Avenida Mao Tse Tung

I remember this ridiculously named street from previous visits to Maputo, as I would ensconce the volunteer groups on it in a backpacker place called Fatima's. I saw Fatima's today and its old surroundings have changed massively. There was much less traffic a decade ago and the greatest amount of activity on these wide tree-lined streets was cashew nut hawkers clustered on corners. As I don't want to spend inordinate amounts of time arranging taxis, I've often been strolling pleasantly back to the guesthouse after meetings, and although it's warm, it's not leave-you-sweating-for-four-hours warm.

I've been having multiple meetings with legal advisors and other NGOs to try to understand the process of renewing our registration, which has lapsed as no one has been shepherding it from in-country. Attaining clarity is a gradual navigation away from drastically opposing information and filtering out of anomalous advice. People haven't believed me when I've said it, and it remains swirled in a cloud of connections and personal relationships, but Mozambique does have more in the way of clearer processes (as bureaucratic and linear as they may be) than other countries where I've had experience. When I write up my mission notes next week I am hoping some clarity prevails, as I have to report back to the powers that be.

Dinner with a friend working on an agricultural project here, at a Thai restaurant which I later found out had been busted in the past for both drugs and ivory. However it can't be denied that the massaman curry and lemon tea were delicious and the surroundings pleasant: a laid back secluded courtyard with white benches and ample foliage. The non-fancy place that I enjoy, even if a front for illegal racketeering.