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51-619: Elephants loom large in the life of people of the Lugenda River Valley. The tribal people, inhabiting the river valley for several thousand years, are mainly the Yao and Makua tribals. Other groups residing here are Ngoni , Marave and Matambwe people. The etymology of the word Lugenda in Yao language , a Bantu language spoken by the Yao people (East Africa) in Africa }, has the literal meaning "a large river." The Lugenda River, which joins

102-529: A fierce battle with the Portuguese who were led by Major João Teixeira Pinto . The Portuguese force was comprehensively defeated. Witness to this battle are seen in the form of a few graves on the hill slopes at Mecula , the district capital of Niassa . The Germans defeated a Portuguese force of some 1200 men at Negomano and seized valuable supplies, including 250,000 rounds, six machine guns and medicine. During this battle known as "Battle of Negomano", following

153-686: A full-scale war on Mozambique, which resulted in Portuguese getting defeated initially. However, with great investment of manpower and material, the Germans could be eventually defeated by the British and the Portuguese Army. A battle took place at Negomano on November 25, 1917, between the Germans and the Portuguese during World War I. In the river valley and the Nissa Wild Life Preserve enclosed within it, German Army supported by Askaris , under

204-587: A gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain . The camp is an integral component of the African wildlife ecosystem. Safaris are arranged from this camp for visits to the African wilderness. The camp has 16 east-African styled tents, a well turned out accommodation for visitors. Pemba Airport is the nearest airport to the Wilderness Camp and air services are operated by CFA Air Charters with light aircraft. At

255-450: A major Bantu ethnic and linguistic group living at the southern end of Lake Malawi . They played an important role in the history of Southeast Africa , notably in the 19th century. The Yao are a predominantly Muslim -faith group of about two million, whose homelands encompass the countries of Malawi , the north of Mozambique , and the Ruvuma and Mtwara Regions of Tanzania . The Yao have

306-475: A strong and unique culture with an innate talent for wood and ivory carving . Ancestral customs of ritual tattooing and teeth filing are still practiced by them. The historical Namachakole trench (Lilondo suburb) where the tombs of 11 Frelimo fighters killed in combat at Negomano are buried is a tourist attraction in Mueda district. The other attraction is of wild life safaris originating from Negomano. Following

357-601: A strong cultural identity, transcending national borders. The majority of Yao are subsistence farmers and fishermen. When Arabs arrived on the southeastern coast of Africa, they began trading with the Yao people for ivory and grains, exchanged for clothes and weapons. They also traded in slaves. Due to their involvement in this coastal trade, they became one of the richest and most influential tribes in Southern Africa. Large Yao kingdoms came into being, as Yao chiefs took control of

408-647: A tributary of the Lugenda River. The river valley, and the Niassa Wild Life Preserve enclosed within it, has a history linked to World War I . Germans , under the command of General Von Lettow-Vorbeck , crossed the Ruvuma River at Negomano and entered the Portuguese held Mozambique in search of food for his troops. In December 1917, after crossing the river, the general with his army marched south along

459-896: Is a village in northern Mozambique , in Cabo Delgado Province . It is located on the border with Tanzania on the confluence of the Ruvuma River and the Lugenda River . Negomano was the scene of fierce battle between the German Army and the Portuguese Army during World War I , in November/December 1917 when several hundred soldiers were killed ( battle of Ngomano ). Development initiatives launched subsequent to civil war of 1992 has resulted in economic progress in Negomano, which

510-439: Is believed to come from the latter two sources (folk illnesses), government health centers will rarely be consulted. Some folk illnesses known to the Yao include undubidwa (an illness affecting breastfeeding children due to jealousy from a sibling), and various "ndaka" illnesses that stem from contact that is made between those who are not sexually active with those who are (cold and hot). Negomano Negomano or Ngomano

561-418: Is fed by many perennial streams on both banks. The perennial water sources in the valley thus have good cultivation to sustain its inhabitants. Tobacco is grown on the river banks. Wild fig and other species of trees are also found in the valley. The river is bridged at Luambala where its width is about 150 metres (490 ft). The river valley formed by the Lugenda River, which flows within deep banks,

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612-595: Is part of the Niassa Reserve. Further, a four country initiative of Malawi , Mozambique, the northern and eastern provinces of Zambia , and the southern regions of the United Republic of Tanzania ) has resulted in the creation of the 720 metres (2,360 ft) long Unity Bridge across the Ruvuma River at Negomano. The Negomano area was occupied during the Early Iron Age by early hunter-gatherers. Modern tribes in

663-578: Is rich in iron ore intercalated in quartz and granite rock formations. Crystallized lime carbonate is also found. Coal is extracted from two coal fields, located on both sides of the river, one close to the Pemba Bay and the other near Itule town. Iron ore is extracted from large areas to the west of the Pemba Coalfield. Gold is also found in the valley in upper reaches of the Rarico River ,

714-527: The Niassa Company . These Portuguese settlers took up residence in the region, founding cities and towns. In the process, they systematically destroyed the indigenous, independent farm-and-trade system and changed it to a plantation-based economy, under Portuguese authority. The expanding Portuguese Empire had their own well-established trading posts, forts and ports in East Africa from the 15th century; this

765-707: The Niassa National Reserve and Lurio conservation area . This route is being developed for game and ecotourism envisaging fishing, wildlife viewing, boat rides and so forth. Lugenda Wilderness Camp, which is part of the Wildlife Preserve, is on the eastern bank of the Lugenda river, amongst the Ngalongue Mountains ( inselbergs ); inselberg is a common international term used to define isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from

816-673: The Niassa province of Mozambique in the 19th century. During that time, the Yao began to move from their traditional home to today's Malawi and Tanzania , which resulted in the Yao populations present today. One of the most important milestones for the chiefdoms was the conversion of the entire nation to Islam . In 1870, Makanjila III (one of the Mangochi Yao chiefs of the Nyasa area) adopted Islam as his personal and court religion. Subsequently, through business relations with Arab and Swahili traders,

867-579: The 1830s, when they were active as farmers and traders. Rich in culture, tradition and music, the Yao are primarily Muslim, and count among their famous progeny two former Presidents of the Republic of Malawi, Bakili Muluzi and Joyce Banda . The Yao had close ties with the Swahili on the coast during the late 19th century, and adopted some parts of their culture, such as architecture and religion, but still kept their own national identity. Their close cooperation with

918-607: The Arabs gave them access to firearms, which gave them an advantage in their many wars against neighbouring peoples, such as the Ngoni and the Chewa . The Yao actively resisted the German forces that were colonizing Southeast Africa (roughly today's Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi). A particular example of Yao involvement in the resistance extended to the coastal areas of Kilwa Kivinje, Mikindani and Lindi on

969-575: The Lugenda River and arrived at Metarica . One of the battalions dispatched towards the Mecula Mountain in search of food had to fight a fierce battle with the Portuguese. Witnesses to this battle are seen in the form of a few graves on the hill slopes at Mecula, the district capital of Niassa. Lugenda River Valley, formed by the river, is part of the rich ecological corridor comprising the Messalo and Rurumana Lugenda, Messalo and Rumana rivers, which form

1020-584: The Makanjila), in Kilwa Kivinje in 1895. On the other hand, by 1893, Harry Johnston , with his British forces, was able to declare that he had practically conquered all the Makanjila territory on the shores of Lake Nyasa . In 1890, King Machemba issued a declaration to Commander Hermann von Wissmann , stating that he was open to trade but not willing to submit to German authority. After further engagements, however,

1071-582: The Mtwara Corridor Spatial Development Initiative. This project titled “A new development corridor” as a four country initiative (to benefit Malawi , Mozambique, the northern and eastern provinces of Zambia , and the southern regions of the United Republic of Tanzania ) in the heart of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) was launched in 2004 signed under a legal framework that should make

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1122-493: The Mtwara Development Corridor a reality and improve the lives of the people who live in these four countries. The initiative to build this bridge, across the Ruvuma River at Negomano, also known as the "Unity Bridge 1" began in 1975. However, a formal agreement between Tanzania and Mozambique was signed on October 10, 2005. The bridge, as designed by Norconsult, 750 m long, was finally completed in 2010. It

1173-566: The Portuguese were also involved in a large slave trade that transported Bantu African slaves from Mozambique to Brazil. By the late 1800s, the Portuguese Empire was one of the greatest political and economic powers in the world. Portuguese-run agricultural plantations started to expand, offering paid labour to the tribal population, yet the Yao increasingly became poor plantation workers under Portuguese rule. However, they preserved their traditional culture and subsistency agriculture. As Muslims,

1224-549: The Ruvuma River is estimated to be 18 cubic kilometres (4.3 cu mi). Most of the basin area of the river lies in the Niassa Province where the irrigation potential is reported to be 200,000 hectares (490,000 acres). It is a slow-moving river and often appears, as it emerges from the Lake Amaramba, as a lake due to its large expanse of water. The river valley has fertile alluvial soil with good water resources as it

1275-460: The Yao chiefs (who called themselves “ sultans ”) needed scribes who were literate; thus, Islamic teachers were employed. Within the Yao villages, these scribes had a significant impact on the people, offering not only literacy but the social, religious and economic benefits of the Muslim coastal areas. Furthermore, the Yao sultans strongly resisted Portuguese, British, and German colonial rule , which

1326-780: The Yao ended up surrendering to German forces. In Zimbabwe, the Yaos arrived as immigrants and established a society in Mvurwi under the leadership of the Jalisi clan (also known as Chiteleka or Jalasi). They were among the first to bring Islam to Zimbabwe on the Great Dyke Mountain Pass . The Yao also played a major role in the Maji Maji Rebellion in German East Africa. The Yao speak a Bantu language known as Chiyao ( chi- being

1377-673: The Yao people have embraced is syncretized with their traditional, animistic belief systems. The Yao originally lived in northern Mozambique (formerly Portuguese East Africa ); A close look at the history of the Yao people, in Mozambique as a whole, shows that their ethno-geographic center was located in a small village called Chiconono, in the northwestern province of Niassa . The majority of Yao were mainly subsistence farmers, but some were also active as ivory and slave traders. They faced social and political strife with Portugal’s arrival (in today's Niassa Province) and subsequent establishment of

1428-407: The Yao would not withstand domination by the Portuguese, who forcibly offered them a Christian faith-based education, spoken in the Portuguese language. At least 450,000 Yao people live in Mozambique. They largely occupy the eastern and northern part of Niassa province, and form about 40% of the population of Lichinga , the province capital. They keep a number of traditions alive, including following

1479-511: The area can be traced to the southern shores of Lake Malawi who moved into the Rovuma River valley in the medieval period to escape severe drought. Due to its strategical location, a military post was located at Negomano, which was in contact with the town of Meculu . During the Portuguese occupation, two expatriate officers were located in Negomano district to ensure that the local farmers met their quota of cotton production and complied with

1530-435: The bird species found, apart from the rare African pitta . Forty species of fish have been recorded in the river, which sustains a substantial fishing industry providing economic sustenance to the local people. It has a rich population of hippos . Crocodiles are reported in deep pools in the river. Canoe safari is reported to be a success. A new species known as girdle lizard has been recorded. The mountainous forests of

1581-424: The call from their fathers and pass it on to their sons. The chances of finding a beehive were greatly increased when hunters used the traditional call. The study also mentions that the Yao consider adult and juvenile honeyguides to be separate species, and hunters report that the former but not the latter responds to the specific honey-hunting call. The Yao moved into what is now the eastern region of Malawi around

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1632-1034: The class prefix for "language"), with an estimated 1,000,000 speakers in Malawi , 495,000 in Mozambique , and 492,000 in Tanzania . The nationality's traditional homeland is located between the Rovuma and the Lugenda Rivers in northern Mozambique. They also speak the official languages of the countries they inhabit, Swahili in Tanzania, Chichewa and Chitumbuka in Malawi, and Portuguese in Mozambique. and in majorine college mulawa uganda notes published by Karungi Ivan s.2 student at macom mulawa uganda . Illnesses in Yao culture are believed to originate through physical reasons, curses or by breaking cultural taboos. In such situations where illness

1683-400: The command of General Paul Erich von Lettow-Vorbeck , crossed the Ruvuma River at Negomano and entered the Portuguese held Mozambique in search of food for his troops. In December 1917, after crossing the river, the general with his army marched south along the Lugenda River and arrived at Metarica . One of the battalions dispatched towards the Mecula Mountain in search of food had to fight

1734-425: The community of the stated objectives of the project and creating a trust between the community and the administrators of the reserve. When David Livingstone had visited the area in 1858 it had ended his hopes of building a highway. However, a bridge, known as Unity Bridge has been built in the vicinity connecting Mozambique to Tanzania across the river Mourama. It is one of the development projects planned under

1785-533: The defeat of Portuguese Army by the German Army, 550 soldiers were taken prisoners. Negomano was occupied during the war in 1976 when a mine exploded 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from the village. Two soldiers were seriously wounded and had to be flown out by helicopter. The Makonde ethnic tribe is the dominant tribal group residing in the Cabo Delgado Province where Negomano is a village. Mekondes’ have

1836-458: The eastern edge of the river, the camp has dirt roads, fairly well maintained for the purpose of safari tours to facilitate wild life tracking. Canoeing is a popular sport in the river, apart from climbing of the inselbergs in the park area from the "bush fly camps" along the river. There is also a proposal to set up another ecotourism camp on the Lugenda River, about 200 kilometres (120 mi) away from Lichinga . Niassa Reserve , named after

1887-517: The end of civil war in 1992 in Mozambique, community conservation initiatives were launched involving local communities, NGOs, and private sector. One such initiative instituted by the Government of Mozambique was specific to the Niassa Reserve titled the “Niassa Reserve Community-Based Natural Resources Management (CBNRM),” which covered three villages within the reserve namely, Negomano, Mussoma and Naulala . Investment funds and expertise required over

1938-528: The location of the breeding colonies of globally threatened African skimmers . The headwaters of the Lugenda River are in Lakes Chilwa and Chiuta on the border between Mozambique and Malawi , from where the river flows northeast along inferred depressions ultimately joining the Ruvuma River, on the Mozambique / Tanzania border, flowing to the Indian Ocean . The flow contribution from the Lugenda River to

1989-405: The main Ruvuma River system in its lower reaches from the south east, rises near Lake Chilwa, from the small Lake Chiuta (1,700 feet (520 m)). The river flows for a length of 300 kilometres (190 mi) before it joins the Ruvuma River at Negomano village. Its origin is marked by a narrow wooded ridge (a sand bar ridge which is 25 metres (82 ft) high and 9,000 years old)) that separates

2040-552: The period from 2001 to 2005. This project has been reportedly assessed as successful in achieving the framework of defined objectives. The achievements reported are: Establishing community-based organizations; addressing the animal human conflicts issues through training and evolving suitable techniques for reducing such conflicts; creating better knowledge base to the staff operating the programmes with due regard to community sensitivities, develop income generating initiatives such as establishing honey and fishing user groups; appraising

2091-547: The period of project implementation were provided under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in 2001 between the Sociedade para Gestão e Desenvolvimento da Reserva do Niassa (SGDRN) and WWF Southern Africa Regional Office (SARPO). The Norwegian Agency for Development and Cooperation (NORAD) funded the project, which was implemented by WWF Norway and the WWF SARPO , through WWF Mozambique in association with SGDRN, over

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2142-557: The preserve harbour a large number of silver hornbills , buffalo and herds of wild elephants . Black heron , black rough-winged swallow , emerald-spotted dove , green-winged glossy starling , iladadah , little egret , Shelley's francolin , South African pochard , and spot-headed weaver also frequent the area. The Niassa Preserve as such is formed of 95% of the preserve's biomass is vegetation. It has 21 types of plant species and 191 species of trees and shrubs. Yao people (East Africa) The Yao people (or WaYao ) are

2193-400: The preserve in the valley. The Lugenda River and Mecula Mountain are thus the important tourist destinations in Mozambique's northern province. The river has a complex flow pattern. It flows in the westerly direction through "Pandanus palm-braided channels". On the east, its flow is through rocky gorge with the entire river vanishing into "slot canyons" displaying broad sandy waterways. This is

2244-418: The province where it is situated, covers an area of 45,000 square kilometres (17,000 sq mi). It has the endemic Johnston's impala , Niassa wildebeest and Boehm's zebra . The reserve also has wild dogs and 800 to 1000 lions. It has 400 species of birds, out of which four species are globally threatened. Taita falcon , southern banded snake-eagle , African skimmer and Starling's woodpecker are

2295-585: The southern coast of Tanzania in 1888, when the German East Africa Company officials attempted to take control of the coastal areas previously under the Sultan of Zanzibar . The Yao continued to defend their lucrative trade route from the Makanjila domains in southern Nyasa to Kilwa Kivinje over the following years, leading to the execution of one of the more prominent raiders, Hassan bin Omari (an associate of

2346-455: The standards set by the senior bureaucrats in the capital, Lourenco Marques ( Maputo ). Germans who had colonial designs on Mozambique, particularly its northern region, by diplomatic coercion had obtained border concessions from Portugal by annexing the mouth of the Rovuma River and even established their commune at Quionga . This ambition got a boost during the World War I when they launched

2397-514: The swamps on the southern side of Chuta Lake from the Lake Chilwa. The stream at the outlet of the Lake Amaramba is about 80 metres (260 ft) wide. It is a swampy water body between its origin from the Chitwa Lake and Lake Amaramba. Mount Mecula (1,441 metres (4,728 ft)) is the central mountain in the valley. The mountain is rich in vegetation and is considered an important botanical area of

2448-414: The wild greater honeyguide birds to find honey. They will, ultimately, smoke the bees out from the beehive, collect the honey and leave behind the wax for the honeyguide birds, whom relish the treat along with any honeybee larvae they find. A 2016 study of the Yao honey-hunters in northern Mozambique showed that the honeyguides responded to the traditional brrrr-hmm call of the honey-hunters. Hunters learn

2499-559: Was formally inaugurated on May 12, 2010, by the presidents of Mozambique and Tanzania. This bridge will be a forerunner for the projects planned under the Mtwara Corridor. It also reduces the distance along the Cape to Cairo Road. The main place of entry into Negomano on the Mozambique side is via a dirt road to the south east, which connects to the nearest major town of Mueda , which is linked by air via Mueda Airport . The town of Lugenda

2550-450: Was in direct competition with the hugely-influential Muslim political forces of Somali, Swahili, the Ottomans, Mughals and Yemeni Sufi orders (to a limited extent), plus the increasing Ibadi influences (from independent Southeastern Arabia). The spice route and Christian evangelization were the main driving forces behind Portuguese expansion in the region. However, later in the 19th century,

2601-471: Was viewed as a major cultural, political and economic (as well as personal) threat. The British tried to stop the ivory and slave trade, attacking some of the Yao trade caravans near the coast. The Yao chief Mataka rejected Christianity, as Islam offered them a social system which would seamlessly assimilate their traditional culture. With the prominence of the chiefs turning to Islam, their conversion influenced their subjects to do likewise. The folk Islam which

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