MOZAMBIQUE
Suza - the wife beater?
We crossed into Mozambique in the evening and made our way towards Maputo, the capital city, which isn't far away. We stopped for some dinner in a small town called Boane and got chatting to the other people on our table. They were friendly and a trustworthy guy called Suza invited us to stay at his house. He seemed to think it was really cool to meet people from another country! He progressively became drunk but he and his 2 female friends were friendly. Suza's English was poor but his friend Florence (?), a policewoman, was almost fluent as she learned English to communicate with Doctors when in hospital in South Africa. We went back to Suza's place, which was quite a modern one-storey house with large garden, garage and driveway but no car and large fence surrounding the property. They clearly did all right for themselves. Unfortunately, Suza's Portuguese-speaking wife was less than friendly when we arrived but I don't know if that was personal or not. Suza did call her well in advance to say we were coming to stay. Suza and his wife had a blazing row with Rachel and myself stuck not knowing what to do. I did see Suza from a distance raise his hand as if to strike his wife and she put her hands over her head as if to soften the blow. Thankfully, he didn't hit. Not then anyway! We had a lovely big bed (which we then figured out was the children's bed!), own TV etc. Luxury for Mozambique!

The following morning, all seemed happier with Suza's wife (I should give her a pseudonym shouldn't I?) managing a smile for me and she spent an hour making us breakfast. We played with the very sweet children in the garden (aged 3 and 4). After a couple of hours or so, the blazing row started all over again with only Suza's wife raising her voice this time. But not just shouting; rather screaming and balling at the top of her voice. Suza was just quietly talking back. He did seem like a gentleman really to us but with her, I'm not convinced he always is. The children appeared largely unaffected by this, although the girl did run in at one point, then came running out smiling. After things went quiet, Rachel and I said we had to go, even if it did end uncomfortably. Suza was apologetic for the argument! Domestic violence is unfortunately rife in many parts of Africa. I don't think I've ever heard a woman shout at a man like this though...perhaps Suza's wife is the start of the African liberation movement? I hope she has some better tactics though!

Maputo - Africa's most Latin city?
Before long, we were in Maputo (once known as the city of "Prawns and Prostitutes") and stayed at a busy backpackers place. We talk a long walk through Maputo, attracting a lot of street vendors as we went. It didn't help that I actually did want some of the things that were on offer because then everyone assumes that you will then want to buy their stuff. As long as you make sure they know that you're the boss, they tend to behave and go in order (almost queueing up to sell you things). I stocked up on a few DVDs (all original of course), a Mozambican music CD to go with my collection (Thoby and I attempted to get one CD from each country but failed) and a model bicycle. I saw an awesome bike in Mali made from cut up Coke cans, sardine tins and so on, making it colourful and just very cool. This one was 2nd best. For me, that was big spending!

We continued our walk round by the seafront, which was a bit scabby. Around the city, most buildings are tall and concrete is dominant. The buildings looked very Communist - how I imagine buildings in East Germany, Russia or Eastern Europe. Incidentally, almost every street in Maputo seemed to be named after a Communist leader from around the world or have a Communist reference. This is a reflection of Mozambique's socialist past and no reflection on the current administration. In South Africa, many street names are still named after apartheid politicians. The Communist architecture somehow "does something for me". It gets me going ;-)

Quite a few people spoke English, which obviously reflects the fact that Mozambique is surrounded by English-speaking countries and hence the usefulness of learning English and in central Maputo, people are of a higher average education than in the rest of the country. I got chatting to a few people in Maputo, which was good. My presence (as a light-skinned person) didn't turn heads in Maputo as it does in many other places. OK, there are quite a few white people in some parts of the city but I found Mozambicans to be hard to surprise. They are also generally quite modest but once you start talking to them, they open up and are fun to be with. I make friends with two different guys about my age who wanted to improve their English. Many people learn English without any books and often without any formal education but "on the street". I find that impressive and it requires a lot of motivation and persistence but then circumstances in Africa so often provide the perfect motivation to learn! I bought the two guys concerned, Afonso and Fernando, a dictionary each to help them along their way :-)

More exploring led to us finding the main train station in Maputo, designed by Mr Eiffel and built under Portuguese rule. It is beautiful and the Mozambicans know it - they keep it well and use it still. I walked across the tracks and on a train standing at a platform, ready for the afternoon. Like Communist buildings, there is something quirky about African train stations that sparks something inside ;-) We visited the Museum of the Revolution, which detailed the fight against Portuguese rule in the 1970s (independence won in 1975 after the Portuguese Fascist government collapsed). The museum was in Portuguese but it was images told the story very well anyway. The independent countries (except South Africa and Zimbabwe still fighting for freedom and independence) bordering Mozambique harboured freedom fighters. Women were a key part of the fight. Samora Machel, the first President of Mozambique was thought to have be assassinated by the South African apartheid government as he was opposed to them, allowing ANC freedom fighters to group in Mozambique etc. Another interesting museum in Maputo is Nucleo de Arte, which is really a social project for former fighters in the civil war to use their guns and other weapons to make art. At the same time, they learn the artisitic skills to produce their own work to sell.

Corruption
Walking around town one time, we were called over my 2 policemen who no doubt spotted our lighter skins among a crowd of black people. I knew what they wanted. They talked to me, not to Rachel (prejudice no. 2), asked to see my papers, asked if the woman next to me was my sister or wife and then pushed us for US dollars. This is supposedly common in Maputo, although the 2 policemen we got were far from any good at getting money out of us (I've had experience of others!). The sad thing is, they didn't even look at my valid visa. They believed my expired visa from my previous visit was still valid. Waste of space!

Love of concrete + my cheap skate habits
I spent half an hour or so in Maputo's 2nd tallest building, a huge derelict towerblock that used to be a hotel. A photographer recommended it to me for some good pictures. We went there - it was just a concrete shell with a lot of dodgy staircases without sides and former corridors with sheer drops by the side of them. Unfortunately, the promised graffiti was not really there - only a few interesting things and not that exciting. Rachel was right to comment on my random sense of fun. We got our car washed for next to nothing down the road where the South Africans like to go in the Costa do Sol, saving us South African charges the next day before we were due to hand the car back. Yes, I am tight. Or maybe you can just say I like supporting the economy of the poor ;-) I remember Andreas's saying: "support the ladies' don't make the fat cats richer!". I also got things sewn and shoes repaired in the local market ;-) And my hair cut again for 75p to save the £8 charge back home in the UK!

Mozambique overview
We did visit some other places in Mozambique but didn't venture far. Namely, we went through the Maputo suburbs such as Benfica (very busy, typically "African", crowded roads, white minibuses driving recklessly etc) and to Marracuene, an old Portuguese village on estuary of the Limpopo river. Unfortunatley, this didn't provide so much of an overview of Mozambique but time is perhaps life's biggest enemy. I am told that places further north, namely Inhambane and Mozambique Island are very much worth a visit. For me, Maputo is probably in my top 5 cities in Africa. The Latin feel (including the music); lovely yet modest people and old Communist architecture are wonderful for me.

Mozambique - a success story
Mozambique, ended its civil war in 1992 and ever since, has had a fast growing economy and is considered to have good governance. It had a major set back with the serious floods of 2000 and 2001, flooding a quarter of the country and destroying major insfrastructure. Do you remember the woman giving birth in a tree live on TV? The helicopter could not get to her. She is still a national celebrity in Mozambique. The country is back on its feet again and is one of the countries that the West likes to focus on to show how poverty can be fought successfully. Gordon Brown (Chancellor/Finance Minister of the UK) who wants to the next UK Prime Minister, went to Mozambique in April to announce a huge boost in the UK's aid package to Mozambique, specifically to improve the education of the country. He chose Mozambique because of its successes and wants to show off his "human" credentials and show he supports a social, caring agenda.

One thing I remember about Mozambique: it was the only African country to donate money to the world financial response to the tsunami tragedy of 26 December 2004. It donated £250,000, which isn't a lot but perhaps appropriate for what it can afford. This was apparently in solidarity with what the world did for Mozambique when they needed help in 2000 and 2001. Sweet, don't you think?

Next drove back to South Africa.