Dad was fortunate enough to get assigned as a tour escort for Discover Maputo in Mozambique, and I got to tag along! The tour was great, mostly because our tour guide was very witty! Abdul took us first to the train station. The train station is one of the primary ways to get to South Africa, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe from Maputo. Interestingly, there are rumors that Eiffel built the train station, partly because of the iron work in the roof, and also because there is another building in Maputo that Eiffel definitely built. The train station has a very unique entrance with a deep green roof and white walls.
After the train station, Abdul took us to the Fortaleza or the fortress. Inside, there are many military artifacts and a statue of the Portuguese officer who arrested the last emperor of Mozambique. The exhibits tell the history of the Maputo using wooden figurines. We also got to walk up to the top of the fortress walls to see a view of the city.
From the train station, we went to Independence Square, home to the city hall building, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, and a huge statue of the first president, Samora Machel. If you continue walking down the road a little bit, you come to the Iron House- built by Eiffel, and the Tunduru Botanical Gardens.
After the square, Abdul took us to the craft market. Dad and I set out to find tshirts and small trinkets to take home. We had to negotiate prices at every booth because as Abdul said, “there is a local price and a tourist price.” We only had thirty minutes at the market, but we managed to grab everything we wanted! One thing I thought while at the market was that yes, the rude American stereotype exists for a reason and is rightly earned in many cases, but I also wonder how often that stereotype is forced upon us in some countries because the people who accost you in the street to buy their products refuse to accept your “no thank you” the first five times.
Next, we headed to a buffet lunch at the Polana Serena Hotel. From our table we could see the ocean and some of the coastline. Lunch was fantastic, and after time to walk around and take pictures, we got back on the bus and headed for the ship. When we arrived, we quickly got ready because Dad had a show at 5:30pm. After the show, we had dinner one last time with Mark Paul before he gets off the ship in Durban, South Africa and caught an amazing sunset. Tomorrow we are in Richard’s Bay, South Africa!
Global Gal 