Cargo

As I’ve been making incremental progress with reducing the number of hours spent working, when something big and unavoidable is looming, it now feels like a major imposition and my sleep suffers. Perhaps this can be termed progress towards setting boundaries with some unfortunate lapses.

My current visit to Mozambique is ending and I’m journeying back to Tanzania today. At immigration the official had trouble understanding whether the period 29 August - 16 September left me in excess of the 30-day limit. After that administrative hurdle I charged up with a final cup of strong Mozambican coffee and checked out the prawn display.

I lacked the bombastic confidence of the saleswoman who reckoned a two kilogram box of frozen prawns (increasingly unfrozen) would be simple to get through customs in Tanzania six hours later. I declined to make a purchase, but I did snap the freezer as I left. I remain steeped in British norms, therefore after engaging a shop worker in discussion and not partaking in a financial transaction, it’s ever so difficult to walk out. The photo signalled that I appreciated the time she spent engaging with me, and that I admired the beauty of her prawns.

Back in Dar es Salaam, normal service was resumed. The taxi journey is always long as Dar is one of Africa’s mega-cities.

In the evening a long work call to finalise some technical details for our proposal. Then I ordered some chicken and cried into it whilst watching shaky YouTube uploads of that gorgeous programme Long Lost Family. Not in a morose way, to be clear, but because that show is always insanely moving.