Day 37/137
Maputo, Mozambique
This morning, we pulled up the dock in Maputo just about 09:00. Excursions began at 10:00 with those people going overland on Safari getting off first. We’re in no hurry because we just have to be off the ship by 3:30, before it sails away. Yes, we are leaving the world cruise to go to Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana. We are spending the night in Maputo at the Radisson Blu, then taking a plane in the early morning all the way to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.
This morning we have a two-and-half hour walking tour of Maputo. There are several excursions going out. Many of them look to have the same itinerary. Some are walking like our others are on a motor coach. Now it is a bit curious as to why a motor coach would be involved.
Our excursion begin was walking off the pier and out the entrance of the shipping area. We hang a left out the gate and walk down the street. We are back to litter and unpleasant smells. The first stop is at the Central Railway Station. It was constructed between 1908 and 1916 in the Beaux-Arts style. It is said to be the third most beautiful train station in the world. No, have no idea what number 1 and 2 are.
The final plans provided for a building that was architecturally inspired by the main terminus in Johannesburg, but with a grander façade. The long, metal railway platform was inaugurated on 19 March 1907. Construction on the building began in 1908. The project was overseen by the firm Buccellato e Irmão.
The station was built of baked brick and cement, and was inaugurated on 19 March 1910, in an informal ceremony attended by Governor-General Alfredo Augusto Freire de Andrade. Work on the building resumed in 1913 with a project to adorn the facade and construct the dome. The dome, often incorrectly attributed to Gustave Eiffel, was in fact designed by José Ferreira da Costa.
Production of the dome was done in South Africa. Originally it was supposed to be done in the United Kingdom, however due to difficulties imposed by the ongoing World War I at the time, South Africa won out. The ornamentation of the building's facade was designed and executed by Pietro Buffa Buccellato. The second phase of construction, including the new dome and facade, was completed in 1916. On 19 March 2010, the Central Railway Station celebrated its centenary in a ceremony attended by President Armando Guebuza.
It reminds one a little of Victoria Station in London due to all the iron work. It really isn’t all that big. It is Sunday so it is completely quite here. No trains running today. They have lots of photos showing the construction steps and how crowded the station is on a normal working day. Interesting, pretty, but No. 3? That may take some research.
After that we leave the station and walk to and then past Jamba Masjid. It may be the oldest Muslim Mosque in Africa built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan between 1644 and 1656. We are only allowed to look at the outside. It is nice. What else can one say when you only see the outside.
Walking to it did require maneuvering around a few street walkers, and people sleeping on the sidewalk. The street is empty for the most part. A guy washing his car with a two-liter bottle of water. No probably not drinking water. The sidewalk is ok for the most part, but then every once in a while, it isn’t there.
From here we walk a couple more blocks to the Central Market. Again, it is Sunday. About a third to half the stall are even open. Most of the small shops around and attached to the market aren’t open. It is a fruit and vegetable market today. Oh, there was one trinket stand open, and about thirty hawkers trying to sell you trinkets. The fruits and vegetables looked nice, but eating one without cooking probably isn’t the right thing to do.
We pass a couple places where scents from Blood Diamond were filmed. Haven’t see the movie so there is nothing to common on. They were probably nothing more than backdrops. If you cleaned it up a little it it could be New Orleans. There are a number of nice looking, but run down, buildings with iron balconies and porticos, much like New Orleans.
Next, we stopped at Taverna Doce for a soft drink or coffee and a pastry. You may think we misspelled Dolce (sweet in Italian) but we didn’t Doce is sweet in Portuguese. And Tavern or Taverna is the same in both languages. When we first saw it we thought it was Italian. Had an Italian look about it. Pastelaria is pastry shop in Portuguese; and it is Pasticceria in Italian, so you can see our confusion. Not exactly use what the pastry was. It was a light flakey pastry dough filled with a cream custard and topped with a blueberry compote. It doesn’t really matter it was very good.
After this we walked on a little further to Fort Maputo. The original structure on this site was a fortified trading post built by the Dutch from Cape Town. They brought a contingent of 113 men in April 1791. They built a wooden fort, with a pentagon plan called Fort Lijdzaamheid. Six months later half of them were dead many victims of malaria. Yes, we are taking our malaria pills. They were resupplied and reinforced from the Cape Town by the ships Zeelandia and Uno, bringing 72 more men and supplies, the scenario did not change.
Like the rest of the history of this region, on the morning of April 11, 1722, three English pirate ships under the command of Captain George Taylor, operating in the waters of the Mozambique Channel, entered Maputo Bay, pursued by four ships of the East India Company. The pirates, with 900 men, took the Dutch trading post in April 1722. The post was raised to the ground by the English, who in June two months later gave up and departed.
Couple years later, in 1777, the Austrians the São José Fort. No reason why the name is Portuguese. In March 1781, by a Portuguese expedition coming from Goa under the command of Lieutenant- Colonel Joaquim Godinho de Mira, aboard the frigate "Sant'Anna" took over. It was Portuguese finally.
Forte de Nossa Senhora da Conceição de Lourenço Marques came into existence. In a few years, the first stone-and-lime houses began to be built next to the fort, including the famous Casa Amarela, which currently houses the National Currency Museum. In 1785 the fort was attacked by warriors of the Tembe chiefdom, but were repulsed with aid of the Matola chief. The fort was later rebuilt, 1791, by Captain António José Teixeira Tigre.
This fortification was a quadrangular plan surrounded by a moat. Let’s see, in 1791 the French captured and looted the fort. To recover the lost position, a small detachment was sent from the Fortress of São Sebastião under the command of Lieutenant-aide Luís José, aboard the pala Minerva. So in 1799 it was now Portuguese again.
Around 1946, in the context of the Centenary celebrations, the fort was restored over the foundations of the original one, proceeding with the conservation of the existing historical tree next to its Gate of Arms (where, according to tradition, the Vátuas had hanged Governor Dionísio Ribeiro, in 1883) and the buildings inside repurposed as the "Historical Museum of Mozambique".
No completely clear as to why, but the remains of Ngungunyane, also known as Mdungazwe Ngungunyane Nxumalo, N'gungunhana, or Gungunhana Reinaldo Frederico Gungunhana, (1850 – 1906) who was a tribal king and vassal of the Portuguese Empire, and who rebelled against the Portuguese, and was defeated by General Joaquim Mouzinho de Albuquerque and lived out the rest of his life in exile, first in Lisbon, but later on the island of Terceira, in the Azores are displayed here. Well his coffin is. Gungunhana, as he is now known, was the last dynastic emperor of the Empire of Gaza, a territory now part of Mozambique. Nicknamed the Lion of Gaza, he reigned from around 1884 to 28 December 1895. Perhaps an attempt to regain some of the African heritage?
The first is interesting as far as forts go. Nice to see some of the history of Africa. Would have been nice to learn more about the Empire of Gaza. There is a lot of Non-European African history we know too little about. The excursion didn’t go beyond walking distance of the port area and probably wasn’t the best presentation of Maputo, but it was what we had time for.
Back at the Mariner we picked up our bags and headed to the cruise terminal. Interestingly they actually seemed prepared to have us leave. The officer checking us off the ship was a little confused, but another office stepped in and said it was ok. They check you off and on so they don’t unknowingly leave someone behind. We said see you in Cape Town and walked to the cruise terminal with our suitcases.
In the cruise terminal we hooked up with a taxi to take us to the Radisson Blu closer to the airport. The ride showed a completely different side of Maputo. Much nicer and very clean. A lot of police vehicles and police officers just standing around. There were security officers at the entrance of most buildings. It isn’t really clear if that was making us feel more or less secure.
The Radisson Blu is right next to Radisson Residences, a complex of what a re probably short term rentals for guest and foreign workers. There was a security gate and officers before you enter the complex. There is a “mall” and Casino next door. We were a little concerned about being able to charge our iPads and phones in Zimbabwe. They use the type G English plug there and, because of the itinerary change, we are unprepared for this.
So we hoof it over the to mall. There is a supermarket and an electronics store, and maybe a few others, but it is Sunday. There is also a cinema here and there must be a party place for children’s parties as evidenced by the children and balloons. Mozambique doesn’t use type G plugs, they use type D. Ugh. The electronics store is no help. So we walk through the supermarket. It more of a Walmart than a supermarket. Not a full sized one but a good sized one. A little bit of everything, including some groceries. A large number of items are solely in Chinese. Which is reflective of the Chinese presence in Africa. But again, no luck on the plugs.
We had asked the bellman where to have dinner. He had pointed to restaurant along the beach front – Restaurante Sagres. Feeling adventurous we decide to walk the couple of blocks from the mall to the restaurant. The restaurant is huge. There is a separate bar area, tables and chairs on the boardwalk on the beach, and a separate dinning room. It hasn’t quite gone 17:00 yet but we get it across that we are interested in having dinner. They seat us in the dinning room, we aren’t alone there are a few others there.
The evening starts with Pina Colada’s. I have the Bife a Portuguesa (Portuguese Steak). Maria has the Espetada de Frango (Chicken Espetada). All this would be fine if we knew what was meant by Espetada or Portuguese steak. Portuguese steak is a sirloin steak which is grilled the fan fried with a garlic and red wine sauce, then a piece of ham and a sunny side up fried egg placed on top. Espetada is a Portuguese term for cooking food on skewers. It is a traditional Portuguese dish. Espetadas can be prepared with different types of meat or fish. Beef and pork are the two most common, however obviously chicken is used here. The skewer includes the meat, bell pepper, onion and chorizo. It is then cooked over an open flame.
The bottom line it was really good. It was a lot of food and we couldn’t eat it all. It was way too cheap, not costing even $50 US. After dinner we walked back to the hotel and hit the silk. There is a 06:00 shuttle to the airport to catch our 07:55 flight to Johannesburg and then on to Victoria Falls.
Buonanotte e Ciao, Enrico & Maria
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