Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, is a fascinating city … noisy, gridlocked,lively, colourful. Emerging from a long civil war, this City of Acacias is a melting pot of Portuguese, Shangaan, Arab and Indian, and increasingly Chinese, influences.
From the Portuguese past.
In many places, fine Portuguese buildings remain in decay or are adapted to accommodate a burgeoning population. The historic Polana Hotel, however, has risen from the ashes and is now set in beautiful grounds overlooking Maputo Bay. Designed by the architect Sir Herbert Baker, a huge influence in South African public buildings such as the Union Buildings in Pretoria, it opened in 1922 “with very few hotels in Europe to equal its conditions.”
The Polana Hotel, Mozambique
During the Second World War, as part of the Portuguese empire, it became notorious as a neutral meeting place for spies and secret agents from Germany, Italy and the Allied Forces. Sitting…
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Old School Garden 