Time away in Maputo, Mozambique

Hi everyone,
Mike and I took a few days off and explored Maputo, Mozambique.  Most others we know stay a minimal time in Maputo and head to the beach towns to the north or south, or to one of the neighboring beach islands.  We chose to make this an urban get-away and had a great time.  Stayed in a modest backpackers that was central to the city.  There we got a walking map of the city, which specified areas to avoid due to crime.  We had heard that Maputo was a bit rough, somewhat dirty, and not really worth exploring.  We found the opposite to be true.  Yes, there were few actual sites worth mentioning, but just walking the neighborhoods, people watching, observing the development going on, stopping in cafes for espresso and pastry or gelatto was fun for us.  I had heard that Mozambique as a country has a greater emphasis on the arts, vocational trades, and will have a bit more of a European feel.  That said, it is also a country that has been at war much more than at peace in the last 20 years.  So, yes we did see a bit more artistic expression, but there's plenty of room for growth in that area.  Then, there's the Fish Market.  We took a long Sunday morning walk, checked out an old-world, restored hotel, saw lots of embassy sites, past the presidential compound, and ended up at our destination - and bought some great looking prawns, & red snapper.   The Fish Market has lots of local restaurants nearby who will cook the fish you choose, but we decided to take it all back to our backpackers. I managed to get 4 great meals from it all - prawns for lunch, snapper for 2 nights of dinner and a great fish chowder for our last night.  Considering the backpackers kitchen was quite limited in scope (1 skillet, 1 pot, 2 burners and salt) - we still ate our fill & I was most happy.  There's virtually no fish to speak of in Swaziland & the one kind you can buy is small & I don't trust that it's been kept frozen.  So, I'll have to rely on these great gastronomic memories for awhile til we get back to the US.  One perk of our backpackers was a small balcony that looked out over Maputo Bay.  We both really miss looking at a body of water from time to time, so we spent our evenings having a drink & gazing at the ocean.  Then, on our second day we took a local ferry boat a short distance across Maputo Bay to a beach.  It was amazing to us to look back at Maputo, with more than 1 million people, and then to cross to a place that felt like most small African villages we know - dirt roads, small shacks, nothing going on.  We walked up the beach for 2.5 miles and saw only a few local fishermen in their "sailboats".  Some were also trying to catch fish by hand in 2-man nets.  The boats looked less sea-worthy than the boats we remember the St. Lucian fishermen used in the mid-1970's.  We did end up at a small but nice hotel where we changed into swimsuits, swam & had a drink at the bar.  We were the only people there.  Because of the climate and direct access to the Indian Ocean, Maputo felt a lot like St. Lucia - hot, humid, lots of tropical trees I recognized & lots of tropical fruits - mangos, papaya, coconuts, etc.  We did visit a craft market, went to an art museum (small), a natural history museum (a throw-back to colonial days), as well as window shopped in some nice, modern shopping malls. 
    We did it all via public transport and by foot & had a great time.  We're back in Swaziland and will celebrate Thanksgiving at the US Ambassador's home, as we have done the past 2 years.  This year we have a new ambassador, so it will be nice to meet her.  Then, we're looking forward to returning to the children's home and ready to face the upcoming Christmas craziness.  Love to all, Gail