Polana Serena Hotel Mozambique

... our way back to the hotel and got an early night in.<br><br>On arrival at the bus station it transpired that we needed to buy a ticket the day before and all the seats were booked up - however, we could go i the aisle if we wanted. We thought about it and got on the bus - paying 600 Meticals each (plus another 200 for the bags) we crammed onto this bus and tried to sit in the aisle. This didn't work for long as it seemed that half of Tete wanted to join us in ...

... and/or forget to take an identity photo..<br><br> - Tipo local rot gut rum<br><br> - Chapas local mini buses and the only way of getting out of Tofo, most seem to come to Mozambique to die and are falling to bits. They nominally seat 12 but we've had 23 in one bus and sometimes you get chickens and goats!<br><br> - how brilliant everyone at Tofo Scuba were, and the moment ...

... thatched roof tops with hoses damping them down and one of the guest houses emptied all of their furniture on to the beach. Which was all very worrying to come back to when we got back from dinner in town. It was all very dramatic! and everyone was worried the backpackers lodge opposite the fire was going to catch, but they cleared some of the brush and found a few hoses and the wind died down too so it all calmed down. I did get some ...

... it, as it meant we could get into the water sooner. So far I've done a handful of reserch dives - mostly counting and identifying fish, we had to learn 60 different varieties - which was a bit too much like hard work and came as something of a shock, but its nice to know what you're looking at as opposed to just being impresed by all the pretty colours!<br><br>I did my first deep dive yesterday - which was ...

... and then surviving a 5 hour journey with people and bags stuffed into every conceivable space so that it's not possible to move (probably the only safety feature that the bus has), then getting off at some junction town in the middle of nowhere where twenty people try to sell you cashew nuts by crowding around and thrusting them in your face (and they really don't seem to understand no), catching a pickup truck (sorry Mum but I held on really tight) to take us the ...

... it but we could not touch it as they can get a disease! It was huge but the instructor said that was a baby!!! So we should be able to see even bigger ones! We saw four sharks, they were gorgeous! We got back with a BIG grin on our faces as we never expected to see one in our lives! We had a really relaxing day and in the evening we had supper. I had an octopus which I had never tried it in my entire life as I thought it would be the most disgusting food ...

... The drivers were amazingly efficient in this comically inefficient system. Tofo was worth the trip. Within 30 minutes of getting off the shuttle, Ray was enjoying a beer from an Adirondack chair while watching huge whales surface just offshore. Better yet, we were the only residents in the lodge for every night but our first. We stayed in a large beach cabana just behind the dunes with wood fired hot water from 4 to 7 PM and electricity ...

... we had to guard everything so the monkeys didn't steal it! After we drove to the border and crossed without too much fuss. The change after the border was fascinating - within a few hundred metres we left tarred roads and drove straight onto dirt roads complete with cows, goats and huts! So, we are still sat here - we have a very long way to go, so I have no idea how far we will get today - definitely not to to coast anyway! Monday Well ...

... by the lodge in Maputo. With the taxi driver agreeing at the airport to take me to the Residencial MonteCarlo for a set price of 70 meticas (local currency), it soon became clear he had no idea nor intention of taking me to my desired location, nor at a price that we had agreed. Ten minutes later, and 100 meticas (equivalent of 4 bucks) lighter, I was dropped off at Hotel Lurio, aka Roach Motel. Trust me folks, this place barely gets a ...

... we really wanted to see Jo'burg. We were feeling pretty traveled, but the thought of leaving South Africa without having seen its largest city didn't seem right. We were close enough and this was probably our only chance. So we e-mailed the Afrikaner guys from Pretoria we had met in Maputo. Riaan e-mailed us back offering us a place to stay and to show us around Pretoria and Jo'burg. So on ...