Venilale

Venilale sits in the highlands south of Baucau, a small town with the striking Escola do Reino de Venilale, an old school, a church and a scatter of old buildings along the road, and several caves cut into the hillside in the 1940s. The name is explained from the local Midiki language as cold inside, and the Portuguese came up here to escape the heat of Baucau; around the town lie rice terraces worked with water buffalo, hot springs and a natural bridge, and the old police station, a raised building in the centre, now holds a tourist information centre. The country is noticeably cooler than the coast below.

Background

The town, once called Vila Viçosa, lies about 30 km south of Baucau and is the seat of the administrative post of Venilale, made up of eight sucos, or groups of villages. Most people farm for themselves, growing rice in the terraces as well as bananas, peanuts, coffee, copra, corn and vegetables, and keeping pigs, goats and chickens. Markets are held in town on Wednesdays and Saturdays, with another on Fridays in the village of Bercoli, and people walk for hours to sell their produce. The post has five public health clinics and fourteen primary schools, four public and ten Catholic, and a Catholic orphanage in town runs a maternal health clinic; the nearest major hospital is in Baucau.

Source: Wikipedia, "Venilale"

Highlights

• The Escola do Reino - the town's striking old school.
• The hillside caves - the tunnels cut into the rock in the 1940s.
• The old buildings - the scatter of period fabric along the road.
• The highland setting - terraced green country cooler than the coast.

When to go

May to November is the dry season and the roads are best. The rains from December make the drive slower. Nights at this altitude are cool.

Before you go

The caves are unlit and unmaintained; a torch is needed and care with footing. Several old buildings are in poor repair. Facilities are basic.

Nearby

Baucau is north, and Ossu is south.

Key facts