Cocktel

Cocktail.

After travelling through the night, I arrived in Maputo, which is always a grounding moment. I headed for the Baixa area, the city’s downtown, and the original hub of the city, now very dilapidated.

I had booked somewhere close to where I need to be for work in the coming days. The hotel didn’t have a record of me, which led to all sorts of wrangling that we eventually resolved.

I went out to enjoy the quiet streets of Maputo and I met this juice seller in front of Jardim Tunduru. Nossa magia, cocktel africano (our magic, African cocktail), he said, presenting me with a sugar cane juice. It was deliciously refreshing to enjoy on a bench. Afterwards, towards sunset I spent some time watching the fruit bat roosts as they started kicking into action, ready for a busy night of echolocation.