So I never said that my trip to Maputo would produce anything in the way of comprehensive cultural discovery- Hell, I think that my blog entries on Senegal often consist of little more than me commenting on my taxi marriage proposals- but I do want to punch out one more entry on Mozambique before I leave this place.
It’s elitist and a bit ostentatious- but I feel compelled to throw up another photo of this hotel. It was built in 1922 by the Portuguese, and is just another example of the beautiful colonial architecture that can be seen all around.
This trip to Mozambique first came about because a good friend of mine was going to Maputo to attend a conference. I’m always keen to travel- but finding a travel partner who won’t drive you absolutely bonkers in times “non-Disney” situations can be challenging. Traveling outside of your hometown always sets us up for plenty of uncertainty- and I’ll be honest in saying that my threshold for high-strung people on the road is pretty low.
It’s been about two and a half years since we’ve seen each other! There’s nothing better than reuniting with cool people in the most random of places. Here I we attended a conference dinner where I was able to catch up and also meet lots of people.
As it turns out, Africa is a very small continent. I knew other people at this conference too. Very serious people.
No really, I’m sober. It’s just that depending on the personality of the person with whom I am interacting, I allow myself to commit varying degrees of silliness. Here we’re practicing for a potential Facebook glamor shots. Stay tuned to see which one I post.
A bit of interpretive dance put on by the Mozambicans. I think the soldiers are defeating AIDS.
This conference was the World Defense HIV/AIDS Prevention Program meeting- and as such I met a lot of people from a lot of different places. It wasn’t long before the music started and everyone got on the dance floor. An old man wearing Muslim attire from Niger asked me in English, “May I have this dance?” Why yes, monsieur- on y va. I swear I never used to dance, but I think that this land has messed with my chemical makeup.
Outside the massive tent we sat drinking absinthe and admiring a waning gibbous that really lit up the ocean and night sky. My photo doesn’t really capture what we saw- but here you get the idea.
The next morning I opened my eyes and almost immediately reached for my camera. The sunrise was more amazing than the moonlight, and I did a much better job of capturing the view.
See this obnoxious nail color road rash? It’s about a week old, and I got it after examining the grit level of the Dakar city streets while on last week’s long run. Now that I’m in Maputo, I’m still not able to do workouts that involve bending my wrist (no pushups for a few weeks!) but I do need to complete a 13 mile run. I’m in training again- but I sure as heck don’t want to fall on these crazy (and unknown) streets.
Running for over two hours means that there is no way I’m going to carry my camera with me. So I’ll spare you the dramatic effect and tell you that I ran this town without incident. After my self-guided tour, I now know Maputo very well and enjoyed watching the city come to life.
Remember my fancy hotel? Guess who uses this pool? No one- unless you are an overheated runner who wants nothing more than to cool down and enjoy the place to herself. I’m an employed 34 year old, but I still often feel like security’s going to show up and direct me to the front door: “Um, Miss? I do believe you are trespassing…”
Post run, post swim and I’m doing some thesis writing with a view. Coke Light has magical properties. Especially after this morning. I can tell you that I wasn’t moving much farther today….
…in fact behold my location just a few short hours later. Properly hydrated, I now set on with undoing all the good I had accomplished during the morning. Besides, it is culturally acceptable to sample the local beverages when out traveling.
Sadly, our time in Mozambique would come to an end very early the following morning. Everyone loves a 3:45AM wake-up call, don’t they? That’s what we got in order to make a wicked early flight out the following morning.
My flight into Mozambique came with a small element of aircraft switcheroo- so we were happy when our departing plane pulled back from the jet bridge without incident. The mystery however came when we got to the head of the runway and sat there for awhile. What is going on? “Normally I’d say there’s some cattle wandering around, but I don’t think that’s the case,” I told my friend. Imagine our surprise when we looked out the window and saw an airport vehicle shooing a misguided little dog off the runway. Go Mozambique!
Farewell, Maputo. I’d love to one day come back to this country and explore outside the city. This continent is just so big- as is each country. For now I’m just grateful to have had the opportunity to come down and have a short look around with some good friends.
