Pemba City Guide - overview

Pemba is a port town and the capital of the Cabo Delgado Province, in the north of Mozambique. It has banks, patisseries, supermarkets and restaurants yet it retains a ramshackle feel with its potholed streets. The town was built over rolling hills and most people live in wooden huts set amongst the many thick baobab trees. The history of the people of the Cabo Delgado province lies in many centuries of African, Arab and Portuguese sailing, trading and settling. The Niassa Company founded Pemba in 1904 as Porto Amelia, named after a queen of Portugal. It was renamed Pemba at the end of Portuguese rule, in 1975.

Pemba is renowned for its Portuguese colonial architecture and is a prime location for water sports and diving. Ibo Island is nearby and worth visiting for its empty stretches of beach and to explore some of the world's richest coral reefs. There is an authentic local market ( Souk Souk) in the centre of Pemba selling arts and crafts, as well as traditional silverware. It is quite large, extending 1.2 miles (2km) along one of the town's main thoroughfares. Avoid the ivory sold at the market; this is sold contrary to Mozambican and international law.

On Wimbe Beach, Mar e Sol serves delicious fish and chips in a spicy citrus sauce, and Pemba Dolphin does good seafood dishes. Visit Restaurante Discoteca, also on Wimbe Beach, for a hot Mozambican atmosphere. Quirimbas Restaurant, at the Pemba Beach Hotel, offers lunch from an à la carte menu, as well as breakfast and dinner buffets. Restaurante 556, in Old Town, has a lovely view of the bay and good ribs, beef, eisbein and chicken.

Tarred roads connect Pemba to Nampula and Ilha de Mozambique, and international flights and tourist facilities are budding steadily.

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