Unidade / Umoja

Unity.

‘The friendliest border I’ve ever seen’ proclaimed Dennis after our visit to the Unity Bridge, the major border crossing over the Ruvuma River between Mozambique and Tanzania. That’s the Mozambique effect for you Den, I thought. Although my rose-tinted specs are pushed firmly into the flesh of my face as I’ve had some distinctly unfriendly interactions with Mozambique government staff. I was mainly feeling over-excited at being able to chinwag with Mozambican border officials in Portuguese as the ability to banter in Swahili is some way off.

A Tanzanian official took us underneath into the innards of the bridge and explained that the construction allows the structure to contract and expand in the harsh climate. I think it was the first time I’ve poked around with a torch inside a bridge.

We are on a long journey back towards Dar es Salaam, although in a very daft way, I’ve got to go straight to another meeting in another city. The first challenge was to overnight in Lindi, on the south coast.