The next stop on my trip was Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, to stay with my sister. I was lucky to be able to visit while she was working in Maputo. She, of course, was very busy with work, but had planned to take some vacation while I was visiting. To start with she met me at the airport, which was very helpful as the visa requirements are very strict. Since I didn’t have a hotel reservation I had a letter from her explaining my stay. It got a little confusing, but I made it through customs. That evening she took me for dinner and showed me around the area near her home so I could explore by myself when she was working.
It was my first time there, and the main European languages is Portuguese. I had hoped to use my terrible Spanish to at least be able to remember the courtesies. But failed miserably. The worst that happened though was instead of ordering a glass of wine for my lunch, I ordered a bottle. Luckily it was a good bottle.
Another day my sister had arranged a tour around the capital for me. I went through some of the main buildings, the markets and saw the main train station which is a breathtakingly beautiful old building. We finished up at an old colonial area fort that is now the local museum. Mozambique is interesting as it is a communist country. There were several statues of current leaders and all were done in a familiar style - as they were gifts from North Korea.
I spent much of the first week there just relaxing, reading by the pool. It was really hot when I was there at the end of October., which was really only the springtime. Even the breeze off the sea was HOT. It was easy to just sit and do nothing with a good book, and in the evenings catch up with my sister who I hadn’t seen in a while. Thanks to both her job and the pandemic it was not a good time to be travelling back and forth across the Atlantic.
I really enjoyed sitting in the various restaurants by the sea. It’s a pity I do not like fish, as there was an abundant supply on the menus. I do enjoy shellfish and managed to have a fair share of mussels, clams and the like. It was a treat to have leisurely lunches. The exchange rate was also very generous for Canadians so even the flub of ordering a bottle of wine was not out of my budget. It was fun to feel fancy, which definitely became a theme of this trip!
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