Christmas in Maputo

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So, we've spent the best part of four days over Christmas in the Mozambican capital, Maputo.

Maputo comes closer than anywhere else we've visited to the lazy Western stereotype of the African city: dusty, litter-strewn, pot-holed streets choked with black clouds of pollution from cars that should have been consigned to the scrapheap years ago; the better, older buildings quietly decaying while the newer ones, where most of the people live, are mostly ramshackle single storey affairs that look like they wouldn't survive a sharp gust of wind. As Mozambique, unlike everywhere else we've visited, is not a former British colony but rather was occupied by the Portuguese, Portuguese is very much the dominant language, and English is generally limited.

We set off to see the sights of the city at 10am one morning. Once we had finished that at 10.30, we were ready to devote the rest of our time to frolicking in the pool and in the sea, soaking up the rays of a furious sun in a cloudless sky. It being Christmas, we treated ourselves to the top hotel in town, the Polana, and it really is a fabulous place - a fully renovated 1920s colonial affair, with a vast pool overlooking the Indian Ocean, English-style afternoon and more cocktails than you can shake a stick at. Definitely the place to be.

We spent Christmas Day itself on the beach an hour and a half away at Macaneta. We drove through the teeming outer suburbs of Maputo, where commercial life in the form of sprawling marketplaces and roadside kiosks was in full flow despite the date, then along a bumpy, rust-coloured sandy road through the countryside, before being whisked on a motorboat to our final destination. The sea was perfect - perhaps a little too perfect, as I spent too long in it and ended up lobster-red. At least my Santa hat didn't come off.

We're off to Swaziland tomorrow morning, to stay in the middle of nowhere - I'll be in touch again when I can.

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Photos

Maputo Market
Christmas shopping, Mozambique style

Larinjinha ride
How to get about in Maputo

Santa in the Sea
Macaneta Beach, Christmas Day

Present and correct
Opening gifts on the beach

Card games
An unusual way to stop them blowing away