{"id":7342,"date":"2025-03-29T04:30:22","date_gmt":"2025-03-29T08:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/?p=7342"},"modified":"2025-03-29T04:33:16","modified_gmt":"2025-03-29T08:33:16","slug":"world-cruise-maputo-mozambique-a-pleasant-surprise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/?p=7342","title":{"rendered":"World Cruise – Maputo, Mozambique a pleasant surprise"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Day 99 of 138 of our cruise from Fort Lauderdale to London. Today we docked in Maputo Mozambique on the south east coast of Africa just above the country of South Africa.\u00a0<\/p>

To be honest with you all, we were not particularly looking forward to Maputo due to recent reports of some civil unrest, crime and terrorism in the outlying area – in fact travel advisory was level 3 which is “reconsider travel”. \u00a0So we listen to the port talk and the tour we planned on was all located in the general vicinity of the port and knowing how Viking cruise bubble wraps their passengers, we figure a quick 2 hour tour would be fine, but nothing more than that.<\/p>

Docking in the harbor in downtown Maputo, out our cabin balcony, we were under the \u00a0newly constructed Maputo-Katembe suspension bridge that was opened in 2018 and built by China.\u00a0<\/p>

Getting off the ship was interesting as the disembarkation door was closed up as we approached and they had to move it to a higher floor because the tides were subsiding and the gangway had to be raised. We made it to our tour about 5 minutes late.<\/p>

The tour took us to the train station that was built by the Portuguese \u00a0in early 1900’s which was actually quite beautiful. The platforms had no residents on it because all of the residents caught early morning trains and the place is idle from 8:30am until the afternoon rush hour.<\/p>

We also went to an outdoor market where you can buy cashews, fruits and various goods. then a trip to the 1790’s historical Portuguese fort that protected the bay. The fort was also site of the 1975 Mozambique’s civil war to gain independence from Portuguese control.\u00a0<\/p>

We rounded out the trip with some views of areas of the city and a stop at a trade market that vendors sold souvenirs and crafts.\u00a0<\/p>

The city was actually quite modern in many ways and a far cry from the poverty we saw in Mombassa and Madagascar – although we did not get out into the rural areas.\u00a0<\/p>

We were back on board at lunch and just relaxed the rest of the day. \u00a0We were just surprised that the city was generally clean and not overly crowded. Sure the vendors were begging and pleading to sell you their goods and would get overbearing, but we muddled through.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\"Maputo-KKatembe
Maputo-KKatembe Bridge built by China<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"overview
overview of the city from our ship<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"train
train station architecture<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"Portuguese
Portuguese historical locomotive that traveled to Johannesburg SA<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"train
train station items on display<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"train
train museum<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"train
train platform<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"train
train carriage in the museum<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"locomotive
locomotive on display<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"train
train time pieces are interesting<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"statue
statue to revolutionary leader in roundabout<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"the
the hanging tree<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"inside
inside the fort grounds<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"cannon
cannon balls at the fort<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"cannons\"
cannons<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"general
general statue<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"Ammunition
Ammunition at the fort<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"inside
inside the portugese fort<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"outdoor
outdoor market <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"city
city view from the upper deck of the ship<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"Sailing
Sailing away from Maputo<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Day 99 of 138 of our cruise from Fort Lauderdale to London. Today we docked in Maputo Mozambique on the south east coast of Africa just above the country of South Africa.\u00a0 To be honest with you all, we were not particularly looking forward to Maputo due to recent reports of some civil unrest, crime […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":230351823,"featured_media":7324,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[200,50518550],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel","category-world-cruise-24-25"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/img_5165.jpg?fit=1500%2C2000&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/peuwlC-1Uq","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4359,"url":"https:\/\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/?p=4359","url_meta":{"origin":7342,"position":0},"title":"Planned World Cruise Route","author":"Jim and Gina Sumislaski","date":"July 7, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Countdown to Sailing Days Hopefully, the seas will cooperate, allowing us to reach every port. Notably, our travels will encounter a few interesting features: Malaria-prone sections of Indonesia and African countries: We will have malaria medications to take two days prior and seven days after leaving these areas. Yellow Fever\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Travel"","block_context":{"text":"Travel","link":"https:\/\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/?cat=200"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/30225c56-e804-4de8-8f37-63bd9f8157c5.webp?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/30225c56-e804-4de8-8f37-63bd9f8157c5.webp?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/30225c56-e804-4de8-8f37-63bd9f8157c5.webp?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/30225c56-e804-4de8-8f37-63bd9f8157c5.webp?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4131,"url":"https:\/\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/?p=4131","url_meta":{"origin":7342,"position":1},"title":"Viking World Cruise: 29 Countries in 138 Days","author":"Jim and Gina Sumislaski","date":"July 5, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the first post about the upcoming World Cruise. Viking Ocean style of cruising, the itinerary includes 29 countries in 138 days, with a favorable sea-to-port ratio and departure from nearby Fort Lauderdale, among other attractions.","rel":"","context":"In "Travel"","block_context":{"text":"Travel","link":"https:\/\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/?cat=200"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/cruisewithanimals-2.png?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/cruisewithanimals-2.png?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/cruisewithanimals-2.png?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/cruisewithanimals-2.png?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/cruisewithanimals-2.png?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1372,"url":"https:\/\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/?p=1372","url_meta":{"origin":7342,"position":2},"title":"Our first “Post-Graduation” trip","author":"Jim and Gina Sumislaski","date":"February 5, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Our Countdown: We are planning for our first\u00a0post-graduation (let's not call it retirement)\u00a0travel this July and we are going to Norway on our first Viking Ocean cruise. The Itinerary is called \"into the midnight sun\" where we travel from Bergen, Norway to the northernmost tip of Europe in Honningsvag, Norway\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Norway-Scotland"","block_context":{"text":"Norway-Scotland","link":"https:\/\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/?cat=50518552"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/intomidnightsunmap.webp?fit=700%2C467&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/intomidnightsunmap.webp?fit=700%2C467&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/intomidnightsunmap.webp?fit=700%2C467&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/intomidnightsunmap.webp?fit=700%2C467&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2193,"url":"https:\/\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/?p=2193","url_meta":{"origin":7342,"position":3},"title":"Our Choice : Viking Ocean Cruises","author":"Jim and Gina Sumislaski","date":"July 13, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"We have always enjoyed a good cruise - after a horrific 1 day Seascape our first \"real\" cruise was with NCL back in the late 80's on the legendary \"SS Norway\" (originally the 'SS France') a grand ocean liner and we took it on a 7-day Caribbean cruise.\u00a0 While our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Norway-Scotland"","block_context":{"text":"Norway-Scotland","link":"https:\/\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/?cat=50518552"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/BERGEN-01-e1727282787344.jpg?fit=1200%2C646&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/BERGEN-01-e1727282787344.jpg?fit=1200%2C646&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/BERGEN-01-e1727282787344.jpg?fit=1200%2C646&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/BERGEN-01-e1727282787344.jpg?fit=1200%2C646&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/BERGEN-01-e1727282787344.jpg?fit=1200%2C646&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7391,"url":"https:\/\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/?p=7391","url_meta":{"origin":7342,"position":4},"title":"World Cruise – South Africa – Part 1","author":"Jim and Gina Sumislaski","date":"April 5, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Day 100 of 138 of our cruise from Fort Lauderdale to London. 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