Maputo, Mozambique
Mar. 8, 2023
Our next port after Reunion was to be Madagascar, but Cyclone Freddy forced our Captain to avoid Madagascar and sail ahead to Maputo, Mozambique. This was a disappointment to us because we wanted to see lemurs, which only exist in the wild in Madagascar. At any rate, there are many interesting sites in Maputo. As usual, I’ll begin with some geographic and historical information about the country.
Maputo, formerly (until 1976) Lourenço Marques (named after a Portuguese explorer who first explored the region in 1544), is a port city and capital of Mozambique. It lies along the north bank of Espírito Santo Estuary of Delagoa Bay, an inlet of the Indian Ocean. Maputo derived its former name from the Portuguese trader who first explored the region in 1544. The town developed around a Portuguese fortress completed in 1787. Created a city town in 1887, it superseded the town of Moçambique as the capital of Portuguese East Africa in 1907.
Maputo has a healthful climate, tempered by sea breezes. The city has a natural history museum and a university (1962). Its fine bathing beaches made it a popular resort for white South Africans and Rhodesians before Mozambique became independent in 1975; thereafter, revenues from tourism, once a major economic factor, virtually ended.
The port, one of the most important in East Africa, before independence handled trade from the mines and industries of South Africa, Swaziland, and Rhodesia, with which it has rail and road connections. After the frontier with Rhodesia was closed, and as Mozambique–South African relations became increasingly strained, the port suffered. Most of the city’s infrastructure and architecture was destroyed during the nearly thirty years of war that began with the Independence movement in 1962 and continued after independence was gained. A peace treaty was signed in 1992 bringing the war to an end. Today the city is slowly re-creating some of its former glory.
Local industries include brewing, shipbuilding and repair, fish canning, iron working, and the manufacture of cement, textiles, and other goods.
The population of Maputo in 2018 was about 1.19 million.
Leaving the harbor, it is a short drive for a brief visit to the beautiful railroad station — an architectural highlight of Maputo. It was built in 1910 and designed by engineer Alfredo Augusto de Lima. The remarkable bronze dome, crafted especially for the building, was constructed in South Africa and its assembly was an innovation for that time.
The Maputo Central Market offers a glimpse of how the locals barter for goods and food.
Next, we headed to Maputo Fort, one of the most visited attractions in the city. It was originally built in 1721 but was destroyed and rebuilt by many people, on several different occasions.
A focal point in the city is the Praça de Independencia, or Independence Square. Around it are statues of the country’s first President, Samora Machel, the gleaming white Roman Catholic cathedral, neo-Classical City Hall and the French-Mozambican cultural center. The latter is a splendid old colonial building which has been tastefully restored and now presents art exhibitions.
Tomorrow we’ll head to Durban, South Africa where we’ll visit a Zulu village. (I’m learning a few Zulu words to prepare.)
