Postcards from Mozambique
Wildlife and Beautiful Beaches
When and Where: 03/2023 – Maputo
66th Country Visited; 3rd African Country Visited
Interesting Facts:
-
Mozambique has the only national flag with a
modern weapon on it.
-
Mozambique is the only country which is part
of the Commonwealth, that has never been a part of the British Empire.
I arrived in Maputo Mozambique today on the Holland America
Zuiderdam. I played the Bob Dylan song “Mozambique”
in my cabin to start my day. There was a
lot of confusion with immigration and offboarding the ship was delayed. The
good news is that we had a beautifully sunny day.
Once cleared, my tour group “Maputo Sights” offboarded the ship
and boarded our van. The tour guide,
Manuel, spoke amazing English. As a
former colony of Portugal up until 1975, Portuguese is the official
language. Our first stop was the the
Maputo Central Railway Station. The
station links Mozambique with the neighboring countries of South Africa, Eswatini
and Zimbabwe. Having been built in the early
1900’s, the station is somewhat modern and very clean. Disembarking the ship, we were immediately
bombarded with many vendors trying to pedal their wares. It was over the top high-pressure sales. From past experience, I knew not to pick anything
up. Once you have something in your hand
in some third-world countries, the item is considered sold. Walking around, Manuel showed us the modern colonial
style railway system. In 2009, Newsweek
ranked this station as the best in all of Africa. A short distance away, we visited the Central
Market, an open-air bazaar with vendors selling everything from wigs to clothing
and fresh fruit to rotting fish. The
same people that we hounding my group at the train station had also made their
way over to the market. It was quite
annoying as they refused to take “No” for an answer. I brought $10 off the ship along with a
credit card as I didn’t plan on buying things at the market. The Central Market smelled like a mix of
feces, old fish, and sweat.
Next up on our tour was a visit to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the
Immaculate Conception, the largest Catholic Cathedral in Mozambique. Outside the Cathedral were throngs of
protestors. Travelling in the past to
Egypt, I know that tourists should always avoid public protests, particularly
in third-world countries. The protest
was in support of women’s rights given that today is International Woman’s
Day. Although the protest was chaotic, it
was not the least bit threatening. We
walked around the ornate cathedral and Manuel told us about the history of the
Catholic Church in Mozambique. Across
the street from the Cathedral stood a large statue of Samora Michel, the much revered
first President of Mozambique. Again,
the same vendors were harassing the tourists at the Cathedral. Next up, we made a stop at the Museum of Natural
History in Maputo. The main part of the
museum featured various taxidermy animals ripping apart the flesh of other
animals. It was somewhat
disturbing. And in the far corner of the
museum, there was a display of elephant fetuses.
After the museum, we headed to the Feima Market. Feima is an outdoor market for vendors with
local crafts. There was a lot of wood
work, colorful fabrics, and hand painted art.
The vendors at the Feima Market were more aggressive than the previous
vendors we encountered. With high
pressure sales and my lack of ability to haggle prices down, I broke down and bought
a few interesting items with my credit card.
Our final stop before heading to the ship was the Fortress of Maputo, a
fort built to protect the city from foreign invaders. The fort dates back to 1782 and offers great
views of Maputo Bay. In a distance,
Manuel pointed out the Central Bank of Mozambique. Overall, the day was hectic, a bit overwhelming,
but interesting.
Maputo Central Railway Station
Comments