Miradouro

I spent the morning, thrillingly, at the airport, meeting up with a key partner in the National Conservation Administration, who was passing through the capital and wanted to throw some ideas around. As I won’t see him for a long time otherwise, it was strategic to meet, reinforce elements of our partnership and reach agreement on certain tasks. It’s exactly this sort of thing that makes a defined work/life balance a more irrelevant concept here.

The weather was surprisingly drab and damp today, which was fine as I remained indoors mostly wrapping up work priorities before leave. I spent a few hours in the afternoon with a pal, a counterpart who manages another conservation NGO country office. These are always interesting and entertaining chats and Jim likes a beer or several, so it was some much needed relaxation. Jim’s wife is Brazilian and they met there, so it was great to get some Bolsonaro coping tips ready for my imminent journey.

I was messaging my landlady Helena about the neighbours as there seems to have been some movement in the adjacent apartment. I think an older member of the family has shipped out, replaced by lots of noise, skulking and more random characters passing by than seems to be the norm. Helena, who is based several hundred kilometres further north with her family, strangely in the evening rang the doorbell to say hello and introduce her niece visiting from California. Helena tutted about ‘Africa people’ when I mentioned the loud neighbours. It was a funny comment coming from a Mozambican woman.

The view is of what is perhaps over grandly termed miradouro (viewpoint), given the decrepit benches and mounds of rotting trash in the bushes below. It’s located on Avenida Friedrich Engels (ha!) and is a popular zone for people to loaf at all times of the day, usually when couples need a bit of privacy from prying family members.