Habiba

Today was a stonker of a day. Right old bobby dazzler.

We went with the potential funders and one of the government partners to a state-managed reserve in the landscape which I had never previously visited but which I have seen from across the Ruvuma River on the Mozambique side.

Ostensibly the visit to Lukwika Lumesule Game Reserve was to assess the government’s proposed project activities, including construction of culverts to make roads more passable in the rainy season. For us it was a delightful day as it wasn’t us answering donor questions, leaving us freer to lap up the stunning surroundings.

We climbed up a rocky outcrop to a site known as Habiba Cave, so named after a local woman who committed adultery and then disappeared. Everyone thought she was dead until she was found later in the cave. The husband sympathised, forgave her and now Habiba Cave is famed as somewhere to come to resolve marital problems.