Country #90 for me! We woke up cruising into a big port city of Maputo. We'd been warned how 3rd world and poor Mozambique is but you couldn't tell by me. Of course, we only saw this big and bustling city, but it didn't seem that primitive to me. Anyway, it was hot here again. Just before we left Serenity at 9:15 am there was a big rain downpour. It passed before we left and stayed gone the rest of the day. Lucky. We had air conditioned buses and there were only 14 on our small bus. I'll paste a description of today's tour below. We paid $89 each for it.
EXCURSION
MAPUTO HIGHLIGHTS
Discover a city that is slowly rebuilding itself after years
of war with this introductory excursion, which takes you to Independence
Square, to the bustling marketplace, to the interesting Museum of Natural
History and along the scenic coastal route.
DURATION
APPROXIMATELY 3 HOURS
Depart the pier to begin your city overview, passing the
beautiful railway station. Designed by engineer Alfredo Augusto de Lima, the
station was built between 1908 and 1910 and remains one of the city’s
architectural highlights, featuring a bronze dome constructed in South Africa
and assembled in a way that was innovative for its time.
Continue to Praca de Independencia, or Independence Square,
named for Mozambique’s struggles for independence from Portugal, won in 1975
after over 400 years of colonial rule. Here in the square you will find
landmarks such as the statue of the independent country’s first president,
Samora Machel, the white Roman Catholic church, the neo-classical City Hall, and
the French-Mozambican cultural center, a splendid colonial building that has
been restored and now houses art exhibitions. You will also have the
opportunity to take photos of the weird and wonderful concept of a house made
entirely out of iron – very impractical for the hot African summers.
Following a photo stop, travel to the Museum of Natural
History, which you will have the opportunity to explore. Among its many
interesting artifacts famous for housing the most complete elephant fetus in
the world amongst a host of other interesting artifacts.
Next, head to Maputo marketplace and enjoy some time to
witness the daily life of the locals as they barter for goods and sundries.
From here, continue to the Maputo Fort, one of the most
visited attractions in the city. It was originally built in 1721, though
destroyed and rebuilt on many occasions. It has incredible architecture and
your guide will revive old stories of corsairs and sailors.
Following return to the pier with a transfer of about 15
minutes.
Important Notes:
Guests should be aware that while travel to this part of
Africa can be a rewarding experience, Mozambique is a third-world country and
differs greatly from neighboring South Africa. Some monuments and attractions
guests will see may fall under “military or state defence objects,” which are
not allowed to be photographed. Guests ignoring these rules may run into
serious problems. Guests must therefore ask the advice of tour guides before
taking any pictures. Though care has been taken to obtain the best available
transportation, the quality of motor coaches and other vehicles can vary
considerably. In order to support the local community, local guides are used.
While many guides have previous experience in serving cruise ships, no formal guiding
qualifications are required for Mozambique. Most roads traversed will be paved;
however, there are many with potholes. A number of bumpy dirt roads, which will
be navigated carefully, also may be traveled. Traffic conditions may affect the
tour schedule and duration. As this excursion involves approximately one hour
of walking over sometimes uneven surfaces, it is not recommended for guests
with walking difficulties. It is recommended that guests dress in comfortable
clothing and wear sunscreen, a hat and flat, comfortable shoes. The order of
sights visited may vary.
We did get some souvenir shopping done here. Clay got a t-shirt. I found a patch of the Mozambique flag. I also got a cool piece of batik fabric depicting guinea fowl, the first animal I remember seeing in Africa. I rolled it up to carry it as Clay shopped for a t-shirt and stained my hands! One of the shirt vendors kindly handed me a t-shirt plastic bag to carry the thing!
We got back in time for a late lunch and I ate an entire pizza. We went to the 2:30 pm Hollywood Theater movie, "Pirates of Somalia". It was better than I expected. We decided we liked nothing on Waterside's menu, so we off to Silk tonight.
We sailed from Maputo on schedule. The captain announced that we need to make over 19 knots to make Richard's Bay on our new delayed schedule. We have instruction letters today with our group 3 number for the face to face immigration process starting at 8:30 am tomorrow.
