Matogoro

Most of today was spent with government partners planning a funding proposal to tackle human-elephant conflict. This was far too technical for a Sunday, so we rewarded ourselves with a late afternoon trip to Matogoro Forest Reserve, which contains the source of the Ruvuma River, the waterway that underpins the landscape we focus on in our transboundary initiative.

The Tanzania Forest Service manages the block of forest, and we were accompanied by Grace, a technician from that agency. She was principally interested in being a member of the paparazzi, papping me for an Instagram story if I so much as breathed. Despite this intrusion, we explored the Reserve including the steep path that leads to the humble spring from which the eventually mighty Ruvuma emerges. I tasted its water and it was pure and earthy.

At the rocky top of Matogoro the wind was cold and the views wide. The government has erected this observation tower, which was good for additional height, but was a swaying death trap. That didn’t stop Grace snapping away as we clung on for balance.