Maputo Things to Do

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MERCADO MUNICIPAL

This massive market has it all. Outside the entrance you can find men selling watches and sunglasses. Unfortunately you can also find your pocket picked by the many thieves that stare at you as you walk by. Inside is an explosion of colourful fruits and vegetables (mostly from South Africa). As you walk towards the interior you find the fish and meat stalls. Be careful, many of the workers do not like to have their picture taken. Go just a bit farther and you come upon the nut stand full of fresh roasted cashews and other tropical nuts. After that you will find the necessities of life like pots, soap and beauty products. Tucked just at the rear are the souvenir stands. Everything is available and every price is negotiable. Walking around is an experience itself even if you are not there to buy anything.

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Mira Mar beach is one of the three main beaches in Maputo. It's on the same shoreline as Costa do Sol beach, but is closer to the city centre. It's not many people here on a working day. At least 10 times less compared to the weekends. If you like you can sit down and look at the people selling fruit or cashew nuts on the beach. The Mocambiqanos are modest people, so you will not be hassled by beggars or traders.

All the beaches in Maputo has polluted water. But the sand is clean to be so close to a big city, and the area around has almost no garbage.

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"Costa do Sol beach" or "Praia Costa do Sol" in Portuguese is one of three main beaches in Maputo. The beach is on the same shoreline as Mira Mar beach, only divided with a concrete pier and some stones. Costa do Sol is further away from the city.

All the beaches in Maputo polluted water, but the sand is cleaner in Costa do Sol. Some fishermen are living in small cottages on the beach, and you can see them in the afternoon when they pull the fishing net out of the water.

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A trip to the castle of Maputo has the usual value of going back in time to understand the origins of the place and to figure out its present and maybe its future. This particular castle had to offer the attributes of similar establishments – ramparts, guns, barracks etc. Most of the living space was turned into gallery of modern art or converted into space for other practical uses. There was a tint of Cold War decadence in the sense that statues and bas-reliefs seem to be “saved” from the worldly rage of the new times and safely “parked” in the courtyard just as many monuments of “communism” in Eastern Europe were banished to special parks with the noble intent of putting them out of sight out of mind but cleverly enough not destroying them.

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DAO said this former TAP head office building was the most colorful facade in Maputo. I was there later... The multicolored tiles are special, but the building looks a bit more shabby today than during the Portuguese colonial era.

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Mira Mar beach is closest to the city centre. And it's a lot of people here on the weekends. It's a hangout for young people, and they play football on the beach.

Mira Mar beach is one of three main beaches in Maputo. The beach is on the same shoreline as Costa do Sol beach. All the beaches in Maputo has polluted water. But the sand is clean to be so close to a big city. The area around has almost no garbage. This is rare to be in Africa.

Avenida Eduardo Mondane is the widest avenue in Maputo. The aveunue is the uppermost of the 3 wide avenues in Maputo centre. And is an intersection of bus and chapa transportation in the city.

This is the place to take chapa if you are going to Mira Mar beach or Costa do Sol.

Avenida 24 de Julho is the main avenue in Maputo. It is a long, wide avenue with shops, cafes and restaurants. It's also an intersection of bus and chapa transportation in the city. Hotels in this avenue are popular.

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The Estrada do Carocol (snail road) is the crookedest road in Maputo. This tiny road goes down the hill in steep curves from Miradouro to the waterfront side.
The road was build by the Portuguese colonialists. Luxury apartments with ocean view are located right beside the road.

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Avenida da Marginal is the road along the waterside from the city centre to Mira Mar beach. The famous Holiday Inn Hotel Maputo Beach is located at the end of the road, where Mira Mar beach starts. Before you get there you can see luxury apartments and million dollar mansions up the hill.

It's a good place to to walk, even though the pavement doesn't have asphalt paving. The view to the ocean is great. But the place is almost deserted.