Pesado

Heavy. Today we went around with some other visitors who are assessing damage to the Reserve’s infrastructure - roads and bridges - following Cyclone Idai. It was a fascinating day of witnessing the force of nature. The terrain was tough last time I visited in December, but the storm has mashed up the roads much more, especially where stream and river crossings have caved in. After the damage became too serious, we walked the final several kilometres towards the ranger post at Chikukwa, where the forest zone gets more humid and closed and is known as ‘afromontane’ habitat. We couldn’t reach all the way as the River Mussapa Grande, one of the Reserve’s principal waterways, was impassable. Minor highlights of the walk were seeing how frogspawn had capitalised on newly formed pools, and that we could obtain fresh water from new springs spouting from rockfalls.

On another road towards the remote community of Mahate, we picked up the guy shown in this picture with baggage. He was reaching the end of his journey home from South Africa’s Limpopo Province, on leave from his job in maintenance. He’s Mozambican but doesn’t speak Portuguese, like many in remote rural areas, and had come over the Chimanimani Mountains on foot from the Zimbabwe side. The few households who live in the Reserve would usually rely on passing government vehicles for lifts. Another secondary impact of the cyclone is that destinations are now completely cut off, making some people’s lives even tougher.

As we reached another destroyed bridge and could drive no further, I asked him how much walking he would have until his destination. ‘25 kilometres. That’s not far’, he shrugged, and lit up a cigarette to fuel himself. I felt his luggage and it weighed around 20 kilograms. A tough cookie.