NIASSA PROVINCE
Niassa Province is the largest province of Mozambique and the most sparsely populated, it is of 122,176 sq kms in extent. The capital of Niassa province is Lichinga, situated on the Lichinga plateau and has a population of between70 000 to 80 000 people. |
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The best and most practical way of getting to Lichinga is by aeroplane and there are regular flights from Maputo.
There is a dirt road from Pemba to Lichinga as well as a road from Malawi and Lake Niassa crossing at the border posts of Chipode and Mandimba.
A visitor to Niassa province HAS to make a visit to Lake Niassa (Lake Malawi). Getting to the edge of Lake Niassa requires a 4x4 because of the bad state of the roads.
This has turned out to be a good thing because the Lake Niassa has remained unspoilt. The scenery enroute to Lake Niassa is breathtaking and beautiful.
Along the lakeside are 3 small fishing villages which provide coconut milk as well as fresh milk to visitors and are more than well worth a visit.
They are, Cobue 190 kms from Lichinga, Metangula 140 kms from Lichinga and Meponda 40 kms from Lichinga.
The Niassa Reserve is the largest conservation area of Mozambique and is situated on the northern border on the Rovuma River and is 42 000 sq kms in extent.
The Niassa Reserve contains by far the greatest concentration of wildlife in Mozambique and
is more than twice the size of the Kruger Park in South Africa.
Niassa
Reserve is famous for two things:-
1.One of the largest protected Miombo Woodland Ecosystem areas in the whole Miomba Ecoregion covering approximately 3.5 million sq kms.
This ecoregion
extends from the Angolan escarpment in the west up to the coastal woodlands and forests of Mozambique but does not include the coastal forests
It also covers much of Zambia and Tanzania.
2. It's large number of elephants (12 000) as well as the populations of Sable Antelope ,Eland and Hartebeest. The Nyasaland Gnu is also found here with it's broad white chevron across it's nose.
The ethnic tribes of this province also regard music as an important part of their cultural traditions. Use is made of instruments made from hollowed out calabashes (gourds) which sound similar to trumpets and with a range of different sizes, bring a number of differnet keys together to produce their unique ethnic music.
