Princess Cruises - Maputo Mozambique Africa.

Princess Cruises - Maputo Mozambique Africa.

Beautiful calm easy and a great sunset on the Indian Ocean.

After leaving the Seychelles we have three days at sea heading in a south westerly direction sailing parallel to the Mozambique (African) coast through the straits of Comoros which separates the large island of Madagascar from Africa. Here we experience much rougher conditions with higher seas, strong head on currents and strong tides - therefore our arrival in our next port of call - Maputo is a lot later than expected.

The local sailboats come to greet us.

They are so small compared to a big cruise liner.

Our sail-in is well after the sun has risen and many traditional sailboats come out to great us as we get our first view of the panoramic city of Maputo. It is a much more substantial and modern city than I had expected. The Sun Princess will be docking at a pier in the historic older area of Maputo.

There has been a lot of negative talk about our personal safety if we choose to venture ashore in this Third World Country, so many passengers have chosen to stay aboard. We did have a shuttle bus booked to take us into the newer parts of Maputo but because of our late arrival (and also because it is a Sunday) the shuttle buses have been cancelled- so our only choice is to do our own walking tour of the older area. (minus our watches and jewellery)

Maputo is the capital of Mozambique which is one of the poorest and most undeveloped countries in the world. A lot of Maputo’s infrastructure and architecture was destroyed during the nearly thirty years of war that began with the Portuguese independence movement in 1962 and continued after independence in 1975. A peace treaty was signed in 1992 officially bringing the war to an end. Today the city is slowly recreating some of its former glory.

After leaving the port area the first historic building we come to is the old Train Station which was built in 1908- 1910. It is a Grand Old Station with wonderful architecture and two trains sitting in the station waiting to depart later in the day. Here we meet an absolutely charming station hand named Innocents – who is so pleased to chat to us and tell us all about the station he is so proud of. Outside the station there are lots of locals waiting for buses, operating small food stalls or trying to sell their craft items to passengers coming from the ship. It is very busy and you really do need to have your wits about you as you jostle through the crowd.

The Elegant Old Train Station.

Statue in front of the Train Station.

 
 

Allan at the Train Station on the platform.

The Station Worker who told us all about the station.

A family waiting at the station.

Street stalls at the bus stop.

he old area is very run down and dirty, and positioned about every 100 mts along the road, sits a police man or security person on a dilapidated chair watching and making sure everyone is doing the right thing. The streets are fairly deserted as it is Sunday. The local market is closed as are all the shops. There are small groups of people out walking and enjoying the sun. They are all meticulously clean, cheerful, well dressed and more than happy to smile and say hello. At no time do we feel threatened or fearful for our safety.

The local Mosque.

We pass many interesting buildings including the local mosque, the central market, remains of beautiful old buildings that were damaged during the war, banks, the Old Iron House - eventually ending up at the botanical gardens. Here we do a little trading for a few locally made Mozambique craft products before spending time sitting and relaxing in the gardens.

The Maputo Botanical Gardens.

fter this we head up the hill to the neo-classical Maputo City Hall with its huge statue of the country’s first president, Samoa Machel and the nearby gleaming white Catholic Cathedral. The streets up in this area are very wide and lined with tropical trees with bright red flowers. It is a perfect Sunday afternoon and after being out for about three hours we head back to the ship for a nice cold drink - very happy that we had made the effort to go and explore a bit of Maputo

Maputo City Hall.

The red tropical flowers that lined the streets.