Warm bag

The reason for the current mad dash by road to southern Tanzania is because I have been invited by a partner organisation to spend time in Niassa Special Reserve, northern Mozambique. This was a stomping ground during my last role and I am excited about returning to talk about some of the transboundary conservation issues.

In Songea in the morning I crossed paths with an American consultant who is doing some work with some team members this week. We had an animated political discussion over coffee during which she described Trump as a ‘warm bag of sh*t.’ Which I enjoyed.

From Songea the journey south to the Mozambican border is remote. Nearing the frontier my phone received a ‘welcome to Vietnam’ message and I wondered what nefarious racket could be going on in this distant corner of either Tanzania or Mozambique involving foreign tycoons and resource extraction.

The border posts to exit Tanzania and enter Mozambique were friendly and efficient contrary to my expectations and natural cynicism. Now I know the crossing is simple, I will do it again on future field trips.

In the small village of Segundo Congresso for one night, my evening was very bug-riddled especially at dusk and for the immediate hours after. Termites yomped in all directions, whilst giant ants, scorpions and assorted other critters raced around. However, insects have early bedtimes, and I appreciate that about them. The family of timid mongooses passing by was the highlight.