Maputo, Mozambique
I’d like to spend some time in Mozambique,
The sunny sky is aqua blue…
- Bob Dylan
When Bob Dylan wrote about fun in the sun in Mozambique back in the seventies, he was being sarcastic, commenting on the contrast between the luxurious life of Portuguese colonial regime and the poverty of the native people of the country. Since then Mozambique has been wracked by a terrible civil war, but today it is emerging as a peaceful democracy. Landing in the capital of Maputo this morning, we found ourselves welcomed with sunny smiles by everyone we met under the aqua blue skies.
Our visit to Maputo reflected the city’s history as an important center of Portuguese rule, its survival of the war and its recent development. 19th Century European architecture dominated much of the city center, including a striking central train station with a tower designed by the French engineer, Gustave Eiffel. Not far away was Eiffel’s other contribution to Maputo, the Casa do Ferro or Iron House. It was intended as the residence of the Portuguese governor, but its all-metal plate construction made it quite uninhabitable in Mozambique’s tropical climate until the advent of modern air conditioning. Sprinkled among these colonial monuments were numbers of new skyscrapers, many of them financed with development aid from China.
The city was full of vibrant clatter, color and commerce. We passed a long wall decorated with beautiful mosaic murals in tribute to Mozambique’s first president, Samora Machel, were accosted by enthusiastic vendors of sweet cashews and skillfully carved hippopotami, and ducked out of a brief thunderstorm into the central market where we admired stacks of bright produce and pungent spices.
We were honored to be so welcomed by the friendly and resilient people of Maputo and we wish them well as their country continues to develop. Judging by our experience of their capital, the future of Mozambique looks as bright as the sunny skies above.
I’d like to spend some time in Mozambique,
The sunny sky is aqua blue…
- Bob Dylan
When Bob Dylan wrote about fun in the sun in Mozambique back in the seventies, he was being sarcastic, commenting on the contrast between the luxurious life of Portuguese colonial regime and the poverty of the native people of the country. Since then Mozambique has been wracked by a terrible civil war, but today it is emerging as a peaceful democracy. Landing in the capital of Maputo this morning, we found ourselves welcomed with sunny smiles by everyone we met under the aqua blue skies.
Our visit to Maputo reflected the city’s history as an important center of Portuguese rule, its survival of the war and its recent development. 19th Century European architecture dominated much of the city center, including a striking central train station with a tower designed by the French engineer, Gustave Eiffel. Not far away was Eiffel’s other contribution to Maputo, the Casa do Ferro or Iron House. It was intended as the residence of the Portuguese governor, but its all-metal plate construction made it quite uninhabitable in Mozambique’s tropical climate until the advent of modern air conditioning. Sprinkled among these colonial monuments were numbers of new skyscrapers, many of them financed with development aid from China.
The city was full of vibrant clatter, color and commerce. We passed a long wall decorated with beautiful mosaic murals in tribute to Mozambique’s first president, Samora Machel, were accosted by enthusiastic vendors of sweet cashews and skillfully carved hippopotami, and ducked out of a brief thunderstorm into the central market where we admired stacks of bright produce and pungent spices.
We were honored to be so welcomed by the friendly and resilient people of Maputo and we wish them well as their country continues to develop. Judging by our experience of their capital, the future of Mozambique looks as bright as the sunny skies above.
