Traditional ceremonies launch Gorongosa Park’s 2025 tourism season.
Top photo – Traditional blessing ceremony, Chitengo, April 2, 2025
Gorongosa National Park has officially opened its doors for the 2025 season, showcasing its breathtaking beauty, and following the rains—transformed into a vibrant, green oasis teeming with life.
The celebrations began on April 2 in Chitengo as the sun filtered through the branches of a sacred Phacassa tree (raintree) which served as the ceremonial site near the park headquarters. Regulo Nhanguo, alongside Regulo Chicare and Rainha Chitengo, led the traditional rites, presenting an offering of flour to the ancestors—a symbolic gesture for a bountiful harvest and a prosperous year ahead.
Two days later, on April 4, the Canda community came together under the guidance of Régulo Júlio Almeida Canda and his family for their annual ceremony. Held beneath a towering tree, the event sought blessings from the spirits for harmony and abundance across Gorongosa National Park’s Sustainable Development Zone.
Both ceremonies were followed by songs, dances and cultural performances honoring the region’s deep-rooted traditions and reinforcing the community’s connection to the land while paying tribute to ancestral wisdom. More than a ritual, these ceremonies embody hope—a collective aspiration for a year of prosperity, unity, and shared success in Gorongosa National Park.
With the park now open, visitors can witness the Gorongosa’s stunning landscapes and the living traditions that sustain its people and wildlife.
Images from the April 2, 2025 ceremony in Chitengo.
Images below from the April 4, 2025 ceremony in Canda.
Story and photo contributors: James Byrne and Samo Jossefa Samo