Mafalala Tour

If there is one tour you should do whilst in Maputo it is probably the Mafalala Tour. It doesn't exhibit the famous landmarks that we see in photos of Maputo but it delves deeper and goes further. Mafalala is a Maputo suburb that accentuates that differences between the old and the new Mozambique, the pre and post-colonial Mozambique, the Christian, Muslim and Animist Mozambique, the foods, the dances, the hardships and the joy. In these spiralling laneways many of Mozambique's most famous and influential people were born and then nurtured. Spending a few hours in this unique Maputo suburb you'll quickly appreciate why so many figures emerged from this small bairro.

The Mafalala Tour is one of our most popular Maputo day tours, and is great value at $38 per person (min. 4 persons) or $55 per person for two persons.

Information about Mafalala:

The great "Portuguese" footballer, Eusébio, is definitely the most recognised figure to originate from this suburb, at least for football fans, but it was also the home for Presidents (Samora Machel and Joaquim Chissano), renowned poet José Craveirinho and many more iconic figures

This corrugated sheets used to roof and wall houses, so distinctive in this suburb, were common in colonial times as the Portuguese prohibited the use of bricks and cement for construction in these areas. This stark divide was one of the catalysts for the Independence movement that germinated in Mafalala and eventually toppled colonialism in Mozambique in the 1970's. Despite 40 years of indepence Mafala remains almost as it was all those years ago.