Maputo's Street Names

[Note: I actually wrote this post while deployed in Mozambique from Sep to Dec 2016. I left it as a draft and did not really develop the blog as I wanted to. I've lost so many written notes on places I've visited so I decided today to work on this blog.]

In Maputo (at least in the area where I stayed), it is rare to find street signs at street corners, on poles, like in most cities I've visited. This has disoriented me during my first few days in Maputo when walking from A to B. I would have the street names and directions in my head from browsing Maputo on Google Maps but once I stepped out onto the streets, I got a bit lost as I tried to look for the street names on poles. I soon learned to look instead for plaques on concrete walls.

Beyond navigation though, the names of major avenues in Maputo remind me of the socialist and communist ideological inspirations for the revolutionary movement in Mozambique. To go downtown, I almost always walked down Av. Kim Il Sung or Av. Vladimir Lenine, both of which run into Av. Mao Tse Tung which is joined by Av. Salvador Allende. Further on, I could take Av. Karl Marx which runs into Av. Ho Chi Minh and if I walk towards the beach, I could stroll along Av. Friedrich Engels.

Beside these familiar names in history are street names in honor of men who played pioneering roles in the independence movements of other countries in Africa: Av. Julius Nyerere (Tanzania), Av. Kenneth Kaunda (Zambia), Av. Patrice Lumumba (Congo), Av. Marien Ngouabi (Congo), Av. Ahmed Sekou Toure (Guinea), Amilcar Cabral (Guinea-Bissau), Agostinho Neto (Angola), Av. Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana).

And, of course, Mozambique's own revolutionary heroes are also given tribute through streets named after them: Av. Eduardo Mondlane (FRELIMO's founder), Av. Samora Machel (1st President), Av. Josina Machel (Samora's first (?) wife but was also a key figure in the struggle for independence) , Av. Joaquim Chissano (2nd President),  Av. Emillia Dausse, Av. Tomas Nduda, Av. Armando Tivane and so on.

As if to set these intersecting names in historical time, a few major avenues in Maputo are named after important dates in the country's revolutionary history: Av. 25 de Setembro - the Mozambican war of independence officially started on Sep 25, 1964; Av. 24 de Julho - Mozambique's Independence Day; 16 de Junho - Massacre of Mueda; Av. 10 de Novembro (Maputo Day).