Inhambane

Inhambane, lovingly called I’bane by the locals, is Inhamabe Province’s charming capital city, located 470 kilometers north of Maputo on one of Mozambique’s most attractive bays, at the mouth of the Matumba River.

Inhambane Bay is full of bird and marine life, including a small number of dugong. Bird enthusiasts should also keep an eye out for Greater Flamingos on the left when you are travelling into the city center. Incidentally, Inhambane is just 3 kilometers from the coastal town of Maxixe and a ferry connecting the two operates daily from 05.30 a.m. until 9.00 p.m. By road the distance is 60 kilometers. I’bane itself is a scenic town with attractive buildings of Portuguese architecture in refreshingly good condition.

Its estimated 65,000 people are a delightfully laidback mixture of African, Arabian, Indian and European denizens. Alas, most tourists just pass through on their way to see the whale sharks and other fantastic marine life off of the coast of Tofo and Barra.