Day 107 - MAPUTO, MOZAMBIQUE

 Date: 4/21/2024     Day 107         Port Day: MAPUTO, MOZAMBIQUE

Description: Discover the relaxed charm of Maputo with its wide, European style boulevards, lush with jacaranda, bougainvillea and other tropical foliage, where old colonial palaces are mixed in with modern high-rise buildings. Visit The Cathedral built in 1944 in the shape of a cross, then the lively Mercado Central. Enjoy a snack of freshly roasted cashews and a cold bottled drink. Stop by the National Museum of Art then stroll along the Avenida Julius Nyerere, browsing the boutiques, vendors, and restaurants. Look for African waxprint and woven fabrics, beautiful wooden boxes and picture frames. Seek out the surreal Pancho Guedes buildings, reminiscent of Gaudi. Visit the Praça de Trabalhadores designed by Gustave Eiffel in the late 19th century. Sip coffee in one of the many outdoor cafés as you watch the world go by in this vibrant seaside capital.

Planned Excursion: A GLIMPSE OF MAPUTO

3.0 Hours            Light Activity      # MPM-004: Free

Witness the lively barter of food and goods at the bountiful Maputo Central Market.  Visit Independence Square, ringed by the city’s arresting cathedral, neoclassical City Hall and the French-Mozambican Cultural Center.  Stand in awe of a house made entirely of iron designed by Gustave Eiffel for the island’s governor.  Take in one-of-a-kind exhibits at the Manueline-style Natural History Museum.  Survey armaments and art illustrative of Mozambique’s colonial days at the Maputo Fortress.

Morning Update: As I write this, this morning we are two hours away from docking in Maputo.  It is remarkability much cooler and less humid.  Looking forward to our excursion today.  

Afternoon Update: Once we were docked and cleared by Immigration it was getting pretty late in the late morning.   Before we could disembark on our excursions we had to wait for around 100 guests to begin their multiday sea/land excursions.  These folks will rejoin the ship in CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA in 5 days.  More will leave for a 3 day sea/land excursions the day after tomorrow and also rejoin us in Cape Town.  When we started this segment of the World Cruise there were 472 guests onboard when we left DUBAI.  The ship will feel even more less crowded until Cape Town.  

Getting back to the excursion we took today.  Once we were on the bus at 11:30 AM we hurried to see the Center Market before closing at Noon.  While it was the oldest market in Maputo, it was very similar to the other markets we've seen. Most of the market was already closed by this time.  After this we moved on to the Maputo Fortress constructed by the Portuguese.  Inside the fort was a museum which depicted the wars between the locals and Portuguese.  The old fort was used mostly for the slave trade.  From here we traveled to the central train station which contained a train museum.  I could have spent more time here.  We ended our excursion at the Arts Market located in the wealthier cleaner part of town.  Since it was a Sunday the areas we toured was far less crowded than it would normally be on a weekday.   

Click Here --> Maputo Pictures (coming soon)