MAPUTO, Mozambique– The owners had extolled the many advantages of that apartment, right on the upscale Avenida Julius Nyerere, the best address in Maputo, (at least in those days), and not far from the luxurious Polana Hotel and the gym and swimming pool that I used there.
The apartment was on the 8th floor and, unique feature in a Maputo high rise building at that time, the elevator was actually working, every day. The owners pointed out to me that below, on the right hand side, one could see the roof top and the large garden of the US Ambassador residence.
But in the end I had chosen that apartment because of its two spacious balconies and the open view over the glorious Indian Ocean. When I had first visited the place it was around midday. The sun was high and its reflections created bright silvery sparkles on the small ocean waves. I thought all of that to be quite beautiful.
My first night in the new place was pleasant and peaceful. Upon waking up, very early the next morning, there was first light in the sky. Everything had a grey-blue tinge and it looked almost foggy.
And then, all of a sudden, quite surprisingly, slowly and majestically the sun emerged from the Indian Ocean, right in front of me. At first it was just a pale orange ball; but it soon turned bigger and brighter, rising up in the sky, illuminating the whole Bay and the calm sea.
In the stillness of that early morning, standing on my balcony, feeling the slight chill of a light breeze on my face, I was transfixed by the beauty of the warm sun, emerging from the Ocean and progressively coloring all things.