Mozambique, Africa travel resource.

Mozambique,Africa.

For many years, Mozambique was one of southern Africa's top travel destinations. Sunshine, warm weather and long golden beaches made the country a traveler's paradise. However, a brutal civil war, droughts, famine and dramatic floods reduced the stream of visitors to a trickle. Yet despite the country's woes, a triumphant spirit has prevailed and travelers are again being drawn by Mozambique's many charms. The major attraction is the country's 1,500-mi/2,400-km coastline, which is replete with idyllic beaches, tropical islands, crumbling forts and delicious seafood.
After almost a decade of peace, the country is being rebuilt at a rapid pace. Developers have moved in with ambitious plans to build parks and luxury vacation resorts. And Maputo, the nation's capital, is no longer a devastated shantytown, but a lively city that is on the upswing.
Perhaps the best symbol of this recovery is Maputo's Polana Hotel, once a majestic monument to grand colonial style. Allowed to decay after Mozambique's independence from Portugal in 1975, the Polana has been restored and is now one of the most expensive hotels in Africa. It's the kind of place where arms dealers rub shoulders with World Bank financiers, where Gucci-clad tourists tuck into champagne breakfasts alongside New Zealand sappers on mine-clearance duty.
Although the evidence of recovery is undeniable, the nation's game parks, whose animal populations were almost wiped out during the war (one game park was even used as a rebel base), are still far below the standards of those in neighboring countries.