Rainy day in Maputo, Mozambique

It was threatening rain when we docked in Maputo, Mozambique this morning. Maputo is the capital and largest city of Mozambique. It currently has a population of approximately 1.1 to 1.27 million residents within the city itself. We felt like we saw most of them today – ha! We had originally planned to go to the Feima market that we visited in 2023. However, before breakfast a friend offered us their excursion tickets because he had been up sick all night and didn’t feel like going. I was a little disappointed because I really wanted to go to the market, but it was a kind offer so we accepted. Ironically, the tour was named “City and Sun.”

view of Maputo-Katembe Bridge from our balcony

By the time we exited the ship, it was already raining and it continued to rain without letting up the entire day! ☹ Trying to dodge potholes full of water and climbing in and out of the van with umbrellas and wet shoes made for a much less enjoyable day.  Since the tour was ridiculously overpriced, there were only perhaps 10 or 12 of us. The van was air conditioned and better than expected, but the tarred roads were full of potholes.

Our first stop was the Central Railway Station. We walked through the CFM Train Station Museum which was thankfully covered.

 

vintage locomotive

Maputo Central Railway Station

modern passenger train

Above are some art displays inside the small train museum.

From there we were driven to the Maputo Central Market. Our guide pointed out significant landmarks as we rode, including Independence Square and City Council. There were an abundance of nuts (mostly cashews) for sale, lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and lots of wood carvings and trinkets. Most sections were cleaner and better organized than most markets we've seen. 

 

approaching Maputo Central Market (seller sticking purses in front of me)

women peeling shrimp (right) and broom seller (red shirt)

Maputo fruit & veggie vendor

a good selection of wigs

cashews and baskets for sale

colorful plastic shopping bags

After walking through the market, we visited Saint Antonio’s Cathedral and did a "drive by" of the Iron House. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casa_de_Ferro We could have walked through it but with the rain, all except for a couple of us opted to just lower the window and snap a quick photo.

We were supposed to visit the Tunduru Botanical Gardens but that would have been impossible with the steady rain coming down. 

 

St. Antonio's Catholic Church

Iron House

inside The Sé Catedral de Maputo (Cathedral of our Lady of the Immaculate Conception)

candles burning inside cathedral

Water was rushing down the curb when we exited the van, but those of us willing to get out went inside the church for a quick look around. 

I had been happy to learn that one of our stops was to be the Feima Market which was the one I had originally wanted to visit. We did go there, but it was raining and not much fun at all. Vendors had make shift tarps over their wares but some were full of water and dripping anyway. It’s not easy to shop outside under an umbrella in the rain! 

some were lucky to be under covered roof

rain interrupted this checker game (bottle caps for checkers)

very clever recycling

 

Above are examples of very clever use of items we would normally throw away. Christmas tree is made of soft drink cans. Silver elephant and crocodile are made from soda can tops. Alligator is made from metal bottle caps, etc.

 

carved wooden figures

I haven’t mentioned the high pressure sales people at every entrance and exit and who will follow you around out in the open. They are aggressive and persistent and you absolutely don’t make eye contact with them unless you want them to escalate the pressure. And it’s not just one but several at the same time. While sitting on the bus, I saw a lady from the ship stop to look at something. All of a sudden she had seven men surrounding her with their wares. It is difficult, but to be expected. We have been warned as we move around Africa from this point forward not to wear flashy jewelry and to pay careful attention to our handbags, etc. These people don’t take “no” for an answer – at least not easily.

By this time, we were tired of the rain and our feet were wet and we were both ready to get back to our home away from home. Oceania was running a shuttle every 30 minutes back and forth from that location to the ship, so we saw our opportunity to bail out. Our guide wasn’t real happy with us because our next stop was the hotel and lunch. But it was already after 2 pm, so we headed back to the ship for a late lunch.

It would have been enjoyable, but rain puts a damper on the best laid plans. I don’t think either of us would ever vote to visit Maputo again.

Monday in Mayotte, French Comoros

Overnight we sailed to Mayotte, an island in the Indian Ocean situated between Madagascar and Mozambique. Mayotte’s residents are described as having mixed African-Arab origins. The official languages are Comorian, Arabic and French, and the population is 97-98% practicing Sunni Islam. 

We hadn’t booked an excursion today but chose instead to tender to shore and just mill around a bit. As is often the case, there were dancers there to greet us. 

 

teens doing a "courtship" type dance

We didn’t want to walk into the city, so we just walked back over to the same large building we wandered through before that serves as a marketplace. This part of our "revised itinerary" as we head toward the cape of South Africa reminds me of Bill Murray in Groundhog Day -  waking up to see the exact same things as before.

But what a difference a day can make! Yesterday as we drove around Nosy Be, almost every person who saw our small bus gave us a big, friendly wave! Seriously - all of them, from young to old! We could not have felt more welcome as “strangers in these parts.” However, today in Mayotte has an altogether different feel.

Sellers in the market are not one bit friendly to strangers and the last thing they would do is let you take their picture. Just as when we visited before, most of the photos I took were from a distance or from behind. I did snap a photo of a darling little boy who was “flying” around the market using a coat hanger to steer the “plane” before I saw his mother (grandmother?) When I saw her, I asked if I could take his picture but was denied. Thankfully I had already snapped one before either of us saw the other.

up, up and away!

Overall, the locals seem to barely tolerate our presence, or at best just try to ignore us. The market we walked through obviously caters to locals (no souvenirs here) in spite of being located just a short walk from the pier. Its stalls hold a little of everything - from shoes to cosmetics to vegetables.

 

The vendors were mostly women wearing colorful, if not always coordinating, clothing and head coverings. Many if not most have their faces covered in a heavy looking, yellowish paste. They appear to be extremely bored. Some are looking at their phones; others are sleeping or just sitting with another vendor.

 

Unlike the women of Nosy Be, there is nothing artistic about the way the majority of women in Mayotte paint their faces. Rather, some type of mixture appears to be smeared all over and left to dry. In fact, as I was writing that last sentence, I thought “why not google it and maybe I can find out?” And here's what it said. “Women in Mayotte and the Comoros Islands wear white face paint—known as msindzano—primarily for skincare protection and beauty, as it acts as a natural sunblock against intense UV rays while treating blemishes. The paste is made by grinding sandalwood (or other tree bark) on coral, forming a protective mask often adorned in intricate, decorative patterns.” Perhaps not all of the islands just smear it with no attempt to make an artistic statement, but it seems that the women on this island mainly just smear it.

I remembered from our previous visit, they sold a product that bleached the skin. I thought I might like to try some on the back of my sun damaged hands, but when I found the booth, there were women already being waited on and they were all speaking French. Also I realized that they would only take Euros, so I decided to blow it off. I guess I'm just stuck with these "horrid age spots." 

By this time I had already worked up a sweat so I voted to return to the ship and of course Ronnie readily agreed!

Nosy Be, Madagascar

In preparation for our next port, the ship showed the movie Madagascar. We went because we knew there would be popcorn, which for some reason we never get on the ship. Anyway, we had never seen the movie and we thoroughly enjoyed both! Overnight we sailed from the Seychelles to Nosy Be, Madagascar. We had procrastinated reading through the excursions list, but I knew after 4 sea days last week we should at least get off the ship and do something interesting. There were only 5 options to choose from. Ruling out a wet landing, a forest climb, a Ylang distillery or lemurs (which we saw the last time), that left one excursion – Open Air Market and Sacred Tree. I booked it though neither of us had ever heard of it.

It was an afternoon outing and we first had to tender to shore after which we all piled into 2 smallish (thankfully air conditioned) buses. This was our greeting committee.

 

can you dance with a vase of flowers on your head?

kids trying to sell magnets before we exit bus

buy this?

Our first stop was at a market in town. We remembered it well from last time. We only had 15 minutes there which was long enough to buy some vanilla beans and a souvenir. The people were super friendly and almost without exception, every person waved at us as we drove along. 

dried fish, dried shrimp

helping Mama

market seller

dried locally grown spices

 

After leaving the market, we were driven to a ylang-ylang plantation. A ylang-ylang is a tropical tree native to Southeast Asia. Its flower (sometimes called the “flower of flowers”) is used to make perfume (Chanel No. 5) and aromatherapy. The flowers turn from pale green to bright yellow. In order to preserve their aroma, flowers are often harvested by hand in the early morning. The trees are oddly shaped due to heavy pruning so that the flowers can be easily reached.

 

 

After that brief stop, we were driven to what locals refer to as a Sacred Tree, a 200-year old banyan tree near the Mahatsinjo village. Once again we were greeted by folk dancers whose only instruments were their hands and wooden sticks. Their “songs” were a lot of repetition, saying the same sounds over and over as they step back and forth. I’ve since learned that they have various traditional dances, one that involves digging up ancestors bones and dancing around them. ☹

 

a traditional dance

The Sacred Tree is considered a spiritual site for the Sakalava people. It was planted around 1836 by Queen Tsiomeko, and is revered as a home to spirits, with local royals visiting annually. It is called “a place for meditation, prayer, and offering gifts to seek protection.“ There is a small altar of sorts at the exit where people leave money, honey and red or white fabric.

 

welcome to the Sacred Tree

"inside" the tree

I decided to walk through it just to see what a 200-year old banyan tree looked like from the inside. Basically, it just looked like an unkempt, tangled, royal mess. Thankfully as long as I stayed on the path, I couldn’t get lost and would exit where I entered.

From there we were driven to a local venue where we were treated to refreshments and a folk show, which turned out to be the same dancers that were at the tree. They performed their similar dance plus one that was a bit shocking that I won’t try to describe here. The little girl (probably a daughter of one of the dancers) performed the movements just as well as the women, even the more suggestive ones. 

We were served our choice of colas (none we’re familiar with in the States), some kind of fried triangular fish/meat pie, sugar coated peanuts, a number of dishes I didn’t recognize and a nice variety of tropical fruits.

 

our guide joins in

Afterwards, we were driven back to the port but not without one final souvenir stop. It was an actual store, well organized with what I would consider higher end merchandise. I failed to mention however, that we had lots of opportunities to buy souvenirs from hawkers both upon our arrival and our departure. 

 

colorful accessories

 I'll end with a few bus window photos....