The Bite Magazine - Summer 2012 - Issue 5

paddled canoes around the mangroves, admiring the birdlife around us, and the marine life swimming beneath. We also took a ten minute boat trip to Ilha de Moçambique, the only UNESCO World Heritage site in Mozambique and one of the few in Africa. It was the capital for 400 years, its history forged by slave-trading Arab and Portuguese colonialists. It still looks much as it did 300 years ago, the remnants of former wealth very evident. There’s a sixteenth century fort, various churches and mosques to see, and the crumbling town remains impressive today. Coral Lodge is near the village of Cabaceira Pequena, home to most of the lodge staff, where traditional mud houses sit alongside a 13 th century mosque. This village and others nearby have lived in isolation for many centuries, sheltering the Macua people from civil war andAIDS, but also depriving them of development, education and modern medicine. It’s fascinating to visit these communities and bite travel