mozambique: afro-latin vibe

there is a feel in maputo that it took a bit of time for me to put my finger on. it is definitely africa (obviously!) but unlike most other african countries, everywhere you go you hear a latin language being spoken - portuguese. it lends a certain latin vibe to everything happening around.

also, most mozambicans love music, dancing and partying. many people come and park their cars at the beach in the evening, blare out some music and enjoy a beer and watch the sunset, dance the whole night, watch the sunrise and then go home. one morning markus and myself went out to shoot the sunrise (the pic above) and sure enough, a bunch of people finishing up their last beers as the sun came up. according to markus, people here are so good-natured, that when they are drunk, instead of getting aggressive they are much more likely to welcome you to join them!

also, you can buy beer anywhere along the beach from guys like this:

everywhere we go we see bright colors and happy people. it really is a pleasant atmosphere to be in. people paint their houses myriad pretty colors:

so every sunday after the meeting sandi and i go for a walk in maputo. this is time that we really look forward to and each time we have discovered some delightful little nook of the city. on this particular day, we set off to look for a park that we had vaguely heard about. we searched around the leafy streets since we only knew the general area, but eventually happened up the park. it was not only a park but a kind of curio sales place. unlike the curio places in kenya, the salespeople do not bug you, shout at you or attempt to physically manhandle you into their stalls...why why why cant the ones at home learn this system?

we found a little restaurant but they wouldn't serve us drinks in the nice park seating area - you had to sit in their funny looking plastic chairs, and it turned out great for us, because as we walked further down the park, past the lovely batiks on sale...

we eventually found ourselves in a little clearing with a live jazz band going and a bunch of people selling freshly cooked food and draft beer! cheap as well.

sandi had her kanga with her and so we spread it out on the ground, enjoyed our sandwiches and drinks listening to live jazz. the perfect way to spend a sunday afternoon. afterwards we meandered a bit as we walked past the stuff for sale.

sadly i didnt get a shot of the band....so instead i leave you with these guys playing checkers in the park as the sun set.