My second long-haul flight in August was supposed to be a flight to Recife. But a last minute change set a new heading towards Africa. I already knew Recife very well and Maputo would be a new destination for me so I was rather happy with this swap.
The second good news was that the outbound flight would be operated by the A340 with reg. nr. CS-TOB so all 4 aircraft of this type would now be part of my "logbook" either as a passenger or as an operating crew member.
The flight was almost empty due to the announced pilot's strike that made many passengers to avoid flying that day.
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A340 CS-TOB "D. João de Castro" @ MPM |
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Girassol Indy Congress Hotel & Spa
This was our nice hotel with its cosy villas.
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Mercado Municipal
Mercado Municipal is the main market in Maputo where you can find a little bit of everything!
That includes fresh fish and colorful spices!
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Mercado do Peixe
On the last day some of the crew members went to the fish market where we bought giant tiger prawns for lunch.
And they were so tasty!
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Tiger prawns |
And after the delicious lunch it was time to return to the hotel for a rest before the red-eye flight back to Lisboa.
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Avenida da Marginal |
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TP282
The assigned aircraft was CS-TOK "Padre António Vieira" - an ex-Austrian.
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CS-TOK @ MPM |
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Winglet view just before sunrise |
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Mid galley |
And finally at Lisboa...
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euroAtlantic 767-300ER |
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First Impression of Maputo
Since it was my first time here and the political situation is still not stable and there are some dangers for the tourists, I avoided taking photographs. In some way, I expected a different Maputo from what I witnessed. I always had the idea of Maputo being different from Luanda. I expected people to be more welcoming, the town to be more organized and more beautiful. But I didn't find any of these things. The town itself I found dirty and with many degraded buildings. I was also a little bit frightened to see many railings installed in the windows and balconies - at least until the fifth floor of the highest buildings - creating a feeling of insecurity. Anyway, I liked this first experience in Maputo and I would love to come back soon!