Maputo
I loved Maputo. It was, as Ben, a guy I knew from Mchinji who I bumped into on the street, said, "a proper city." I couldn't agree more.
I wasn't until there that I realized how lacking Malawi was with culture. There wasn't anything distinct about any of the places I saw, and certainly not of the cities. Granted, my experience there is somewhat limited, but the feeling that Malawi's cities weren't anything to write home about was pretty universal from what I heard from other people.
I think a couple of things really made a difference:
1. Maputo felt very European, with sidewalk cafes, tons of small shops and groceries, and lots of European-style food.
The Portuguese influence is still really strong in Mozambique. By extension, Portugal is a bit bolder and livelier than the UK.
1a. There was also character from its colonial past, mostly in the form of old buildings that are now run-down and uninhabited. But the character and architecture of the buildings, as well as the sense of prior glory days, just gave the feeling that there was a really interesting history to the city.
2. It was walkable. It was a great feeling to be able to leave the place where I was staying and just walk to explore the city. There was no such thing in Lilongwe--a vehicle was essential anywhere beyond Old Town.
3. It was noticeably wealthier than Lilongwe. There was a shopping center, and some really ritzy parts of the city.
4. It was on the water, which can never hurt adding natural beauty to a city.
I spent the first and last days just exploring; the last was with Simon who came in from Malawi to do some work and move his way up the coast. I found this French-Mozambique cultural center, which was from where I made the earlier post, and went to a dance concert one night. Simon and I went to the saturday crafts market, then to the museum of the revolution (dated, and only in portuguese, but still kind of interesting), and finally to this weird area that was part amusement park and part collection of bars and restaurants.
The second day I was there, I went out to Inhaca, an island about 40kms off the coast. There's a ferry there and back everyday, which leaves with the tide (read=early). The guidebook had some warning about this, but only general guidance. I got down there about 30 minutes prior and the boat had just started to move away. The guys at the end of the dock asked if I was going to Inhaca, I said yes, they said, "run!" I literally had to leap onto the boat, and was definitely glad to have made it.
The ride out was a little rough, so I and a number of others got sick along the way. At one point, I'm not sure if I was actually sick or just nauseous from the smell of a government ferry bathroom and the smells that go along with a boat full of people being sick over the same moving toilet. It wasn't a very pleasant ride, that's for sure.
We finally get there, which basically means anchoring a bit off shore and taking these small motorboat taxis up to the pier. Like most everything else in terms of transportation, it was completely packed, looking like a clip on the tv news of refugees in a boat. We got up to the bridge/dock thing, I got off and started wandering around. Someone directed me toward town, and I just started walking some more. I hadn't really made distinct plans of what to do while there, so I was pretty content just to hang out and sit by the beach all day. That is, until this 16 year old kid offered to be a guide. I really didn't want to pay anyone to lead me around or get scammed, but it ended up being totally worth it. He claimed that this lighthouse was only an hour and a half away, so we walked there. Or, in that direction. Through swampy areas, and little areas where there were all these hermit crabs. It was a beautiful walk. We didn't quite make it there, and I was worried about missing the ferry back, so I wanted to get back in good time. He knew someone who had a bike nearby where we were that I could rent for $10. (I loved it--if you have money and need to get something done, it'll happen somehow or another). He directed me back toward town, which was mostly, "follow the other bike tracks and always go to the right." i made it back there no problem, got a quick lunch and was back on the ferry to sleep the whole way back to Maputo. We arrived just in time for the sunset, which was amazing over the harbor. I'll post some pictures soon.
I also spent one day at the inn where I was staying just working on my trip report. There was a great view from the dining table, which conveniently was the only outlet in the place, so I just plugged in and worked from early morning until 8. I was glad to have taken the time to get a good draft done then and be able to breathe a bit now that I'm back.
All in all, it was an excellent trip and idea to wrap up my time in Africa. A good change from Malawi, one I didn't know I needed until I was finally elsewhere. And in retrospect, it was actually a good transition back to life here.
I loved Maputo. It was, as Ben, a guy I knew from Mchinji who I bumped into on the street, said, "a proper city." I couldn't agree more.
I wasn't until there that I realized how lacking Malawi was with culture. There wasn't anything distinct about any of the places I saw, and certainly not of the cities. Granted, my experience there is somewhat limited, but the feeling that Malawi's cities weren't anything to write home about was pretty universal from what I heard from other people.
I think a couple of things really made a difference:
1. Maputo felt very European, with sidewalk cafes, tons of small shops and groceries, and lots of European-style food.
The Portuguese influence is still really strong in Mozambique. By extension, Portugal is a bit bolder and livelier than the UK.
1a. There was also character from its colonial past, mostly in the form of old buildings that are now run-down and uninhabited. But the character and architecture of the buildings, as well as the sense of prior glory days, just gave the feeling that there was a really interesting history to the city.
2. It was walkable. It was a great feeling to be able to leave the place where I was staying and just walk to explore the city. There was no such thing in Lilongwe--a vehicle was essential anywhere beyond Old Town.
3. It was noticeably wealthier than Lilongwe. There was a shopping center, and some really ritzy parts of the city.
4. It was on the water, which can never hurt adding natural beauty to a city.
I spent the first and last days just exploring; the last was with Simon who came in from Malawi to do some work and move his way up the coast. I found this French-Mozambique cultural center, which was from where I made the earlier post, and went to a dance concert one night. Simon and I went to the saturday crafts market, then to the museum of the revolution (dated, and only in portuguese, but still kind of interesting), and finally to this weird area that was part amusement park and part collection of bars and restaurants.
The second day I was there, I went out to Inhaca, an island about 40kms off the coast. There's a ferry there and back everyday, which leaves with the tide (read=early). The guidebook had some warning about this, but only general guidance. I got down there about 30 minutes prior and the boat had just started to move away. The guys at the end of the dock asked if I was going to Inhaca, I said yes, they said, "run!" I literally had to leap onto the boat, and was definitely glad to have made it.
The ride out was a little rough, so I and a number of others got sick along the way. At one point, I'm not sure if I was actually sick or just nauseous from the smell of a government ferry bathroom and the smells that go along with a boat full of people being sick over the same moving toilet. It wasn't a very pleasant ride, that's for sure.
We finally get there, which basically means anchoring a bit off shore and taking these small motorboat taxis up to the pier. Like most everything else in terms of transportation, it was completely packed, looking like a clip on the tv news of refugees in a boat. We got up to the bridge/dock thing, I got off and started wandering around. Someone directed me toward town, and I just started walking some more. I hadn't really made distinct plans of what to do while there, so I was pretty content just to hang out and sit by the beach all day. That is, until this 16 year old kid offered to be a guide. I really didn't want to pay anyone to lead me around or get scammed, but it ended up being totally worth it. He claimed that this lighthouse was only an hour and a half away, so we walked there. Or, in that direction. Through swampy areas, and little areas where there were all these hermit crabs. It was a beautiful walk. We didn't quite make it there, and I was worried about missing the ferry back, so I wanted to get back in good time. He knew someone who had a bike nearby where we were that I could rent for $10. (I loved it--if you have money and need to get something done, it'll happen somehow or another). He directed me back toward town, which was mostly, "follow the other bike tracks and always go to the right." i made it back there no problem, got a quick lunch and was back on the ferry to sleep the whole way back to Maputo. We arrived just in time for the sunset, which was amazing over the harbor. I'll post some pictures soon.
I also spent one day at the inn where I was staying just working on my trip report. There was a great view from the dining table, which conveniently was the only outlet in the place, so I just plugged in and worked from early morning until 8. I was glad to have taken the time to get a good draft done then and be able to breathe a bit now that I'm back.
All in all, it was an excellent trip and idea to wrap up my time in Africa. A good change from Malawi, one I didn't know I needed until I was finally elsewhere. And in retrospect, it was actually a good transition back to life here.
Labels: maputo, mozambique, travel
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