2019-09-01 Woolworths Taste

Clockwise from top left: Stylish vibes on the streets of Maputo; take some time to detour into the small coastal suburb of Katembe for laid-back vibes with big city views;

definitely check out the frango a Zambeziana at Coqueiro in the old amusement park.

Soko Café (83 Avenida Kim Il Sung),
a courtyard in the back of an old Art
Deco house. Brunch consists of shared
plates of huevos rancheros, scrambled eggs
with grilled mushrooms on toast and
Cubanito steak sandwiches on those fluffy
Portuguese rolls – all well prepared
and delicious, with a steady stream of
Americanos, flat whites and fresh orange
juice. Feeling substantially more human,
we kick back in the courtyard, smoke a
rollie and chat with our hosts and friends

for a bit longer before even starting

to consider the long drive home.

Finally, at about 11 am we roll back

through the Maputo-on-a-Saturday-

streets, up and onto the bridge and

over the bay, Clinton leaning out of the

window and snapping shots of the city

in the rear-view. Forty-five minutes

later, there’s hardly a breath of wind

and the sun is shining, so we peel off

left into Ponta d’Ouro (now accessible

in both directions by a tar road, with

a pavement, too), for a quick surf in that

invigorating, unfathomably turquoise

Indian Ocean, which is basically just one

big synonym for Mozambique.

We have salt-crusted eyes, squinting

into the sun, on the drive home. By the

time we stop for a well-deserved, but

slightly disappointing, Nandos in Ballito

(after all, we’ve just had the finest frango

known to humanity), we’re both already

scheming our next foray back up to our

new favourite city, Maputo. W

TRAVEL

TASTE SEPTEMBER 2019 117