Maputo

As there is no camping in Maputo, we decided to book a room at Joli Guest House, which had a pool and beautiful decorated rooms with air con, which sounded great after we had suffered from the heat in Kruger NP. We just made it onto their little parking through a narrow gate, but that way we had the guard sitting next to our camper day and night and could explore the city in peace.

The hotel called a nice taxi driver for us, who recommended a lovely restaurant with delicious seafood directly at the beach and while driving us into town, took a route past all the important buildings.

The roman-catholic cathedral of Maputo was built in 1944 and lies at the Praça da Independência. When we arrived on a Saturday, the front entrance was open and a wedding including the baptism of their 2 children was taking place.

South of the cathedral lies the Jardim Tunduru, a park and botanical garden, started in 1885 by the Portuguese and today a favourite place for bridal couples to have their photos taken. We watched for sure 10 different groups at this park and when we later passed the park again, there were still other bridal groups around, all dressed up for the occasion.

The foyer of the town hall was open, and we could look at some models of Lorenço Marques, how Maputo was called until 1975. In front of the town hall the statue of Samora Machel looks over the square in direction of the bay. He was the first president after the country’s independence.

We visited the old Portuguese fortress, which houses a small exhibition about the history of Mozambique.

At the esplanade, we bought a delicious juice from sugar cane, pineapple and coco. While enjoying the drink we were nearly hit by a huge palm leave, which crashed down only half a metre next to us. We were grateful the huge and heavy leave had missed us.

After 2 nights at the capital, we are ready to explore the beautiful coast of Mozambique – more soon!