Maputo

A well-intended yet crippling socialist regime, coupled with a devastating civil war, forever changed what was once the treasured colonial city of Lourenço Marques, formerly known as the Pearl of the Indian Ocean. Twenty years of neglect, protracted civil unrest and diabolical outside interference left in their wake a bleak city wallowing in urban sewage, its denizens without access to safe drinking water, electricity or most other basic municipal services formerly taken for granted. In the early 90s when the civil war finally ended, it seemed that the African jewel had been lost forever…

Maputo’s History is as colorful as the capulanas favored by its residents. Half a millennia ago Portuguese explorers discovered a bay shared between African Elephants and a people called Ronga, ruled by their King Maputa. The Portuguese named it Baía da Lagoa (Delagoa Bay) and establishedLourenço Marques. Today Delagoa Bay is the Bay of Maputo and Lourenço Marques is Maputo.