indian ocean coastline of Maputo, Mozambique

Last week my co-worker Bheki (you pronounce "k" as "g"in Siswati) had to go to Maputo -- the capital of the country of Mozambique -- to pick up a visa for the SNTC's CEO. He kindly asked me along, and we drove through the border post in the northeast corner of Swaziland, got our visas to enter into Mozambique and then drove into the city.

Mozambicans speak Portuguese, though there almost everyone in the city also speaks English. Bheki drove out of city, along the coast, so that I could see the Indian Ocean. The tide was out very very far, but by the end of the afternoon, the beaches were full
of people swimming.

Mozambique was/is known for its seafood and I did have a giant fish for lunch. The name of which I couldn't figure out - even though the waiter was telling us. Unfortunately, the waters have been overfished, and the prawns (shrimps) are much smaller than they used to be.

The Indian Ocean is only about 40 km (a three hour drive) from Swaziland. The country is much different and the cities of Mozambique are very crowded, congested with traffic and fairly dirty. But there are very good, big markets (where Bheki bought bags of cashews, another Mozambican specialty), many museums, and of course, the ocean.