Attracted by the rumours of pearls in the 1700s, the Portuguese established the capital city of Lourenço Marques, or Maputo as it I’d known today, located in the southern corner of the country. It soon became one of the more stylish cities in Africa, with broad avenues lined with jacaranda and acacia trees, sidewalks paved with mosaics, tall buildings and a unique Mediterranean/African atmosphere that attracted a wealthy cosmopolitan crowd. The civil war (1977-1992) left the city in a state of disrepair and although still tainted by shabbiness, Maputo is slowly recovering to some form of its former glory, and today the bustling capital reveals many Portuguese style colonial buildings, and offers culture and its old world charm.
The Fort of Maputo is the most popular attraction in the city. Built between 1851 and 1867, the Fort stands on the original site of the mud and pole stockade. The Fort itself is no longer on the waterfront and seems to be a bit hidden amongst all the surrounding buildings. Other sites to see include the train station, designed by Eiffel of Eiffel Tower fame, the Central Market and the Botanical graders. All these sites are within walking distance of where the ship is docked. A bit further afield is the Feima Market (large Handicraft market) and the History of Natural museum. These could be within the walking distance area but not today as the temperature hit the 36 degree Celsius mark. Our ship had a shuttle bus to the Feima Market, very nice of HAL. The market is worth a visit.
So with this temperature in mind, we jumped onto the shuttle to the Feima Market and did enjoy a good hour and a half wondering the many stalls of the craft people selling their wares. This is definitely worth a visit to buy very reasonably priced of just about everything. Six foot giraffes, to key chains, t shirts and all points in between. Our original plan was to walk back to the ship from here and hitting a few of the points of interest but with this heat we choose to jump back onto the shuttle and then hit a few from there, a much better call. We walked the few blocks to the Central Market and then did a quick loop around to the train station for a walk by pic. It was now about 1pm, so with a 2:30 early all aboard time we made our way back to the ship. We needed to get back and pack for our long awaited Safari for tomorrow.
Only a few pics of our day, tomorrow is a big day. Hope you enjoy…
Quote of the day, “The greatest moment in human life, methinks, is a departure into unknown lands.” - Sir Richard Burton
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