Quelimane

This town is the administrative capital of the fertile Zambezia Province, with nearly one million inhabitants. It is famous for its coconut trees, which number about 12 million!

The port, which is about 19 kilometres from the sea, is on the 1.5-kilometre-wide Rios dos Boas Sinais, or 'River of Good Signs', named by Vasco da Gama when he sailed here in the late 1400s.

Like the rest of northern Mozambique, Quelimane is largely Islamic and the sounds of muezzins come from dozens of mosques throughout the city.

The main landmarks here are the District Governor's residence, which dates from 1895, and the Cathedral of Nossa Senhora do Vibramento (built in 1785, four years before the French Revolution).

The town was journey's end for David Livingstone on his trans-Africa trek from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean in 1856. Six years later he was appointed as Quelimane's British Consul.

There are several hotels, including Hotel Chuabo on the riverfront, as well as fashionable streetside cafés and restaurants. The river reaches the sea at the Zalala Beach estuary, where dugout canous brave the muddied surf. The beach has holiday-homes and restaurants.

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