Tofo, Mozambique

We flew into Tofo, Mozambique…ran into “travel snafu #3000”….we got onto one plane, and our luggage was put on another. Yes, on purpose. They had two flights going to the same town, one 30 minutes after the other. So our arranged taxi driver got impatient waiting for the luggage to arrive and left. Lucky for us, he did come back, but in the meantime we were panicking about how to get to this small beach town.

The picture above shows the “market” which is the main street of the village. You can purchase fruit, vegetables, snacks and liquor.

That evening we wandered through Tofo….on one side is the ocean and on the other is this wetland. Very beautiful at sunset! We were excited to find a few bars and restaurants, as well as internet café’s (although the internet NEVER worked the entire time we were there…argh).

The view from the deck at our lodge, Casa Berry. Unfortunately our small casita had a view of the dusty parking lot.

Dive boats getting put into the water. Tofo is very well known for diving….manta rays and whale sharks are there specialties! My life goal was to swim with a whale shark…and the best way to do that is to snorkel. So we set off with a boat full of tourists and a guest marine biologist. She would be swimming with the shark to get some data.

Disclaimer: this is NOT our photo...I got it off the internet...we did not have an underwater camera. We ended up swimming with FIVE sharks throughout the two hour time period. The first was a HUGE male (23 feet long), then a young male and a large (and rare…80% seen are males) female. They are the largest and deepest diving fish in the world. I can’t explain what it’s like to swim RIGHT next to an immense yet gentle creature. They are as curious as we are….they approached the boat and gave it a look, and half the time I couldn't get away from them! They would swim right at me…as I desperately back paddled away! Ahhh…happiness.

I titled this photo “Eve biting into the apple”. We decided to take a month off of drinking alcohol. The only issue is that Africa has limited soda and juices. Part of my reason for cutting out alcohol was to be healthy….but drinking high sugar soda and juices isn’t helping me reach that goal. We arrived at this restaurant only to find that they were out of Coke Light…so I rebelled with a margarita. So much for willpower.

This is a chapa….the major mode of transportation in Africa. The credit card machines in town weren’t working (big surprise...the power also goes out every few hours) so we needed an ATM. Turns out the only ATM is 5km out of town. Chapa it is. The ride there was uneventful….but we had noted the chapas coming the other direction were packed to the gills. Sure enough, after waiting on the side of the road for 30 minutes, here comes a chapa with about 15 locals in it. They opened the sliding door and FOUR of us had to stand in the space between the door and the seats. Next time you get into a minivan…check out how much space that is. Now, granted…the sliding door was open….so Dean was able to stick his butt outside…hanging on to the side of the van with his fingernails. (Don’t worry Mom's…we didn’t go THAT fast).

How could I resist? Two of these guys come walking down the main street in their speedo’s, and they did not appear to be heading to the beach. As Lonely Planet says, “Try not to look like a tourist”. Hmmmm…..they have some work to do. Now on to Madagascar! It can only get more interesting.