After decades of ill fortune, Mozambique is emerging into a vibrant, welcoming and beautiful country. The creator of detective Wallander urges you to go now before it loses its innocenceI came to Mozambique in 1986, when I first became involved with Teatro Avenida ? a theatre company that stages plays concerned with political and social issues. I am still involved with the company, and have lived in Maputo, the capital, part-time ever since.Tourists in Mozambique were scarce in the 1980s. Visitors from South Africa might come to spend a weekend, perhaps even a week, in the Hotel Polana in Maputo, and then fly back home. But that was about it. Mozambique was a no-go area for the rest of the world from the early 1960s when Frelimo (the Liberation Front of Mozambique) started its war of liberation against the Portuguese colonialists. This lasted until the beginning of the 1990s, when South Africa's apartheid government ? which supported the army of bandits that instigated the devastating civil war ? was about to fall. At the time of independence in 1975 Mozambique was extremely poor. Many Portuguese residents abandoned the country, leaving only a handful of well-educated Mozambicans to try to run the country.Today there is peace. And the peace will hold. Poverty is the most fundamental national problem, but the country is gradually rising out of it. I am positive they will succeed. If it were possible for me to go to Mozambique 50 years from now, I am convinced that I would find a prosperous country.The Mozambican writer Mia Couto once described his country as "a veranda that overlooks the Indian Ocean". This image is not only beautiful, it is true. The 2,470km Mozambican coastline, with its untouched beaches, is a fantastic resource. Until now it seems the government has managed to avoid falling into the trap of overexploiting it. Such over-exploitation would mean great profits in the short run, but if one looks further than the next couple of years it may well lead to disappointments and even a decline in tourist revenue. Today, tourists are starting to come (though still not in great numbers), and some are even exploring beyond Maputo and the famous Hotel Polana. The past decade has seen beach camps and luxury eco-lodges being set up along the coast, and they are attracting foreign visitors. There are landmarks such the Ilha de Mozambique, a tiny beautiful island in the north with a mix of colonial Portuguese and old Swahili architecture. And I love Inhaca (inhaca.co.za), an island near Maputo, where the seafood, especially the chargrilled shrimps, is tremendous.And, after decades of war, the animals are returning. Wildlife preserves that have been empty because of illegal hunting or simply because the animals fled, are beginning to fill up with elephants, zebra and other animals again. The Gorongosa national park (exploregorongosa.com) in the north has hundreds of species and offers safaris; at the Great Limpopo transfrontier park (dolimpopo.com), on the border with the Kruger in the south, tourists enjoy 4x4 eco-trails, canoeing trips and hikes, encountering leopard, snakes, crocodiles, rhinos, giraffes and more.But it's the people that are most important. The wonderful Mozambican people have endured tremendous misery without losing their dignity and their positive outlook on life. Moreover, they have not lost their will to progress and develop. Mozambique is a country where the people never surrendered.And all I can say is: go! Go to Mozambique! As long as you don't expect to find flawless infrastructure, just go. Because this is a country where people have not quite grown accustomed to tourists. You still feel a genuineness that no longer exists in countries where tourism has been industrially developed.That will also happen in Mozambique. It is inevitable. But, again, I am very hopeful that it might be possible without turning the country into a tourist swamp.And for a traveller there are the constant surprises. A couple of years ago I checked into a small hotel in Pemba, a town in the far north, and when I entered my room I discovered that there was large tree growing in my bathroom, and the trunk and branches were shooting through the roof. The explanation was simple: when the owner of the place had restored the hotel he simply did not want to cut down the beautiful tree. So there it was.For me that tree is symbolic of travelling in Mozambique, and of how beautiful it might one day become.Daniel (Harvill Secker, �12.99) by Henning Mankell is out now. Details at henningmankell.comMozambiqueAfricaBeach holidaysGreen travelHenning Mankellguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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