Maputo, Mozambique!!

/ Ed Armstrong
After riding in the train for most of the night, we reached Maputo on the east side of Africa and I touched the Indian Ocean!!

Maputo is an interesting city of contrasts. This is the classic, beautiful, train station and our train stopped close to this station.

Near the train station, we learned of a sad problem. This building was taken over by a “landlord” that charges rent to the people living in the building. However, the person does not actually own the building! He receives rent and it does not appear that he does not do much maintenance! The owner is listed as a company that is no longer in business! What a mess of a situation!

Our first stop was this fun market! With all the nuts that are grown in the area, it was impressive how many types were available to buy. I also loved all the fresh fruit!

I loved seeing all the colorful fruit. I did not know the names of some types of fruit.

I was amazed at all the different nut types!!

Our guide was describing some of the vegetables to me. He loved how fresh the produce was!

There were also street venders selling all kinds of products!

Our tour leader described quite a bit of history about Mozambique and its leaders. China, Russia, and North Korea seem to be involved in a range of developmental projects in the country.

This is the entrance to the botanical gardens.

This was a nearby church. We noted that today is Palm Sunday!

The stained glass inside was nice!

We stopped at this beautiful resort for a bathroom break. They have a spectacular view of the India Ocean!!

I liked the design of this walkway!

For lunch, we went to an elaborate buffet at another resort. Their view of the Indian Ocean was incredible!!

I really liked the colors in this artwork!!

This was a unique fish that I liked!!

I liked this lion, but I have no idea how I would get him home!!

All the wooden carvings were interesting!!

I really enjoyed to colors in this painting on the side of a building!!

All different types of pots and baskets were plentiful!

I find myself really enjoying all the ways artists here use orange!!

It was great to see the beach on the India Ocean! I did not swim, but people said the water was exceptionally warm and enjoyable!

These people using kites could go very fast and shoot quite high into the air!!

I do not think I could handle how fast these people were moving!!

People were using all different kinds of equipment!!

It was nice to relax and enjoy such a picturesque scene on the beach!!