Bela vista

We relocated from a hotel to an Airbnb apartment so we could settle a bit more permanently for the week that Ali is still with me in Maputo. The apartment has these fantastic views, but it doesn't currently have a functional lift. It was comically heavy carting my various baggage to the 14th floor but through a combination of myself and the unfortunate porter on duty, we managed it, sweatily. The Airbnb host turned up whilst we were struggling around the 12th floor and when the porter later said she'd only offered him a meagre tip, I slipped him a bit more.

The days here continue to be packed out. We had lunch with a World Bank stalwart who knows a lot about Mozambique and who was happy to share perspectives. I'm getting excited about visiting one of the country's most unique landscapes - Chimanimani National Reserve in central-western Mozambique on the border with Zimbabwe - at the end of the month. It's going to be one of the focal sites for our efforts in the next few years.

I went with one of our government counterparts to a late afternoon event at the French-Mozambican cultural centre, where they are showing free short films. One talked about the community work on agriculture that the government is doing in the Chimanimani buffer zone, and another talked about clearing forest to plant soya somewhere in the north of the country, as Mozambique has been dependent on imports of this crop. The two films were worlds apart in their attitudes to the environment. The soya cultivation that was profiled has provided more lucrative and steady income for 32 farmers, and, conveniently forgetting that women are often the backbone of agriculture in rural Africa, we were told that apparently even they are able to learn the skills of soya farming.

Soya cultivation razes forest and whilst celebrating the reduced need to spend on imported soya, the film didn't depict the financial and other impacts of this monoculture on watersheds, pollination, wildlife, and other things that contribute to healthy productive ecosystems and livelihoods. This is essential for governments to factor into their land use plans or it's more short-term gain over long-term damage.

A frantic early evening trying to get some supplies for our apartment, and a race against time before the supermarket closed. We were nearly thwarted by one-way systems and corrupt police but managed to grab bread, peanut butter and dried mango. Essentials for any kitchen. Things calmed down but we were still crowded around our laptops for the whole evening.