From Luxury to ´Faulty Towers´ - Bon Dias Moçambique

For my last night in Cape Town I switched accommodation locations as getting to the airport is a costly activity from the hostel I was staying. I opted to re-locate to the Holiday Inn in the central business district - a bit more money per night but they provided a free shuttle to the airport in the morning. By comparison to all my accommodations to date in Africa the Holiday Inn was like living in luxury. I will admit to enjoying the ammenities of the hotel.

I arrived in Moçambique without any challenges. The country is unlike any other I have visited in Africa before. How to describe Moçambique ... it is kind of like Africa meets South America. However, not in the shake your neighbour's hand kind of meeting; I mean two frieght trains colliding kind of meeting. This type of meeting combined with the influence of Portugal makes and interesting combination that I am looking forward to exploring.

I was able to make arrangements for my first night in Maputo via the internet in Cape Town. When I arrived at Hotel Santa Cruz I quickly realized my experiences in luxury were over. The faded pink 13 floor building look run down and closed. Since it was dark when I arrived and my taxi drove off I had no desire to locate another hotel room in Maputo. From the life of luxury in Cape Town I arrived at a Faulty Towers like hotel in Maputo. The first indication the hotel was going to be an experience was when they handed me my free ration of toilet paper and soap with my room key. If I require more soap or toilet paper I would need to purchase it at the market across the road! I can honestly say this the first time I have ever been provided a ration of toilet paper.

The elevator was the next indicator of an true experience. The front desk clerk showed me to the elevator and informed me (in broken English) that it didn't stop on properly on the 8th floor. I would need to step up from the elevator onto the 8th floor. As the elevator traveled up I envisioned a small step that one could trip on - again, a naive thought. When the elevator stop I had to throw my bags onto the 8th floor and actually climb out of the elevator car. There was a good 2 foot difference in height!

On the surface my room seemed adequate - definitely did not have the amenities fo the Holiday Inn but functional. The room had a spectacular view of the city skyline from my room - very few buildings in Maputo exceed 10 floors. The light in the bathroom resembles a horror film flickering on and off and there is no water between 10 AM and 12 noon. This was a slight hint I didn't want to be eating at the hotel restaurant during these hours!

Oh the hotel restaurant - the final great experience of my frist day in Maputo. I was the only person in the place when I walked in at 8 PM. The waiter in what I think was broken English introduced me to his wife and then proceeded to offer me the special. Before he could describe the special he sent his wife off to cook it for me. 30 minutes later I had the 'special' - a greasy piece of dark meat with a lemon sauce, potatoe, and salad. The meat reminded me of goose but was much tougher. As the waiter and his wife watched me eat I had the pleasure of eating the entire mystery meat.

Maputo is going to be an experience!