After a long pause, here's some CHRISTMAS news!
It’s hard to feel Christmas time here, as it’s hot and sunny and in the North most of the population is Muslim (the big party of the end of Ramadan, “Eid”, has happened already). However, we will be in Maputo for Xmas eve where we hope to eat "bacalhau" and "bolo rei" (the Portuguese delicassies of the season)!

The project
Our work here is going well: we are in discussions with investors to bring hotels to this World Heritage Site Island and have secured the authorities support to convert landmark public buildings into historic hotels (including one beautiful neoclassical hospital, to be converted, while a new hospital for the local population is built nearby). The goal is for tourism to create 2000 jobs in the next 10 years, in a community of c. 50.000 people. We have started colaborating with an investor in the creation of a animal reserve and beach lodge. We are also trying to set an auction of ruins for foreign investors and use the proceeds to create a credit line for local residents to restore their houses.

The people
We have met some exceptional people, both island residents and foreigners that visit: the religious leader of the island, that tells us that during Ramadan men are not allowed to think about women other their wives (to which his wife promptly replies “yeah, it should be Ramadan everyday”); the curator of the African collection of the Bristish Museum going clubbing with the local Museum director; the enthusiastic conservation officer that has climber Kilimanjaro; the eminent historian that has been in the jury of the island “Fat Lady Competition”… reality and fantasy a bit more blurred around here!

Mozambicans are extremely hospitable and polite, and there is endless comedy moments on cultural differences and mutual curiosity (for example, “girlfriend” here is the name for mistress, as it is common for men to have a wife and (a) girlfriend(s), so people keep asking Rory, “if that is your girlfriend, where is your wife?”)

Island life
Island life is still fantastic, a mix of the slow rhythm of an African rural community and the eccentricities of the foreigners that have chosen to live here: there is a Sunday brunch and daiquiris in a restaurant owned by a Swedish lady; there’s G&T’s by the pool of a small charm hotel of Italian/French owners and fish gratin and mutton tagine in the French restaurant.
We must be the only people who have come here and gained weight (!!) despite our attempts at exercising and the recurrent stomach upset. Rory can now cook perfect coconut and seafood curries and (almost) speak Portuguese.

Rory has gotten malaria and I've gottern gastroenteritis (but we're fine now), we’ve been on the 8 o’clock news of TV Mozambique in an interview about our project (!!! V funny, one has to bear in mind that the other news were about “tomato farmers worried” and “vegetable oil saleswoman arrested”…:-)

The travel
After Zanzibar, we are still trying to make it to the most remote part of Mozambique, Lake Niassa, and will he be heading to Cape Town and Vic Falls for New Year's, for a final big trip!