Brisa

Breeze.

Strong winds are blowing off Lake Niassa onto the shore. I do like the Portuguese word brisa, which probably has its roots in something Latin that we have anglicised.

A morning of relaxing after a few weeks of much work. After lunch a lakeside stroll in the afternoon heat, which was quite tiring, as the path was mostly just out of reach of the brisa. The destination was the district town of Metangula, about 3.5 hours away, through small fishing communities drying fish on big communal racks. Metangula isn’t exactly a major hub but it’s the biggest settlement on the Mozambican shore of Lake Niassa, and there is a buzz on the main street. I replenished the sweat and exertion with a cool drink.

The cabin where I’m staying teems with cockroaches, spiders, geckos and rats, among a host of smaller critters. However it’s peaceful and I’m grateful for a Friday off work.