Getaway May_2019

16 m aY 2 0 1 9

ESCAPE CULTURE

LEFTTheUptownCafe

is a live-musichotspot.

BELOW,FROMFARLEFT

A fadingbuildingonRua

deBagamoyo,thecity’s

‘red-lightdistrict’;theLinhas

Portuguesamosaicinthe

centreoftown;thegrande

dameSouthernSunhotel.

Noonehadevertoldmethat

Maputohasa sort-ofCuban

feel...It’shumidandtropical;

filled with interesting,often

crumbling,old buildings;

and, for locals, music makes

everythingall right. Many

streetsarenamedafterpolitical

figures(Marx,Lenin, Nyerere,

Ho Chi Minh, Mao Tse Tung, Kim

Il Sung and, yes, Fidel Castro).All

that’s missingis the retro cars.

Getting to know Maputo

On arriving in a new city,

I like to take a tour (the hop-on,

hop-off bus kind) to get my

bearings and a glimpse of areas

that appeal most. Maputo has

no such tourist bus service, but

I had a great half-day out with

Dana Tours.

While getting interesting

nuggets of info about the

history and current lifestyle

(and tip-offs about what I was

not allowed to photograph),

I could sit back and enjoy the

changing scenes – along the

long seafront drive into the

city centre or Baixa, where we

walked down Rua de Bagamoyo

for an up-close look at the

buildings. It felt like stepping

onto a film set.

We ended up on Praça

dos Trabalhadores (Workers’

Square) at what has been an

actual film set: Maputo’s grand

station building (used as the

hotel in the Leo DiCaprio movie

Blood Diamond). This was one

of my favourite places – it’s

both a museum and a station

still used by commuters. The

platforms are lined with

interesting photos and plaques,

there’s a couple of ancient

locomotives on display, and an

actual museum with exhibits.

We also visited Eiffel’s Casa

de Ferro – stepping inside, you

can truly get a feel for how

unsuitable this prefab iron

house was for the climate. And

from hot to cool, across the

road into the beautiful Tunduru

Beyond the fabulous dining, this city has a lot to offer

Botanical Gardens, a sliver of

green in the middle of the city.

Then we wound through the

more upmarket, tourist area

and ‘diplomatic quarter’, and

passed the President’s house

(no getting out the car here).

I had one last request: to

cross the new suspension bridge,

(see getaway.co.za to watch

footage). It’s one of the longest

in Africa, linking the city to

Catembe on the other side

of the bay, and to southern

Mozambique. The toll is R37 one

way – a little dear for most locals.

• Maputo city tours from R
  for four people. danatours.com Caroline Webb