Been to Mozambique? Wanna see your name in the next edition of Mozambique?

Hi all,

If you've been to Mozambique, we would love to get a spiel about it! I am compiling a list of Traveller Highlights to Mozambique.

If you have, please send me a highlight (up to 150 words, but short and sweet is fine too!) and we'll try to get it published in the next edition of Mozambique!

My email address is shawn.low@lonelyplanet.com.au.

Stuff we would love to highlight:

1) sailing on a dhow in the Quirimbas Archipelago

2) Diving in Mozambique : eg - diving with manta rays around Tofo

3) A beach holiday in Tofo beach, the beach at Ponta d'Ouro or Ponta Malongane, the beach at Chidenguele.

4) Experienced traditional dancing or music - eg, timbila players around Quissico, the Mozambican National Company of Song and Dance (Companhia Nacional de Canto e Danca)

5) The Bazaruto Archipelago (remember the turquoise and aqua waters swirling around pristine white sandbanks and islands)?

6) Seen Malangatanga's artwork, or any Mozambican wood sculptures or paintings (but not war-themed murals).

7) Inhambane Bay - perhaps from a dhow?

8) the beach or islands near Angoche

9) aInselberg (huge towering rock) landscapes in the Niassa Reserve (Reserva de Niassa)

10) Inselberg landscapes around Nampula

An example of some highlights:

Ibo Island
We arrived on sleepy, sunbaked Ibo on a holiday, and were treated to a morning of dancing and singing under the shade of a huge, spreading mango tree. Afterwards, a young boy led us through the sandy lanes to a tiny house with a hand-painted 'cafe'' sign tacked outside. Inside were a group of laughing women who offered us plates of piping hot rice and sauce.

Mozambique Island
There are no crowds and few vehicles, but Mozambique Island is hardly silent. Echoes of its past mix with the squawking of chickens, the sounds of children playing and the calls of the muezzin to remind you that the island is still very much alive.

Please send them through to me ASAP!

Thanks in advance!

Another LP written by travellers rather than the author themselves???

I despair!

Kira

Just to clarify, the Mozambique Highlight section is a full-colour section at the front of many of our guides. Some of the more astute among you would notice that this is often a mixture of highlights that travellers have on the road. Many have been written by authors, staff and even Thorn Tree forumites. I think that this section is a fantastic way to share memories from your trips.

While Kira doesn't seem to be as enthused about the section, we do welcome any well-written experiences you've had in Mozambique.

The author of the next edition, Mary Fitzpatrick, has already contributed quite a few! We would like a variety of voices in this section, hence this request! The call has also gone out to all inhouse staff.

OK fine but my point is that there are other African editions that have used travellers to put in their account as the author hasn't been allowed to tour the country.

What do we pay for? & some French editions even miss countries out in the regional guides.

Kira

Kira, I find it quite alarming that you claim that travellers have done the work of authors. All our authors are paid to visit the countries they research. In some cases, they might be unable to visit towns because of violence in the area (Mogadishu for example). We also have the talk2us department representatives who pass on traveller feedback to authors...in this case, it's up to the authors to decide if they want to check out what travellers have recommended, be it a sight or hotel.

However, your current train of though is very off-topic from my original request. If you wish to discuss your concerns further, please email me (see original post for my email) or start a thread about this (perhaps you have since you post count is high).

Edited by: shawn_low

I was also alarmed, ask around about Cote d'Ivoire's entry in W.Africa ... which I have to say is now very poor, there's stuff about the west of the country that's from years ago!

Hence my concern over Mozambique, but I understand where you are coming from on this guide & I'm pleased to hear it

Kira

Tofo: absolutely mind blowing diving, from the manicure station to the manta rays. Then just pop over to swim with the whale sharks, finishing the day with a fine Laurentina beer. Just make sure to take your anti malarials. Its a great spot to decompress and relax.

I think Kira is raising some valid issues. I, for one, gave up on LP in Africa some time ago as there are considerably better guide books out there. You may not be aware of this (since your post count is so low) but the general feeling amongst the regulars on this branch is that the LP Africa books are rather second rate, out of date, poorly researched and inaccurate. Asking for contributions from us is therefore not going to be met with waves of enthusiasm.

What we'd like in a guide book is well-researched practical information and recommendations, not vomit inducing guff about dancing under the shade of mango trees.

Sorry.

Jan 2000 - Oct 2001 my country sent me (while I was still in uniform) to help clear the landmines of Mozambique for the UN Acelerated Demining Program. My piece of turf extended from the Rio Save in the north to, Ponta D'Ouro in the south, from the coast to the Zimbabwe border; there were not many roads I did not drive along.

I married a lady of Mozambique and we are still in love. You might leave Mozambique but, it will never leave you. We go back as often as we can, and fully intend to live there in the future. It is a reality not often found in the developed world. Love the place and the people.

Kira, Stokeygirl:

I don't take your words lightly. Could you both PM or email me examples where you feel that the books are poorly researched and inaccurate (instead of just saying that they are)?

Reason being is that if this is the case, we need to take it to the authors when they update the next edition of the guide.

As for information being out of date, that is something that we try our best to avoid but always struggle with. That is the nature of publishing: books are on two or three-year cycles. Add to that the research, writeup and production times inhouse and sadly information from time of research to the day it hits the shelves might be out of date if the situation on the ground changes within that time frame. We do our best to avoid this and try to keep research as fresh as possible but it's the curse of publishing.

Well I'm heading to Mozambique from South America - surely the Africa book can't be as bad as the South America one?

I agree - I want a guide book with actual up-to-date facts, maybe some maps that bear some resemblance to the actual place, not warm fuzzies. I guess based on the comments here I won't be using LP in Africa.

It's probably easier to just copy and paste..

I don't understand this fuss. Mary Fitzpatrick has lived in Mozambique, so that is more than many other authors can claim.

The fuss is over crowd-sourcing feel-good content to give a guidebook gloss, while LP is short-changing writers by not giving enough time to properly research guidebooks, and short changing readers who spend a lot of money on their books by slapping together content that is often a decade out of date.

Its not an attack on the authors at all. They do the best with what they're given - they should be given more time and resources to put together quality content.