Old Lorenco Marques - The City Of Acacias

Then Called Polana Beach, Maputo, Mozambique

Something new and a little bit of old every day of your life. Seems like a good philosophy to me.

In this picture a view of Polana Beach in Maputo in the 1950's, also known as Lourenco Marques, capital of Mozambique.

Maputo is known as the City of Acacias in reference to the many acacia trees commonly found along its avenues. Another name given to it is the Pearl of the Indian Ocean. It was famous for the inscription "This is Portugal" on the walkway of its municipal building.

In this picture we see a partial view of Lourenco Marques commercial zone in the 1950's

Old Lourenco Marques - because it does really not look as sleepy as this anymore. Today it is a port city on the Indian ocean with its economy centered around the harbour and an estimated 9 % annual growth rate. 

Close to 1 800.000 million people live in Maputo. It is estimated that 80% of the city's population lives in slums without running water or electricity but the city has little money to invest in infrastructure.

Inequality in Maputo has grown considerably.

Number Seventeen

I can still feel your elegance

I can almost see the beauty of your youth

I can sense your old school class

 

Number 17 you are beautiful !

I would never lie

I stood  20 minutes right in front of you.

And I had the strange feeling that it was hard to say Good Bye

I was asked by a friend the other day: Why are you so mad about the old houses in this town?

The old colonial house are of an incredible architectural elegance. I am not limited to the colonial architecture in my preferences.There are many styles that I like especially the architecture of modern mid century. But the houses in the older suburbs of East London radiate a class that is hard to imitate even if they are in a condition of total decay and degradation. Like old human beings you can still see they aura clearly. 

OUTSPAN

Outspan

Outspan is a word used in South African language and it is a partial translation from the Afrikaans " uitspan" which has been formed from the words uit (out) and spannen ( to stretch).  According to the dictionary it means:

1. an area on a farm kept available for travelers to rest and refresh animals

2. the act of unharnessing or unyoking

3.to unharness or unyoke (animals)

I have found these old photographs a while ago and they date back to the late 1800's and the beginning of the early 1900's and were taken in East London. They show not the actual OUTSPAN but a place where the ox-wagons that came to town, came to a halt, and were a market was.

Some of these ox-wagons had 12 oxen spanned in. Remember this was a time in Africa when automobiles had only appeared in very scarce numbers on the continent. Fresh vegetables grown on the farms and other products were sold in town. 
Although not of the best quality I find these pictures amazing.They show us a vague glimpse of a time when the first settlers had come to the Eastern Cape, when life was equal to hardship, and when cars and Landrovers did not exist to ease.
They show the lives of the ones who had left their continents in search of whatever it was to come and live somewhere else.