, namely days which saw functioning plumbing and amenities that vaguely resemble what is profiled online. I sampled the next door restaurant, struggling to understand the effervescent reviews of previous travellers.

Life in Gurué is quiet on weekday nights. The only event of note was being awoken by a pack of dogs menacing the streets at around midnight.