The First Seventy Years: Chapter 84 - A Vivid City
Eric Biddulph samples life in Swaziland.
Eric’s book The First Seventy Years can be obtained for £10 by contacting http://mary@bike2.wanadoo.co.uk or telephoning 01484-658175.
All the cash raised by the book goes to a water aid project in Malawi.
The heat of the capital persuaded us to spend the afternoons indoors. A visit to the Natural History Museum revealed a need for additional resources to be made available to the curator and his staff of taxidermists to improve the appearance of the many indigenous stuffed animals on display. I doubt if the museum had received much funding since colonial days.
Amongst the exhibits was a collection of elephant foetuses displaying each stage of the twenty two months gestation. It is reputed to be the only display of its kind in the world. The catholic cathedral was a splendid contemporary structure in the centre of the city.
The capital for most of the colonial period was Mozambique Island in the far north of the country. The Portuguese only adopting this area originally called Lourenco Marques after a Portuguese trader just over a hundred years ago when the British and the Boers in South Africa began to take an interest in it.
The Museum of the Revolution was closed on the day we attempted a visit but the long walk to reach it along the Avenida 24 de Mho was not in vain. It enabled us to experience the sights and sounds of this vibrant city.
