Maputo, the beginning of Under African Skies

Sorry this has taken so long to post--I've had a long week with classes beginning again, but I'm back and not too stressed! My literature review was looked over by my professor who called it "fantastic." That really was fantastic considering that he doesn't use superlatives--ever.


On to recount some travel journeys for you.


After our time in St. Lucia was over, we got on the road to Maputo. You can't travel straight through SA to Mozambique because the roads are simply not good enough. Most are gravel and a 4X4 is advisable. So, we decided to go through Swaziland. We didn't realize at the time that Swaziland, directly translated, means "land of the ubiquitous speedbump." After hitting them all, we ended up on a national highway which, it turns out, is unpaved. After an hour and a half on an unpaved road in the middle of Swaziland where we rode through a riverbed populated by a herd of cows and not seeing people for almost the entire drive (are you beginning to feel the desperation here??), we found our way back onto a paved road and to the border. The exciting part about being in Swaziland was another stamp on the passport, and a visit to my first monarchy!





In this picture, you can see the dirt road, and you can barely make out the river and herd of cattle...

The border crossing into Mozambique wasn't too bad. We think we might've gotten taken for a ride a bit with the car entrance fee, but we're naive Americans, so what could we do?? After about 20 minutes, we were into Mozambique and on our way to Maputo.

Now, I don't know how many of you know this about me, but last year I spent a month in Mozambique, a little less than a week of which was spent in Maputo. I love Mozambique. My entire trip to SA has hinged on excitement about going to Mozambique again to visit. And while I didn't get to visit the orphanage in Cambine or the guest house in Chicuque, I did get to hang out in Maputo and visit with a dear friend, but I'm getting ahead of myself. As we drove into Maputo, we circled a roundabout, and suddenly I knew where I was...Avenida 24 de Julho, the main drag in Maputo. I actually knew my way around! And not long after that, we drove past the Methodist Guest House where I stayed last year. Of course, every emotion you can imagine passed through my body. I really wished that my companions from last year were there with me to experience the joy at returning to Maputo. Maputo marks the beginning of my true love for the continent of Africa, so this visit was incredibly important to me.

My traveling companions on this journey were a little taken aback, however. You see, we live in South Africa, better known as the United States of South Africa. We have most luxuries, cities are at least relatively clean, etc. Maputo is a bustling city full of vegetables, shoes, and tires being sold on the street, garbage everywhere (the typical method of disposing of trash is throwing it out of wherever you are), and people galore. Also, the driving is horrendous. I was exceedingly glad that Niv was in the driver's seat and I was not. We finally found Avenida Patrice Lumumba (100 points for the person who can identify this African liberation leader), and after circling the block a few times, we found the Base Backpackers, a meager, but very quaint backpackers with a great view of Maputo Bay. We disembarked to find my friend Kristian at the backpackers waiting for us.

Maputo Bay

After checking in, we all piled back into the car and drove to my all-time favorite seafood place in the world (and I can say that), Costa du Sol. Costa du Sol sits on the Indian Ocean, and the seafood only hits the pan in between the ocean and your plate. It's wonderful. Also, if you've ever heard of Mozambican prawns, you've only had them done right in Mozambique. Each prawn is literally the size of your hand! I was in paradise, once again. And, once again, I was missing Mama Bette, Maravilla, Naftal, Telmo, and my BSC traveling companions. But Kristian and I reminisced and were quite content.


The next morning, Niv, Emily A, Alli, and Emily K departed for Tofo. Kristian and I bid them farewell and set out on our own adventures in Maputo. Maputo is very different than South Africa in that the crime rate is quite low. So, we felt very comfortable walking most anywhere. Our goal was the art museum, but we wandered a good deal before getting there, making our way toward the central market, having a great language exchange with my broken Portuguese and a non-English-speaking woman at a beautiful shop, buying some fabrics, etc. We finally made it to the art museum and had a great time analyzing the art. Most Mozambican art, we have found, carries the themes of scarcity of resources, overcrowding, and revolt. It was quite interesting. Most of these works of art were pre-civil war (which lasted 20 years), while the post-civil war artworks often had themes of reconciliation, uncertainty, and still crowding. It was a beautiful morning.

Statue of Samora Machel, a Mozambican liberation leader.

This tree starts out as one kind of tree, a vine grows on it, and eventually the vines reach the ground and take root. Then the tree gets enveloped by the new vine plant and eventually a new tree has grown!

The next day, we struck out for the Saturday craft market, where we found some gems. I bought a nativity scene set in a baobab tree, Kristian bought a more conventional nativity scene, and also a procession of refugees carrying their belongings on their heads (she has been working with the refugee department of lawyers for human rights) from a man who is apparently relatively famous for his work. I also bought a journal covered in capalana cloth and two long, thin batik cloths. Kristian made it away with a piece of driftwood carved to look like an elephant after some very shrewd bargaining on her part.

Kristian reading on the deck of the backpackers

For lunch, we headed to the park nearby and ate at a local restaurant. Of course, the menu was entirely in Portuguese, so we had to be clever in our ordering. I ordered chorico (known to you as chorizo) sausage, but Kristian ordered "moelas estufadas." I wasn't sure what that was, but she insisted on ordering it. Turns out, moelas estufadas are chicken giblets. Nice. After our lunch, we watched a few tennis matches at a local tennis club.

That evening, we went to another art gallery to see some more contemporary art. I had been waiting for a year and a half now to see the Mozambican conflict art which is made of old automatic machine gun parts. I really enjoyed it. I think my favorite was the one called "Libertas" which was a bird with tail made of springs. Beautiful. After eating some dinner at a very elaborate Thai restaurant (with incredible prawns, pictured below!) and seeing a show at the art gallery, we met up with our old friend Naftal.




Naftal is the director of Volunteers in Mission for the United Methodist Church in Mozambique, and he coordinated both Kristian's and my visit to Mozambique from Birmingham-Southern. When Naftal pulled up to pick us up, he got out of the car, gave us both hugs, and said, "Lisa, is it really you?" I was so thrilled to get to see an old friend. We went back to the backpackers and had tea and a good chat. Naftal will soon be moving to Zimbabwe to begin courses at African University in Mutare. For those of you who are aware of the situation in Zimbabwe right now, you will understand that he is a bit nervous. But he is going with his wife and two children, and I am sure that they will be just fine.


We also discussed all of our friends from our visit and Naftal gave us updates on each one. Mama Bette is still well, as is Maravilla. Telmo is still driving for the UMC, but hasn't improved much on his English. The orphanage in Cambine has moved into its new compound and is doing well, and the next day Naftal was sending a medical group to the hospital in Chicuque. CMC is not yet finished with construction, but will be within the year. We were so glad to hear of the progress being made and to get to have some time with a dear friend.




Me, Naftal, and Kristian (Kristian and I look pretty good for no shower all weekend--our hot water was broken!)

We didn't realize that the excitement for the evening wasn't over. Apparently there was a French hotel nearby, and being Bastille Day, they shot off fireworks! That was pretty nice since my 4th of July was quite devoid of such things.

The next morning, Kristian and I walked to the local Anglican church to see what it was like. They had an English service, and we were intrigued. The service itself was pretty typical of an African Anglican church in my experience. What was really special about it, though, was the invitation we received after church. A family with four girls (and probably 14 other children who were related or friends) invited us to lunch at their home in Matola, a suburb of Maputo. Kristian and I gladly obliged and were treated to the most wonderful home-cooked lunch with a loving family who enjoyed our stories about the US and from whom we were given stories about Mozambique and Tanzania. It was really a treat.

We returned home in the early evening and met up with the other weary travelers who had just returned after a long journey from Tofo. We ate dinner at the Indian restaurant across the street and turned in early for a departure to Kruger in the morning.

I awoke early on the next morning and drove Kristian to the bus station to catch her bus back to Pretoria. As I was returning to the backpackers, I had a strange occurence--a chicken crossed the road in front of me! Imagine that you're driving in the capitol city of your state or province and a CHICKEN walks in front of your car as if it was no big thing. Crazy!


I recovered from the shock, bought the group some breakfast, and we departed for Kruger. More on that later.


Views of Maputo. Now imagine the chicken!



Love to you all!