Stuck in Tofo
Trip Start
Feb 20, 2007
1
34
38
Trip End
Jun 2007
Tofo,
Mozambique
Monday, May 28, 2007
I slept about two hours after my birthday celebrations in my hot little room in Chimoio with no mosquito net but plenty of mosquitoes. My bus left at half three in the morning, so I had to be there for about 2.45. This meant walking through the market area, with lots of undesirable types skulking around in the shadows. The stray dogs, who keep to themselves by day, rule the night here. As I rounded a corner I got the fright of my life as three of them started bounding towards me (from behind), barking angrily. I have been afraid of dogs since being bitten by a stray as a child, but this was not the time to get scared. I turned, faced them, and stamped my foot, preparing myself mentally to fight them if necessary. Remarkably, my aggression was sensed, and they immediately backed off, and left me continue.
The bus ride south was not the most scenic, as just as dawn broke a heavy fog descended, and I could see little more than the trees on the side of the road. Mozambique is a very flat, low country, and even when that fog lifted I could only see the palm tree forests that lined the sides of the road. As we passed by Vilanculos, roughly half way up the coast of Mozambique, I noticed the destruction that a cyclone had caused when it hit this area a few months ago. All the trees were bent sideways, and the road had been washed away in places. The only houses standing were makeshift huts that must have been constructed in the interim; apparently the tourist town of Vilanculos was completely destroyed.
Just before arriving in Maxixe, where I got off the bus, I caught a glimpse of the Indian Ocean, coloured grey under a cloudy sky. My heart lifted immediately - I feel at home when by the sea, and it was the first time I had seen it since Ireland. At Maxixe I got a ferry across the harbour to Inhambane, a pleasant little town with so many old Portuguese buildings that it feels like something from the past. Here I hungrily devoured a meal, not having eaten since the previous night, and caught a chapa (the local version of a matatu) to Tofo, bumping along the road to Tofo, about 25km away.
Tofo is a little tourist town set on a white sand beach, onto which spectacular, barreling waves crash, with sandy streets and palm trees. I made my way to Fatima's Backpackers, where I would stay for my time here. The lodge is made up of thatched dorms and huts, set on the dunes, with wonderful views of the beach that stretches for miles in each direction. Although Tofo is quite touristy it is still very underdeveloped, and the beach is relatively deserted at all times. There are only two lodges aimed at backpackers, and the more upmarket tourists (mainly South Africans) stay in a different area, which suited me fine.
What I loved most about Tofo was the people I met there. Up to this point in my trip I had avoided backpacker places, as the type of backpackers I met were usually pretty boring people, with whom I had the same uninteresting conversations (Where are you from? Where are you going? Where have you been?). For whatever reason, the people I met in Tofo were mostly intelligent, like-minded people. I found myself sitting on the beach many a time talking politics, philosophy, history, and all sorts of intellectual conversations. The banter was also there, a happy mix. I have made some friends there that I feel will be friends for life.
After having traveled on my own for so long I also relished the company of others. I noticed a change of sorts in my personality when I was in Tofo, which I at first thought was brought on by the place itself. After much reflection I decided that Tofo itself did not cause the change, but it was something I first noticed there, as a result of projecting myself through frequent socializing. Travel will always change a person, as it broadens the mind by forcing it to come to terms with everything new you see every day. I took time to reflect on all this in Tofo, and to reflect on my trip as it draws to a close. I came, as everyone does, with preconceptions of what Africa is, or should be, and now I will leave with a completely different picture of the reality. Of course, what I believe to be Africa or African is not yet a full understanding, and only my impressions of a whirlwind tour of the continent. No one, except perhaps an African, could ever fully understand this magical corner of the Earth.
On my second day in Tofo I went on a whale shark snorkeling trip, which meant heading out on a speedboat to try to find these enormous fish, and then to jump out and swim alongside them. We were led by Andy, an English volunteer researcher who is studying these creatures in Tofo. He was one of these people who is so passionate about his work that it was infectious, and within minutes of meeting him all our group suddenly shared his love for whale sharks. Off we went, a group of about ten of us, on what was to be a trip so wonderful that Andy said it was the best he had been on in his five months in Tofo.
Within minutes of heading we saw five dolphins, and slowed down near them, hoping to be able to swim with them. They were having none of it, however, and as soon as we all had awkwardly splashed into the water they were nowhere to be seen. After a minute or so of hunting for them we were about to climb back into the boat. Then the shout went out - someone had seen a whale shark below them. I quickly swam over to where they were, and then could see the enormous fish, about five metres below the surface. At first I was not overly impressed, because the visibility was poor and rendered it to be just a distant shadow. A few minutes later it came closer to the surface, and I began to realize the beauty and gracefulness of it. They swim slowly enough, with sweeps of the tail, that it is easy to keep up with them, and the use of the snorkel and mask meant we could watch them all the time. It was possible to hold one's breath and dive down within touching distance, and swim alongside them, admiring the pattern of white spots that is unique to each whale shark.
When bored with one we climbed onto the boat, and looked for another, which usually took no more than a minute. The last one we swam with was only a metre below the surface, so it was possible to actually swim underneath him, or in front of him, looking into his enormous mouth. The whale sharks we saw were all between seven and ten metres long - up to five times the length of my body! We saw nine of them in total - most groups that go out are usually lucky to see two or three, spending most of the time on the boat looking for them. We also saw five manta rays, huge rays which have a wing span of up to five metres, and are bigger than the roof of a very large car. These were lower down, however, and hard to see.
I also signed up to do a diving course, my Advanced PADI course, which involved doing five dives, each teaching me a particular specialty. These were drift diving (learning to dive in currents), deep diving, fish awareness, enriched air diving, and underwater navigation. I did a dive every day, apart from two days, where the sea was too rough for us to get out into the water. The diving around Tofo is said to be some of the best in the world, and it certainly lived up to its reputation. Once submerged under the sea a whole new world reveals itself, with colourful tropical fish, giant eels, lobsters, turtles, stingrays, manta rays, whale sharks and beautiful coral. Diving is a lot like flying weightlessly; with minimal effort you can float along where you want, rising and falling by controlling your breathing, and moving with little flicks of your fins. The currents around Tofo are usually very strong, but this is used to your advantage, you drift with the current, meaning you have to expend hardly any energy at all.
On one of the dives we met a huge manta ray about ten minutes before we had to surface. With a wing span of about 4m, it flew (they use their wings to actually "fly", albeit very slowly, underwater) in circles around us, very curious and completely unafraid of us. We all held onto rocks on the bottom, balancing ourselves in the current, and admiring its spectacular beauty. After a few minutes of this, it turned, and faced me, making direct eye contact. I grew a little worried as it started to approach me, never having actually found out if mantas are dangerous to humans or not (they aren't, in fact). It came closer and closer, until it was only two metres away from me, and then swept upwards, flying slowly over my head, within arm's reach. All my fear vanished as it went over me, and wonder washed over me as I saw its enormous white underside. Every once in a while nature shares these incredible moments of beauty with us, moments which will be remembered forever, and which put you on a high which make you love life, and whatever force created it.
And so I passed my days in Tofo relaxing, reading, talking with friends, body-boarding, swimming, sitting on the beach watching the waves, eating good food, drinking cold beers, dancing at night or sitting around bonfires listening to African drums. It was two of the happiest weeks of my life. The price I have to pay is that my trip will be rushed from here on in, so rushed that I won't be able to stop and get to know many of the places I will see. If that is the price to be paid for two weeks in paradise, then it is worth it.
