Travel Update #2: From Maputo to Tofo (and on to Vilankulos)

When I last wrote, I was in Maputo, Moçambique, getting ready to leave for Tofo. I had originally planned on leaving Maputo last Thursday, the 25th of October, but when Luis, the manager of The Base Backpackers, told me that there would be a direct door-to-door shuttle on Friday, I decided to stay in Maputo for an extra day. That last day in Maputo was cold and raining, and I spent most of the day indoor, reading at the backpackers. On Friday morning I was up early, and was ready and waiting at the front entrance at 5:30am for the transport, as I was supposed to. Well, 5:30 passed, 5:40, and still no shuttle. Eventually, the guard at the backpackers called a private taxi for me because he was worried I'd miss the buses that leave from Junta (my only option at this point).

I arrived at Junta at about 6:15am...it was as chaotic as I remember it being. My driver and some random dude at junta (who ended up working there in some capacity) spoke for a minute in portugese, and then the other dude opened the door and grabbed my bag. Granted, my bag is pretty heavy, but he tossed it over his head and I had to walk briskly to keep up with him as he led me through the maze of buses to the one going to Inhambane. Eventually I got on a half-sized bus and sat down with my bag. All around me, crowds were moving. I'm used to people at taxi and bus ranks in South Africa selling cold drink and snacks, but at junta, I saw masses of people walking around selling everything imaginable, from baby clothes to fried fish. One guy was walking around selling only two things: mosquito nets and machetes. An interesting combination, I thought.

Eventually we did leave, but the journey was incredibly slow. The bus made numerous unexpected stops, some for no apparent purpose. Once we were out of the Maputo area and into the countryside, we would stop off in random small towns, and women would run up to the bus, offering bananas, tomatoes, or onions to sell. Transactions would be hastily made through the bus windows, and then the bus would lumber away down the road. I knew, with each stop, that I would not get to Tofo within the 7 hours the journey was supposed to take. I had expected to arrive there by 1pm, but that was no longer a possibility.

As the journey went on, the countryside became green and lush. We crossed the Limpopo River, and then the road went bad. It was still a tarred road, but there were so many potholes in it that our bus had to slow down to a near-crawl at many places. It was the first time in my life that I would see an oncoming car swerving back and forth across a perfectly straight road and think to myself, "that's a good driver!"

We began passing wonderful little Moçambican villages. I immediately felt a pang of envy, because these villages looked exactly like the minds-eye picture I had formed before coming to Africa of what my Peace Corps experience would be like. The villages are beautiful--thatch, mud, and palm-tree rondavels and huts set in open clearings surrounded by lush green vegetation, shaded by palm trees, all looking entirely natural and in-place. This is a far cry from the brick and tin-roof villages that are common in South Africa. Whereas South African villages usually detract from the natural beauty of their surroundings (although Tshamahansi is in a very scenic area, nobody can say that it is a pretty village), Moçambican villages actually add to the natural beauty. They seem like extensions of, not infringements on, nature. And, as we neared closer to Inhambane province, the number of palm trees surrounding us grew...there were palm trees, and then more palm trees. We drove through forests of palm-trees; I had never seen anything like that before. Rows upon rows of beautiful cocounut palms.

After 40 minutes spent fixing a flat tire, and other inconveniences, our bus finally pulled into the town of Inhambane at around 2:30pm. I had no idea of where were were or where to go, but someone grabbed my bag and put it into a local bus, and I followed. Once I was on the bus, I asked if the bus was going to Tofo, and was pleased when I heard that it was, indeed. It was a crowded bus, and I stood as we left Inhambane.

A few minutes later, I heard a commotion, and then looked behind me. Just behind me, the bus doors had closed and a man was being dragged by the bus. It turns out he was a drunk old man who had been trying to get off the bus at the previous stop, and then when the bus doors closed, his jacket got caught. Nobody noticed, and then when the bus left, he was dragged. The bus stopped, the doors opened, and the old man collapsed to the ground. He lay there, face-down in the dirt, not moving, as a commotion formed around him. Inside the bus, the rest of us were looking out of the windows. The old man was turned over, and his entire lower leg and foot were a bloody pulpy mess, with skin hanging off of it.

The bus stopped, and we had to wait there until help arrived to take the passed-out bleeding drunk man to the hospital. Once that was taken care of, we continued to Tofo. I didn't arrive at my destination, Bamboozi Backpackers Lodge in Tofo, until almost 4pm. It had been an eventful journey, but I was finally there. I set up my tent on the sand on the Bamboozi property, and was surprised when the first other guests I saw there were Cort and Sam, whom I had just said goodbye to a few days earlier in Maputo! They were on their way back from Vilankulo. I was able to spend a few days in Tofo with them before they returned to South Africa.

Bamboozi Backpackers is a lovely place, shaded by coconut palms, thatch-roof dorms and chalets rising above the foliage heading up a sand dune; the bar/restaurant is atop the sand dune, looking out both on the property and on the Praia Do Tofo (Tofo Beach)--a pristine sandy beach stretching out on both sides.

The Indian Ocean extends to the horizon. And, for the most part, the beach was empty. There weren't too many tourists walking around--only some backpackers here and there. I'm sure that during peak season ( i.e. South African holidays) the place is packed, though....but when I was there, the beach was lovely and calming. The water was warm, the waves were exhilarating, and the sand was soft.

I ended up staying in Tofo for 8 nights, and it was exactly what I needed--a perfect decompression period after my experiences in South Africa. Every day I was up before 6a.m. (the sun rises early in Mozambique). I'd run along the beach in the early morning, feeling the ocean breeze, looking out at the blue horizon. I camped the entire time I was there; originally, I pitched my tent in an open, sandy clearing, but soon discovered that the hot Mozambican sun would heat up my tent to such an extent that my deodorant stick actually melted! I had never known that could even happen--I guess Old Spice High Endurance deodorant isn't really all that "high endurance" after all. After that experience, I moved my tent under some palm trees for shade. And after another experience, when I returned from the bathroom to my tent and found a 2-foot long, bright-green snake slithering inside, I decided to close my tent even if I left for only a moment.

In addition to lounging around onthe beach, I actually accomplished something in Tofo: I learned how to scuba dive. I had never been diving before, and the thought of all that heavy gear weighing me down in the water, where I had limited beathing capacity, had made me apprehensive in the past. Coupled with my history of lung issues, I didn't think I could do it. But I did. I took the PADI Open Water course, which involved 5 knowledge sessions, complete with reviews, quizzes, and a final exam at the end. Then I had to swim 200m and tread water for 10 minutes. I then had to complete 5 pool (confined) dives, where I learned how to do all of the routine things that scuba divers do--breathe underwater, maintain buoyancy, clear flooded masks, etc.

Once that was done, however, the fun began: my four open-water dives. These were real scuba dives in the Indian Ocean, on reefs off the Mozambican coast. My first day involved two dives; I became terribly sea-sick after my first dive, but then persevered through to do my second dive. The second day of open-water diving involved two more dives, and I was able to see sting-rays, huge fish, lobsters, and an octopus at the bottom of the reef.

PADI Open Water Certification means that a diver is qualified to dive down to 18 meters (60 feet) below sea level. Many more exciting and rewarding dives, however, are deeper than 18 meters, so after I finished my open-water certification, I signed up for a PADI Adventure Deep Dive. Doing this would certify me to dives as deep as 30 meters (100 feet) below sea level.

On Thursday, I did my deep dive at a place called Manta Reef. It was an incredible dive experience; Manta Reef is Tofo's signature diving destination and an incredibly beautiful dive. The bottom is at 26 meters, and huge pinnacles of coral spire up from the bottom. These coral are surrounded by huge schools of fish, from the tiny up to the massive. Brightly colored fish swam all around me, close enough to touch. Already, the dive was incredible.

In the distance, I was beginning to make out an ethereal shape in the water. Slowly it came into focus: a huge manta ray. For a split-second my brain didn't process what I was seeing and I thought I must be mistaken: surely manta rays weren't that big? This thing I was seeing was at least 5 or 6 meters wide (that's about 16-20 feet or so), absolutely beautiful, gliding through the water. It swam around us divers as we watched, awed. And then it swam right towards me. I had to descend a little in the water, and the manta swam right above my head, probably no more than 1 meter above me. It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen.

After Manta Reef, I did another dive at a place called Sherwood Forest, and I did manage to go down to 30 meters on that dive. It was the last dive that I did in Tofo, before i left for Vilankulos.

I arrived here, in Vilankulos, yesterday. The trip took a while; first was the 25-minute walk from Bamboozi to central Tofo; then the 45-minute chapa ride to Inhambane, then the walk to the pier in Inhambane, then a ride in a dingy old ferry boat to Maxixe, then a crammed chapa to Vilankulos.

Vilankulos is the gateway to the Bazaruto Archipelago; I'm going to see the islands of the archipelago tomorrow. I'm incredibly excited, especially because so far Vilankulos has been underwhelming. The beach is not great; there is seaweed everywhere and there are many rocks. The water is lovely, though; it is calm, shallow, and perfectly turquoise; uncharacterized by the violent waves of Tofo. Leaving Tofo was a little tough; it could be very easy to just stay there, enjoying its many charms. But my journey continues; I have many more exciting destinations ahead of me.

(*pictures to come at a later date*)