Mozambique: Off to Maputo - Back to Africa!

Tuesday, February 4, 2025

This morning I had to pack my bags and prepare for my departure from both Amsterdam and Europe in general. It was time for me to embark on the next phase of this months-long journey and I was filled with feelings of excitement and trepidation. I was going to visit several new countries over the next few weeks in both mainland Africa and in the islands off of the east coast of the continent.

After packing my bags, I went to the Starbucks at the train station next to the hotel so I could hang out for a little bit before heading to the airport. Thankfully the train ride from the station was direct and took only 20 minutes. I was flying to Maputo in Mozambique today and I had to reschedule my flights a few weeks earlier due to the original airline making some drastic schedule changes.

My flight departed at 15:00 and flew to Doha, Qatar, where I had a two-hour layover. My original flight was supposed to be with Kenya Airlines with a layover in Nairobi, but my new flight was with Qatar Airways. I think the new flights ended up being better than the ones I had originally booked. Upon landing in Doha, I had to make a very long walk through the airport to reach the gate for my connecting flight.

At 01:05 my next flight departed for Maputo!

 
Wednesday, February 5, 2025

Country 132: Mozambique

I managed to get some sleep during the eight hour flight, which was good because I was mostly rested by the time we landed in Maputo. We arrived on time at 08:00 and I then had to make my way through passport control. Mozambique does a visa on arrival for Americans, which made visiting all the easier. I paid the $10 fee for my multiple-entry visa and then went to collect my bag. Once I had my bag, I went outside to meet up with the driver for my hotel transfer. The hotel had arranged for the pickup, which alleviated the stress of having to find a taxi and negotiating a price (which I hate doing!).

The drive to the hotel took about half an hour and I enjoyed getting to see some of the city during the ride. I was surprised to see many streets named after various communist leaders – something I’d not seen outside of the countries of the former USSR! My hotel in Maputo was the Melia and it was located in a nice part of town, right next to a supermarket and there was a restaurant on the first floor. Even though I arrived early in the morning, I was able to check in to my room right away. The staff were all very friendly and welcoming. I went up to the room to rest and freshen up for a bit. The weather was dramatically different from Europe – I had gone from frigid winter weather to hot summer temperatures!

As this was my only free day in Maputo itself, I had arranged to take a walking tour of the city in the afternoon. The meeting point for the tour was at the nearby Cathedral of Maputo, so I set off from the hotel at 13:30 to walk over and meet the guide. The streets were quite busy and I enjoyed getting to experience more of this bustling city. When I arrived at the cathedral I was a bit confused about where exactly to meet the tour guide. The area directly in front of the cathedral was a large square that was lined with trees, but there wasn’t a spot that seemed like a logical meeting point. I looked for some shade under the trees and looked around for the guide. The guide, Calisto, arrived a few minutes later and found me quite easily.

The first stop of the tour was inside the cathedral. It is built on top of a small hill, which makes the bright white stone edifice easily seen from around the city. It reminded me somewhat of the Mormon temple in Denver more than a Catholic cathedral. The interior was modest, though it was undergoing some restoration work, so there were parts that were closed. Calisto then took me over to the city hall, which is just across the street from the cathedral. It’s a very pretty colonial-style building that has some exhibits in the lobby for visitors. The exhibits had scale models of the city from over the years, showcasing how it had changed and grown. An impressive staircase led up to the official offices in the building, which we could not enter, but there were some pretty stained glass windows over the stairs that I could admire.

Directly in front of the city hall is the Praça da Independência (Independence Square). During the Portuguese colonial period, a statue of one of the Portuguese governs had stood in the center of the square, but this had been replaced by a statue of Samora Machel, the first president of Mozambique. I would see the original statue of the government later in the day when I visited the old city fort.

Calisto took me on a walk through the city as we made our way towards the port. Along the way we stopped to admire some of the colonial-era buildings, including the Iron House. It was originally built in Belgium, but the Portuguese purchased it and shipped it to Maputo. It is made entirely of iron metal, which made the interior of the building excessively hot. It was never inhabited, but rather used to host various national institutions. Our route also took us through the central market, where all manner of produce was available to buy.

When we reached the port area, we walked over to the train station where a small museum about the country’s train system is located. There were several old trains on display, complete with passenger cars, that we got to walk through and explore. The station building itself is one of the prettiest in the city and is another leftover from the colonial period. Nowadays the trains do not cover much of the country and it is not the most practical method of traveling for locals or tourists.

The final stop of the city tour was at the old city fortress. The 18th century fort was built by the Portuguese to protect the city and has now been converted into a small museum. It is not a very large fortress, but one can still see several cannons on display and the old stone walls are intact, allowing visitors to get a proper feel for the place. Inside there is a large central court that is wide open, with small buildings around the walls where the museum’s displays are located. Off to one side of the courtyard is the equestrian statue of Mouzinho de Albuquerque, the former Portuguese governor, which once stood in the independence square. I was surprised to learn that the Dutch had originally claimed this area and built a small fort there, before being driven out by the English. Even more surprising was that the Austrians built a new fort there in the late 1700s before they too were driven out, this time by the Portuguese!

In total, the city tour had lasted around three hours and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute with Calisto. He was a very friendly, knowledgeable and outgoing person who provided me with so much information and history about both Maputo and Mozambique. The country has gone through many difficult periods, especially after their independence, and he was happy to freely discuss everything with me during our time together.

Once we left the fort, Calisto walked with me for a few blocks before pointing out the most direct route back to my hotel. I stopped at the supermarket to get some snacks and drinks before heading back to my hotel room. I relaxed in the blessed air conditioning for a while in the early evening. For dinner tonight, I decided to be easy and eat at the hotel restaurant. The menu was small, but the daily special sounded good: chicken with potatoes. It was tasty and quite filling!

I went to bed early this evening since I was both tired from the long walk through the city and also slightly jetlagged from my flight. I also needed to get some rest because I had a very early start in the morning.