Aquele gordinho

That chubby one.

Whilst I was getting into Paulo’s txopela to head to the airport, a friend of his cadged a lift. The friend enquired after aquele gordinho (that fat one), referring to a fellow txopela driver who is usually stationed at the same corner. I chuckled at the description, which isn’t meant derogatorily here. Paulo then swivelled around whilst navigating traffic to confirm that I too am gordinho. Describing himself as magrinho (skinny), he confirmed that people are either one or the other. There is absolutely no middle ground.

The morning before travel had been fraught with the issue of a laptop battery not holding its charge, and needing to be plugged in to be used. Not ideal when heading to the bush where power is limited to the generator’s operating hours. It wasn’t resolved in time to travel and I generally lurched from one thing to another all day.

As I walked into the domestic terminal I was trying to figure out the last time I’d taken a flight within Mozambique. In the meantime, police officers monitoring the terminal have become more forthright. One by the entrance grilled me on my destination and living arrangements in Maputo, which felt beyond his necessary remit. Then it transpired he was from Mecula District, the same place in the far north of Mozambique that I was headed. Mecula falls entirely within Niassa Reserve, the country’s largest protected area. The conversation quickly shifted from me justifying my movements to whether I’d bring back some carne seca (dried meat) from his beloved Mecula. No, especially because it’s likely to be wild animal meat.

I flew into Nampula, which has these very unique inselbergs around the city. Nampula is what I would describe as Mozambique’s ‘northern powerhouse’, but there the similarity with Manchester ends. I checked into a decent hotel, readying myself for an early start and a trip back into Niassa Reserve after two years away. The project site isn’t connected to the phone network, so some forced offline evenings may be a blessing.