A very rich terrestrial and marine fauna
On land, crocodiles, snakes, chameleons, gulls, crows, herons, hummingbirds, pigeons, storks, partridges, hens, ducks, turkeys, geese, buffalo, antelopes, elephants, wild boars, monkeys, lions, zebras, hippos, giraffes... We hope to catch a glimpse of herds of elephants and the long necks of giraffes in the vegetation of Gorongosa National Park, whose repopulation is encouraging. We still have to make do with the scenery rather than the big five (lion, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros and buffalo), but elephants and lions are becoming more and more numerous, and the mountains carve out wonderful, unique panoramas. The very rare wild dogs also live here.
On the Mozambican coast, hundreds of species live side by side: dolphins, whale and grey sharks, manta rays, sea turtles, dugongs, octopus, manatees... Eyes are wide open behind the masks. Every dive and snorkel is unique. You'll contemplate corals, starfish, lobsters, crabs, squid, octopus, whales, sharks, manatees, tuna, sardines, all kinds of exotic fish and aquatic turtles. The migration of humpback whales in the Mozambique Channel from June to October adds to the richness of the country's marine fauna.
The whale shark
The famous whale shark(Rhincodon typus, shark nyangumi in Swahili) is a harmless shark that moves very slowly and without any aggressiveness. But its size is monstrous, it can reach 20 m long and 34 t, like a whale! In reality, the whale sharks observed are rather between 5 and 15 m. This giant of the seas also eats like a whale: mainly plankton and algae. Apart from its size, its characteristic black and white checkerboard skin makes it spectacular: a true picture of nature. Normally living more than a hundred years, its life expectancy does not exceed seventy years due to overfishing. The species is endangered, although it is not known how many of them travel the oceans, as they are in constant migration. The Marine Megafauna Foundation has identified more than six hundred whale sharks in the waters of Tofo, 70% of which live there all year round. This is a real exception on a global scale that deserves to be highlighted.
The elephant, the sage of the bush
The African elephant(Loxondota africana) is the largest land animal. Elephants live in herds of fifteen to twenty individuals led by a matriarch. Older males leave the herd and generally lead a solitary existence. The social organization of the group is particularly efficient and the solidarity between members is total. Elephants are in constant communication thanks to numerous sounds and grunts inaudible to the human ear. Hunted for centuries for their ivory, African elephants have been threatened with total eradication. Today, their numbers are increasing, but the problems are not over. In Mozambique, their numbers are increasing (about 10,800 elephants nationwide), thanks in part to their migration from the overcrowded Kruger in South Africa to Limpopo in Mozambique, via a natural corridor created by this transboundary park.
Endemic bird species
Hikers, explorers and birdwatchers will enjoy Mozambique as a bird paradise. Of the 850 species listed south of the Zambezi, about 30 are thought to exist almost exclusively in Mozambique, such as the green-headed oriole and the Nyassa lesser seedcracker. Keen observers may want to go up to the Inhambane area. In the dunes of Dovela, nestled between the ocean and the jungle, the hiking trails are cut directly through the wild bush. You are invited into the heart of the natural environment of the birds.
A very contrasted flora
You will find two different types of regions: those, rather arid, where the plant species resist the drought or those, humid, where the plants soak up water. If not mangroves, dunes shape the coastal landscape of Mozambique. The banks of the rivers are covered by gallery forests. These are groups of trees that are tightly packed together and form a kind of gallery along the rivers. In the northwest, approaching Zambia and Malawi, it is common to encounter equatorial forests with several layers of vegetation. Moving away from the mountainous and riverine regions, especially in the south, one notices hundreds and hundreds of kilometers of savannah woodland. The yellow tones during the dry season are replaced by a gradation of greens during the rainy season, when the earth becomes barely visible.
An omnipresent mangrove
The coastline is the realm of the mangrove, which borders 48% of the coastline. An accumulation of mangrove trees with visible roots grows in brackish, shallow waters. The mangrove is a powerful natural filter and promises fresh water to many villages by removing salt through its leaves, especially on the island of Inhaca. The mangroves have the capacity to capture nitrogen, phosphate and certain heavy metals, leaving the water incredibly transparent and the beaches heavenly. Further north, on the Quirimbas archipelago, the mangrove can be crossed on foot at low tide or on board a boat at high tide. All these roots mingle and intertwine, as if the trees were suddenly going to start walking.
Coconut trees and other imported species
Mozambique also has dunes and sandbanks that shape the coastal landscape. With the passage of the Arabs and Portuguese, many plant species were imported from Asia, Europe, South America and Australia. Cashew nuts, millet - now the staple food - rice, bananas and sugar cane are all products that flourish here. In the regions of Nampula, Zambezia, Sofala and Inhambane, 10 million coconut trees were planted during the Portuguese colonization and still today form hectares of coastline.
