Finish line

Not quite the finish line, but almost. Mixed emotions today as I’m travelling for a couple of weeks’ leave and I need to switch off from work. However tragic news from our project site after another insurgent attack on a village within our area. If people are living through this, the least I can do is be available when needed, so I will reduce laptop time but continue with daily check-ins.

I have long wanted to visit Ilha de Moçambique in the north, famous as the original capital of Mozambique and the first settlement built by the Portuguese. If you’re into your colonial history (through a mixture of horror and fascination) this is the place to head to.

To get there I flew to Nacala, a city on the coast of Nampula Province. The cabin resembled a roasting metal box, had a sad-looking Christmas wreath, a toddler screamed the entire journey, and the soundtrack was of wispy versions of popular pop songs from recent years, such as When We Were Young.

Nacala has a good natural harbour, and is being developed in the mould of an industrial hub. The airport is vastly underused for its size and feels like the sort of facility opened for an Olympics that never happened. And I don’t think Mozambique will host one for the foreseeable. I took an espresso at a café in the airport and one of the staff, Mercia, offered me a lift into the city, as she was off to pick up some Christmas bits. Then I had the afternoon to look around. The city won’t win any tourism prizes but I strolled the main thoroughfares to get a sense of it.