Inhaca

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Inhaca
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Inhaca is a settlement in Mozambique, on the subtropical Inhaca Island ("Ilha da Inhaca" in Portuguese) off the East African coast. Inhaca settlement is centered on a missionary station located about 32km east of Maputo.

Geography and administration

The 52km² island separates Maputo Bay ("Baía de Maputo") to the west from the Indian Ocean off its eastern shores. The island's irregular coastline approaches mainland Machangulo Peninsula at Ponta Torres where a 500m-wide tidal race separates the two headlands. In administrative terms Inhaca is a municipal district of the municipality of Maputo, while the Machangulo peninsula is included under the Lubombo Transfrontier Conservation Area and is part of the district of Matutuíne, Maputo Province.

Economy

A population of 2,000 people subsist on fishing and agriculture. At low tide women harvest crabs, oysters and fish from the western shallows. At high tide fishing boats leave the island for deeper sea fishing. The island is a popular winter destination of South African tourists.

History

Tsonga chief Nhaca, a protector of early shipwrecked Portuguese sailors, lends his name to the later settlement. Later 16th century Portuguese traders established an Inhaca Island base to ply the Bay of the Lagoon's ("Baía da Lagoa") rivers in search of ivory. A 1747 map by Emanuel Bowen records 'Inhaqua' settlement on the mainland peninsula while referring to the island as 'I. S. Maria'.

The first light house dates from 1894, and was upgraded in the 1920's. A marine biological station (the 'MBS') coord|26|02|17|S|32|54|12|E| was built in 1951 and some of the shores were declared nature reserves in 1976. Of late the biological station came under administration of the Eduardo Mondlane University.

Traveller's destinations

The Inhacazul Lodge and Pestana Hotel are the main destinations of travellers from where different excursions are often undertaken, including scuba diving and snorkelling outings. Backpackers mostly visit a catering camping area within walking distance of the landing jetty, and are required to take bottled water and their own tents. Inhaca village is within a 5 minute drive from the camp where there are two restaurants, two bars, a grocery store and a marketplace.

The lodges are visited by means of return flights that depart from Maputo airport and reach the island airstrip in ten minutes. Voyages by ferry or boat from Maputo take two to three hours. Travellers depart from Maputo's ferry terminal and reach the island's landing jetty at high tide, but have to wade some sandy shallows during low tide. Transit charges vary from 300 Meticais (about 70 Rand) per person by government ferry and R250 by private ferry return - to R500 per person by boat, as of 2006.

References and external links

* Reader's Digest Atlas of Southern Africa
* A natural history of Inhaca Island, Mozambique. Margaret Kalk, J de Koning, 1995
* [http://www.businessinafrica.net/travel/385608.htm#/ "Mozambique, Islands in the Sun" by Keri Harvey] 26 October 2004
* [http://www.mozambique.co.za/africa_inhaca.html/ Destination Mozambique]
* [http://www.diveafrica.com/inhaca/mexp.html/ Dive Mozambique]

ee also

* Inhaca Island