This range is named after an ancient East African trading port where merchants and travellers wearing copper bangles exchanged ivory, gold and exotic luxuries on the southern shores of what was then known as the Sea of Zanj. Sofala was established in the 8th (ish) century and lay on the coast of present-day Mozambique, a one hundred and seventy-hour walk (as recorded in 1531) from the gold mines and great capital of Munhumutapa. It is thought to have been the oldest harbour in southern Africa.
