Quotes of the Day
Friday, Oct. 12, 2001
Bob Dylan once sang: "I like to spend some time in Mozambique/ The sunny sky is aqua blue." Well, the sun has always beat down hard on Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, but until very recently only aid workers and speculative investors spent any time there. Now travellers are starting to trickle back to a city that was once compared to Rio de Janeiro and Cape Town. The reason why tourists have tended to shy away from Mozambique is simple. Until the early 1990s, the country was almost constantly at war — first with its colonial rulers and then with itself.
The future looks brighter now that peace has broken out, but Mozambicans still have a habit of clinging to the past. Maputo Harbor is still littered with the rusting hulks of ships the Portuguese blew up when they fled their former colony over a quarter of a century ago. And everywhere there are reminders of the country’s brief but disastrous flirtation with marxism. Much to the annoyance of Her Majesty’s man in Maputo, the British embassy is situated on Ave. Vladimir Lenine. For years, the Brits have been trying, to no avail, to change the street name to Ave. Winston Churchill, who sought sanctuary in the building as a young journalist escaping the Boers.
With the possible exception of Pyongyang in North Korea, there are few cities left in the world where you can walk from Avenida Mao Tse Tung on to Avenida Kim Il Sung before hitting Avenida Ho Chi Min. Revolutionary slogans — "Down with racism, down with imperialism, long live Frelimo, [the marxist Mozambique Liberation Front that seized power in 1975]" — poke out behind Coke and Benetton adverts. Gaudy wall murals still trumpet Mozambique’s long and bitter struggle for independence.
These days, few people pay any attention to these revolutionary relics because they are too busy enjoying the taste of freedom.
On sunny days, both locals and tourists head out to the white sandy beaches of the Costa do Sol — a palm-fringed strip of sand north of the city. There are better beaches on Mozambique’s 1,500 km coastline — including Macaneta, 40 km away, and Inhaca Island in Maputo harbour — but there are few capital cities in the world where you can sit shelling prawns in the shade of a palm tree just 10 minutes drive from the city center.
Mozambique is famous for its prawns, which are split down the middle, smothered in garlic and slapped on a griddle until the skin sears. The best place to try them in Maputo is the Costa do Sol restaurant on the city’s fringes. But if you are stuck in the center, head for the Feira Popular. This sprawling shanty town is not for the faint hearted — prostitutes and street urchins earn their living from tipsy expats and bemused businessmen — but it is the best place to sample local dishes and rehydrate yourself in one of the former fairground’s 60 bars.
If you’re after something classier, head up to the Polana district where most of the hotels, embassies and European eateries are situated. The Portuguese might not have done much for Mozambique during their 300-year rule, but they certainly left it with some of the finest restaurants in the region. Most of these serve up chicken piri piri — succulent grilled chicken marinated in chilli and lemon — fresh fish and steaks. But for a real taste of Portugal in Africa, it’s better to drop into one of the many pastelerias that spill out onto the tree-lined avenues. From dawn till dusk, bow-tied waiters serve up steaming coffees and sticky pastries, giving the city a distinctly Mediterranean feel.
The Portuguese were keen to create a mini-Lisbon on the Indian Ocean and much of the colonial architecture is still standing. The most interesting example of this is the neo-gothic Cathedral of Our Lady of Conception that rises above Independence Square. Another imposing building on the square is the neo-classical town hall, which still bears the inscription: "Aqui é Portugal" ("Here is Portugal"). Although he never set foot in the city, French architect Gustav Eiffel designed one of Maputo’s other landmarks: the newly refurbished CFM railway station. With its marble arches, wrought iron roof and stuccoed facade, Mozambique’s main station would not look out of place in Paris were it not for the street hawkers selling fresh fish and pineapples outside.
In a few years, the capital could be swarming with South African tourists on weekend breaks. But for the moment, foreigners are still something of a novelty and so get a warm welcome. Next time you are in Johannesburg airport wondering where to head to next, pack away your safari gear and hop on a plane to Maputo.
- GARETH HARDING | Maputo
- Maputo emerges from decline