City of contrasts

I found Maputo both beautiful, dusty, ugly, inspiring, lively, but most of all full of contrasts.

Large holes in the pavement, women in vividly coloured clothes, rubbish in the streets, a modern shooing centre with marble tiles and a sushi place, heavy traffic of smoking cars.....

View from the fort:

Need I say more ?

The local repair shop on Vl. Lenin

Bairro

In Mozambique, bairros are administrative subdivisions of urban districts with important functions in the identification of the residents and determine the attributes of the area in
regards to construction or agriculture, much like zoning. They are directed by secretários. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bairro)

Most of the bairros in Maputo are low houses made of raw concrete with corrugated iron roofs and have sand/dust roads. this is the way most of the inhabitants in Maputo lives and should not be mistaken for poverty as I did the first days.

This picture is taken from the flight to Inhaca and gives a good picture of the buildings:



I have been to several bairros in Maputo - these pictures are taken in the bairro Maxaquene near Av. Vl. Lenine where I lived

Home again

We arrived in CPH yesterday 14:00 after app. 23 hours in airports and planes. It has been a wonderful trip and I have definitely experienced much more than I have told about.
Well one of the reasons for that is our internet outage in Maputo, but it is also because I was busy experiencing and therefore didn't have the time to blog.
I will try to make up for it the next days (weeks) but I have 4 CD's of pictures and movies and also a lot of adventures that are difficult to explain.

Stay tuned...


(swimming in the pool at Clube Maritimo)

Childrens centre in Ferroviario

Did a visit to the centre where Katja teached sewing....
Just a couple of pictures and the story and my thoughts to come later.




The lunch queue



Quadruplet girls

Internet outage ended !!

We have had no internet connection for almost 5 days - thats why you havent heard news from Maputo.
Just wanted to post some pictures - more text will follow.
I have experienced a lot and promise to tell about it !


Sun is shining in Africa



Tiny plane, Maputo-> Inhaca



Bathing in the Indian Ocean

Another day in Maputo

Started the day 6:30 jogging with Molly (the dog in the house). We ran along Lenin (or "Avenida Vlademir Lenine") and into the 'Bairro' where I met hundreds of Mozambiquans going to work by foot or in Chapas (see yesterdays picture). I didnt bring my camera so no pictures, but it was quite an experience and I didnt meet any other white girls on my way. The houses in the Bairro are made of grey concrete blocks with corrugated iron roofs and the roads are made of fine red sand. It is quite contrast to the shopping centre in downtown Maputo and the fenced colonies of american expats.

'Mercado Janet' - the fruit and vegetable market (where you can also have your fabric transformed to clothes by men with pedal-driven sewing machines). We bought a lot of fruit from Anita.



We visited Nucleo de Arte and saw the exhibition. We also talked to some of the artists in the workshops and finally had a drink in the café.



Tomorrow we are going to Inhaca to enjoy the weather and bathe in the Indian Ocean.

It takes 3...

We did a bit of shopping today in the local supermercado: "Al Houda".
They had almost everything including Dr.Oetker cocnout pudding powder, Dancake buscuits, milk, Nivea.... you name it!
3 employees at the counter: one taking up every piece of goods telling the price, one by the cash calculating and one guy packing the goods. and then I haven't mentioned the guy outside the shop who told us to leave the shopping bag outside and keeping an eye on it and the 3 other employees inside.

Other things we did today:

Maputos botanical garden's shade house



A chapa lost a door just outside the house...



Fresh coconut



This is not a palm....


(it is an antenne in disquise)

The fish market where we bought shellfish for the paella.

We've arrived

After 11 hours in a plane from Lissabon to Maputo we were a bit tired.
But after a bath and a nap we did the first small trip in Maputo which included afternoon tea (and cakes) at Polana and a cruise around town.

Desktop things

Maputo - TAP - Wallpaper:
http://www2.flytap.com/web/9872-maputo_en_1600x1200.jpg