The cool season is upon us--have been enjoying the mild weather back here in Maputo for the past week and a half. This morning, one of my last in the city, I was going to capture some video of the tree-lined streets and the nice sea views we get on the way to the office, but ended up spending most of the time chatting up Jaime, one of the TechnoServe drivers. A good thing, though, because Jaime's had a really fascinating life in Mozambique. This clip definitely doesn't do justice, but still I think some interesting bits to check out:
As you hopefully could make out, Jaime has seen a lot of change in his country. Originally from Xai Xai, in the Gaza province just north of Maputo...Jaime was a young man during colonial times, he fought in the Revolution, he lived through the years of civil war, and since he's found work in South Africa--and thankfully for TechnoServe--in Maputo as well where he's been now for 8 years. When I asked him if it's relatively stable in the country nowadays...you could tell he was thinking "well, yeah maybe to outsiders...but on the other hand there's still some tension under the surface and you never know when things could break down"...which I guess can appreciate better now having lived here a couple months. Still, it's fair to say Mozambique has made a lot of progress on political stability, especially when you compare to some of its neighbors like Zimbabwe where things are really pretty troubling right now.
Showing posts with label history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label history. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Ibo II
...Ibo is also known for its arts and crafts. Below-left, an old man in the shadows sewing capulanas--Mozambican version of a sarong. Right, a silversmith selling jewelry made from old, melted down colonial silver coins:
Below, some photos of the Ibo Island Lodge, also a Technoserve client. They did a nice job retaining the feel of the island, while living up to the high standards of a 4/5 star type place:
And finally a Pimm's on the roof of the lodge with my client, Rainer, and his sister Carola while watching the sunset, and before realizing we had to set sail again to make it back to Quirimba before dark:
Monday, May 21, 2007
Ibo
I finally got to visit Ibo island--my first trip to Quirimba, the steering cable on the boat broke so we had to abandon ship. This time around we left at high tide so that we could take the boat route through a mangrove forest (below-left). The trees grow essentially half in/half out of the sea and at low tide, you can actually walk on foot to Ibo through the forest. Once we arrived, we were greeted by a rather impressive facade (below-right) of one of the many historic buildings that Ibo is known for:
We disembarked at my client's friend's place where he is building a really tastefully put together guesthouse (below-left). He's one of the ones who has payed ~$50-100K to the government for the right to take over a ruin (similar to the building below-right) and renovate it for tourism or other locally benefical purposes. Technoserve is attempting to encourage investors to do the same thing but on a larger scale on another island down south, Ilha de Mocambique...
We disembarked at my client's friend's place where he is building a really tastefully put together guesthouse (below-left). He's one of the ones who has payed ~$50-100K to the government for the right to take over a ruin (similar to the building below-right) and renovate it for tourism or other locally benefical purposes. Technoserve is attempting to encourage investors to do the same thing but on a larger scale on another island down south, Ilha de Mocambique...
Below some more old, Portuguese colonial buildings erected when Ibo was once a bustling capital city of the Cabo Delgado province. Left, the building that is the home of the incumbent FRELIMO political party on Ibo, and right the main church in the town center:
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Back to Quirimba Island
My second and last visit for this project was a good one. Weather was a bit cooler than last time. I got to catch up with my client on all the research, analysis and recommendations we have for him so far, and the development opportunities for the island still look really promising. Plus, I got to see some of the neighboring islands and towns on the mainland that I hadn't before.
This time around, we took the mostly-land route from Pemba to get there. Four hour drive on a bumpy, mostly dirt and sometimes flooded road to Quissanga, at which point we met up with my client's boat to take us the rest of the 45 minutes to Quirimba. Quissanga was a really nice little seaside hamlet type place. Hopefully that road gets better in time because the town could be a good stopping off point for tourists heading to the islands, and I'm sure could benefit economically..
We docked at the north end of Quirimba Island where one of the old Catholic church ruins is located (below-left). Later on, I made my way over to the other church ruin on the island to poke around there as well (below-right). Unfortunately, right now we don't know a ton about their history, but there has been some talk of getting an archeologist who's on Ibo Island right now to have a look and try to surface some more info. One thing that was kind of interesting was the tree trunk protruding from the direct center of the main room, right where you'd expect an altar to be. Maybe it was actually planted there, or maybe just a coincidence.
Next post, some pics from my Ibo visit...
This time around, we took the mostly-land route from Pemba to get there. Four hour drive on a bumpy, mostly dirt and sometimes flooded road to Quissanga, at which point we met up with my client's boat to take us the rest of the 45 minutes to Quirimba. Quissanga was a really nice little seaside hamlet type place. Hopefully that road gets better in time because the town could be a good stopping off point for tourists heading to the islands, and I'm sure could benefit economically..
We docked at the north end of Quirimba Island where one of the old Catholic church ruins is located (below-left). Later on, I made my way over to the other church ruin on the island to poke around there as well (below-right). Unfortunately, right now we don't know a ton about their history, but there has been some talk of getting an archeologist who's on Ibo Island right now to have a look and try to surface some more info. One thing that was kind of interesting was the tree trunk protruding from the direct center of the main room, right where you'd expect an altar to be. Maybe it was actually planted there, or maybe just a coincidence.
Next post, some pics from my Ibo visit...
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Maputo - around town
It's taken me a month to make a substantial post about Maputo, the capital of the country and where I'm more or less based in between my travels up north...but better late than never. As I mentioned early on, this city has both the tropi-colonial charm thing going as well as the delapidation and poverty you'd expect to see in a third world city. That said, my experiences so far here have been really positive. Relative to the rest of the country, Maputo could pass for a southeast African version of New York or San Francisco. Quite a bit of activity here be it commerce or culture. Some photos from the last full weekend I spent in the city below...
To the left, inside the old fortaleza--a shadow of a statue of some important Portuguese general I'm assuming. To the right, the entrance to the botanical park conspicously guarded by a statue of Samora Machel, the first president of independent Mozambique, and an adopter of Marxist policies. They were evidently pretty intent on drilling those ideals home, as some of the most prominent roads in Maputo are Avenidas Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenine and Mao Tse Tung:
Next up the mercado de peixe. A typical Sunday afternoon thing to do. First pick your catch and negotiate with the fishmongers as my co-worker Fabio is doing (left), and then head to one of the outdoor restaurants next door to have them cook it all up for you so you can eat it along with some cold cervejas (right). We went with fresh caught shrimp and lobster that day:
Finally, the beach along Maputo Bay. Left, some guys doing capoeira, which I hadn't realize had made it's way over here from Brazil. Right, more locals hanging out on the beach with the city skyline in the background:
To the left, inside the old fortaleza--a shadow of a statue of some important Portuguese general I'm assuming. To the right, the entrance to the botanical park conspicously guarded by a statue of Samora Machel, the first president of independent Mozambique, and an adopter of Marxist policies. They were evidently pretty intent on drilling those ideals home, as some of the most prominent roads in Maputo are Avenidas Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenine and Mao Tse Tung:
Next up the mercado de peixe. A typical Sunday afternoon thing to do. First pick your catch and negotiate with the fishmongers as my co-worker Fabio is doing (left), and then head to one of the outdoor restaurants next door to have them cook it all up for you so you can eat it along with some cold cervejas (right). We went with fresh caught shrimp and lobster that day:
Finally, the beach along Maputo Bay. Left, some guys doing capoeira, which I hadn't realize had made it's way over here from Brazil. Right, more locals hanging out on the beach with the city skyline in the background:
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Quirimba - island life
In addition to the coconut plantation, Quirimba Island is unique to many of the other Quirimba archipelago islands around because of its village feel. There are about 4,000 people--a large proportion of them children--on the island. Most live off the local natural resources like fish and agro/horticultural products.
Below-left a few men cutting a up a ray they just caught. Unfortunately the islanders have fished their waters somewhat destructively over the years, using methods like putting poison in the water, using explosives even. As a result, the reefs and other marine habitats have been damaged. With the government declaring it national park land, however, hopefully the situation will improve. Below-right, a dugout fishing canoe, usually carved out of a single tree trunk:
Like I said, there are a lot of children on the island. The population was only half what it was a decade or two ago, due largely to high birth rates as well as inreased immigration. Below are a couple brothers who were toting around some coconuts they had picked from (hopefully) one of their non-plantation palms, also called smallholder trees in the coconut biz. Unlike some of the adults who are sometimes a bit reserved or suspicious, just about every kid on the island is extremely curious and friendly. These two fellas wouldn't leave me alone once they spotted me on the beach, especially when they saw I had a camera:
More islander children below-left, this time in front of a schoolhouse that had just been built and actually looked in pretty good shape. I was told, however, that the government or outside agency that built it spent 3 or 4 times the amount that it should have cost. Unfortunately, inefficiency is a recurring theme in this part of the world. Below-right is a picture of a maternity ward that was gifted to the island by an wealthy hotel operator from a neighboring island, but if you look closely they only built about 2 feet of the structure before running out of the money because the funds ended up getting diverted to other things:
Below-left one of the many ruins left over from the Portuguese colonial days. This particular building I think was originally used for refrigeration--nowadays the locals just seem to kind of hang out in it for shade and gaze out the window at the water (look closely for kid gazing out window at water). Below-right, a group of woman hauling food from one part of the island to the other, by balancing it on their head...a common skill it seems of women in developing countries:
Below-left a few men cutting a up a ray they just caught. Unfortunately the islanders have fished their waters somewhat destructively over the years, using methods like putting poison in the water, using explosives even. As a result, the reefs and other marine habitats have been damaged. With the government declaring it national park land, however, hopefully the situation will improve. Below-right, a dugout fishing canoe, usually carved out of a single tree trunk:
Like I said, there are a lot of children on the island. The population was only half what it was a decade or two ago, due largely to high birth rates as well as inreased immigration. Below are a couple brothers who were toting around some coconuts they had picked from (hopefully) one of their non-plantation palms, also called smallholder trees in the coconut biz. Unlike some of the adults who are sometimes a bit reserved or suspicious, just about every kid on the island is extremely curious and friendly. These two fellas wouldn't leave me alone once they spotted me on the beach, especially when they saw I had a camera:
More islander children below-left, this time in front of a schoolhouse that had just been built and actually looked in pretty good shape. I was told, however, that the government or outside agency that built it spent 3 or 4 times the amount that it should have cost. Unfortunately, inefficiency is a recurring theme in this part of the world. Below-right is a picture of a maternity ward that was gifted to the island by an wealthy hotel operator from a neighboring island, but if you look closely they only built about 2 feet of the structure before running out of the money because the funds ended up getting diverted to other things:
Below-left one of the many ruins left over from the Portuguese colonial days. This particular building I think was originally used for refrigeration--nowadays the locals just seem to kind of hang out in it for shade and gaze out the window at the water (look closely for kid gazing out window at water). Below-right, a group of woman hauling food from one part of the island to the other, by balancing it on their head...a common skill it seems of women in developing countries:
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