Rob(ert)

A 4am start to catch a flight to Niassa Province in northern Mozambique. Maputo’s streets were full of people out power-walking at 4.30am. They have more discipline in their little toes than I can ever hope to attain.

The flight was almost scuppered as the office had booked the ticket under the passenger name of Rob, whereas my passport states Robert. The computer said no, and despite it being 5am, I was told by the agent that the only way it could be resolved would be for the travel agency to amend the name on the system. When I said it was too early, the response was a shrug. A colleague did heroically help out, but at the eleventh hour I was permitted to flash another form of photo ID. Apparently my Tanzania staff card was all that was needed all along. Go figure.

In Lichinga, the capital of Niassa, we kickstarted our ten-day itinerary with meetings with the provincial environment authorities. Some useful snippets of strategy and priorities were harvested, before we moved onto standing in front of the bank for two hours whilst a colleague tried to extricate the funds we needed for the trip. He was unsuccessful and was told to come back tomorrow.

Eventually I could walk and reacquaint myself with Lichinga, which is an obscure place but full of hustle and bustle, a sunny highland climate and the sort of energy that comes with the rapid pace of development seen in most of Mozambique’s provincial capitals.