Mozambique: a beautiful country with an Indian Ocean coastline

The coast of the Indian Ocean (Photo: Saim Orhan)

And so we were off again, this time to a point quite far away from Turkey.

The total journey from Istanbul to mozambique is nine hours or so. The first leg wound down as our plane from Istanbul began to land over Johannesburg in South Africa. There we were to wait three hours for the next plane, a short trip of 45 minutes to Mozambique's capital of Maputo.

Mozambique has a coastline on the indian ocean; it has a population of 24.5 million and does require visas for Turkish citizens. Visas cost $80 and can be obtained at customs, but it is increasingly difficult to enter Mozambique, as foreigners who do not have invitations or hotel reservations are turned away at the border.

There are around 200 Turks registered as living in Mozambique through the Turkish Embassy -- which opened in Maputo in 2011. Interestingly, it was after Muslim Arab trader Musa Bin Bek set foot here that Islam began a rapid spread through Mozambique. And the country's name originates to this man; people referred to the trader as “Mosan Bi Ki,” which then became Mozambique, after a long Portuguese occupation that began in 1498. Nowadays in Mozambique there is even a university named after Musa Bin Bek.

Mozambique was a colony of Portugal for around 500 years, during which time the Portuguese spread their culture, language and religion. Today, the official language of Mozambique is Portuguese. It was only in 1975 that Mozambique became independent. There is still a Portuguese fortress that stands on a flat piece of land in Maputo; the fortress is open to tourists.

Mozambique's Turkish schools

While in Mozambique, we are assisted in our travels by the director of the Söğüt Türk School, Erdal Polat Bey, as well as by Mehmet Emin Çakırbey from the same school. Turkish schools have been established in Mozambique for around 11 years, and both Erdal and Mehmet Emin have been here for around five years. We were very happy to see them here and began touring Maputo in their company.

Mozambique has lots of neighbors; it shares borders with six countries; Malawi, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its total border length is 4,571 kilometers. Actually, the country has one more neighbor, the Indian Ocean that lies to its east.

In addition to being the capital, Maputo is Mozambique's largest and most developed city. It has a population of around 1.5 million and large boulevards. It is also a port city.

We look out upon Maputo from the 23rd floor of a building built by a Turkish construction firm. It is clear that the capital is developing quickly due to work being done on the infrastructure. In recent years, Turkish companies have been involved in much of the building.

In Maputo's Independence Square there stands a statue of Samora Machel, who helped bring independence to Mozambique but died in a mysterious plane crash in 1986. In the same square there is also a large Portuguese-built cathedral and the Maputo municipal building.

Here in Mozambique, people use vehicles they call “shapa”-- essentially shared taxis -- to get around. Many rush to the door to get into shapas, not wanting to miss them, as sometimes they come very irregularly. There are also many motorcycles in traffic here, largely brought to the country by Pakistanis and Indians. In Mozambique, though, people call motorcycles “chopella.”

The train station in Maputo is notable; it is said by some to be the world's seventh most beautiful train station. You can catch a train going to Zimbabwe, South Africa or Swaziland from here. Maputo also boasts its famous Workers' Square with a large statue of a woman, which is dedicated to those who lost their lives fighting in World War I. We visit the open market where people buy and sell fruits and vegetables in Maputo; this market has been here since 1901.

The widest boulevard in Maputo is Edward Mondlen Boulevard. The wideness of the thoroughfares is noteworthy in Maputo; it is a distinctive feature of this city and one that harkens back to the socialist period.

The coastlines of Mozambique are known for the incredible effect of their tide levels; sometimes the ocean waters recede a full two to three kilometers at low tide. And when the tide is all the way down, you can expect to find lots of people flooding the shorelines, looking for crabs and other sea creatures left behind as the water goes back into the ocean.

A view of the capital Maputo (Photo: Saim Orhan)

A mosque in Maputo (Photo: Saim Orhan)

Independence Square and the statue of Samora Machel (Photo: Saim Orhan)
 

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QUICK FACTS

MOZAMBIQUE

Capital: Maputo
Ethnic groups: African 99.66 percent (Makhuwa, Tsonga, Lomwe, Sena, and others), Europeans 0.06 percent, Euro-Africans 0.2 percent, Indians 0.08 percent
Languages:  Emakhuwa 25.3 percent, Portuguese (official) 10.7 percent, Xichangana 10.3 percent, Cisena 7.5 percent, Elomwe 7 percent, Echuwabo 5.1 percent, other Mozambican languages 30.1 percent (1997 census)
Government:  Republic
Chief of state: President Armando Emilio Guebuza (since Feb. 2, 2005)
Head of government: Prime Minister Alberto Clementino Antonio Vaquina (since Oct. 8, 2012)
Area: 799,380 square kilometers
Population: 24,692,144 (July 2014 est.)
Gross domestic product (PPP): $28.15 billion (2013 est.)
Religions: Roman Catholic 28.4 percent, Muslim 17.9 percent, Zionist Christian 15.5 percent, Protestant 12.2 percent (includes Pentecostal 10.9 percent and Anglican 1.3 percent), other 6.7 percent, none 18.7 percent, unspecified 0.7 percent (2007 est.)