I bought some wine with my last Mitikai

If corrugated iron were the national currency Mozambique would be a rich country. The shacks and shanties of its suburbs are plated with the stuff, half-buried, it seems, in the intermittent malaria-ridden swamps that encircle the city of Maputo. I’m actually on my way out now, waiting for the South African airways flight that will take me back to Jozi and my transfer to Cape Town.

My two nights in Maputo have been somewhat of a drag. But an intriguing drag, if drags can be intriguing without becoming something more interesting. The conference wasn’t much use. I’ll didn’t get a scoop, just a bog standard and even somewhat old-news story.

But, I feel, I gained something much more important. Exposure with the bods who call the shots in the African Union, who so far have seemed somewhat suspicious of my little venture. Now I’ve got an invitation secured for the congress of scientists in Alexandria at the end of October – and face-to-name time with people like Dr Tema, director of the AU Human Resources, Science and Technology directorate. I’ve realized that, with most of the stuff being written about Africa coming from outside of Africa, being THERE is what really counts with these guys.

This is a lovely place, I will come back. The light is altogether softer than in South Africa. It must be the humidity tempering the sun. And the seas are warm and calm. At high tide, barely a foot-high wall keeps the ocean at bay. It makes it feel like the city is sinking.

It reminds me of Goa. The palm trees, the warm seas, the low-rise buildings, the potholed roads. And, in the place you’d least expect it – Maputo airport, little more than a barn – a free wireless internet connection…

Pictures coming soon!