Dhow Safari in the Bazaruto Archipelago

Next morning, decide to go Dhow Safari, the dive being off because my nose is slightly blocked, which is not good for equalising one’s sinuses. A hearty breakfast of Bacon Beans on toast again, then a short walk down to Dolphin Dhow, where I pay the chap 1,300M, about thirty pounds, for the privilege of the day ahead. Cash only of course. Ben and Shenaaz turn up shortly after me.



This done, I’m issued with some very dodgy bent flippers. Bent as in a warped almost 90 degree bend half way along them that is clearly not there for dynamic streamlne purposes. If anything, it looks like they’ve been left in the sun and have melted over the edge of a table or similar. Down on the beach, the dhow awaits us, it’s an old boat, but sized for our group of perhaps 10 people, and disappointingly it looks like they’re not sailing it out.



We are however pleased by the canopy providing some shade from the already intense sun, bear in mind that it is shortly after 8am as we set off. What will it be like mid-day? I shudder to think. I’ve brought cream, factor 15 (the highest I’ve ever used!), plus a t-shirt as I don’t want to expose my back whilst snorkelling - it’s still tender from the whale shark swimming in fact.



We chug slowly out to the nearest island, Margaruque, south of the other two islands. As we near, it looks like there are some resorts on the beach which have been badly battered by the tropical storms. I later discover, getting closer, that they are in fact being newly constructed!



We follow the beach round to the northern side, where we moor up just off the beach.


Our boat


Where we were stuck for the next few hours

It’s an interesting set-up, with rocks lining the shore just under the surface (at high tide as it is now, later they will be exposed), creating a little lagoon against the beach, and also providing something like a reef for fish life, hence the “Ocean Safari”, i.e. us doing a bit of snorkelling.



Up until this stage, my South African German friends and myself had been rather cynical about the whole trip, however on getting underwater we found that the snorkelling was surprisingly good. There was evidence of reef, long since destroyed, but there was plenty of small underwater action, with lots of small box fish of a few different varieties – I love box fish, they scoot about like little hovercrafts underwater, and also some good sized parrot fish ambled about below.

Our crew were cooking lunch on board our boat in a little braai box which had been constructed at the back. Whilst this went on, I went for a walk along the beach.



The island takes a couple of hours to walk round completely, something I wasn’t prepared to do in this head, but it still made a pleasant stroll along the hot sand with an occasional paddle to keep one’s soles temperate.



I reached the luxury places being built – with their white-washed walls and thatched roofs, they certainly look very nice. Hearing a noise behind the bushes lining the beach, I walked through, to discover a runway sitting tucked away, invisible except from the air.


As much space as Heathrow

In doing so, I had walked on some darker coloured sand, which quite literally burnt my feet – I had to hop as quickly as possible to the water, where perhaps I imagined hearing steam issuing from the undersides of my poor toes!





Just as well I escaped:


Damn lovebirds, aka Ben and Shenaaz


Only birds for me


Interesting bits and bobs




Back for lunch

Back at base, there was a big argument going on between different groups, involving locals and Afrikaans people about a particular spot in the shade and who had rights over it. By this time several boats were moored up – it seems strange that it should be so crowded here when the whole island is similar – why don’t we just go a bit further round? Anyway, like South Africans, Mozambicans talk a lot but rarely end up actually fighting, so soon it’s resolved, and we take our places for food.

The chap brings our food out from the boat, and all eyes watch nervously as he treads over the rocks coming in to the beach with a large tray. When it comes, the food is marvellous, with really tasty fish, a spicy tomato squid dish, salad, rice, bread and fruit for dessert. One wouldn’t expect them to be able to cook up this given their facilities.


Perched between the legs

After eating, I do a spot more snorkelling, this time looking down and just drifting with the current along the rocks, before having enough, clambering clumsily over the sharp rocks with my bent flippers on before walking back along the beach.


Helps when the gun-boats come past


My houses weren’t quite ready this time


Leaving the island

On the way back, after clearing the island, to our surprise and delight they drop the sail and turn off the motor. At almost the same speed we idly cut through the small waves over the shallow water. We’re told that it is possible at low tide to walk in shallow water almost the whole way across to the island, with a brief swim between the two sandy spits in the middle somewhere. Not something I’d like to attempt without someone knowing where they are going.


The sail comes down

Those who managed to snag a whole bench have a nice snooze on the way back, I merely dip my head and jerk it back a couple of times, but it’s not long before we’re back and being drenched by a big wave as we draw up to the shore. Camera and wallet nicely soaked, marvellous. Overall, it’s been a good trip, and I’ve enjoyed it. Possibly slightly over-priced for a return boat trip and the loan of snorkel and flippers for a couple of hours, but the food made up for it, plus the interesting underwater life accessible.

A New Year: 2008

New Year’s Eve
I start the daily early, not waking Sally to say goodbye. After collecting my passport, I head along to Tofo Scuba. It’s a shame that I’m not diving. I grab my DVD of the dive yesterday after watching it on their TV. It looks good! I’m sad to leave though, they’re a nice bunch, especially the manager Steve, and one of the instructors, Ty. Walking past Fatima’s, the security guards are happy to see me. In the village, I try to hitch, and a Porsche 4x4 hesitates before driving on.


How on earth did this get here?

A large taxi stops, and tries to charge me taxi rates, then concedes when I walk away. How much do I want to pay? I suggest 30M, including my bag, which he is okay with – I’m in the back with three kids as we bump along the road to Inhambane.

At the bank there, I try to withdraw 3,000M. The machine accepts this and tries to count money, which it does for a while, perhaps a minute, before giving up. Oh dear. 2000M works though. I shall have to watch my statements very carefully for a double charge. I grab a egg and cheese sandwich before heading down to the ferry pier. On the pier a chap asks me if I’m travelling alone? Yes. The charge for the boat is 350M. I’m about to say something untoward when he realises he had better retract this, so he sells me the 12.5M ticket for the ferry. It’s packed, but enjoyable, chugging slowly across. I wonder what happens if it sinks – most Africans can’t swim. Later I’m told that there was an instance where it sank, and every single person on the boat died.


Ferry pier

Wilson, who I met in Maputo, comes to pick me up outside STOP Restaurant with Daniela. He investigates transport to Vilhankulo for me, then we go for drinks back at STOP. We end talking about relationships, particularly between foreigners and Mozambicans, and why the cultural clash makes things not difficult, but at least fragile. I order lula (calamari), which is quite good, but comes in a portion far larger than I was expecting.

So I end up on the public bus. It’s packed. My bag goes underneath, then on the bus I end up standing in the aisle. Don’t worry, says the conductor, you’ll probably only have to stand for the first 30kms or so. Problem is that in Africa that could mean an hour! We do the annoying “slow drive” thing out of town, with the driver going at walking pace for no apparent reason for about 10 minutes. It’s very hot and frustrating. Eventually I find a seat, next to boy who clearly wanted a window seat as he keep leaning over me to look out or buy cashews, exposing me to his terrible body odour.

We arrive in Vilhanculo about four hours later, and I walk down to the beach, hoping to find Zombie Cucumber, the recommended backpacker place in town. As I walk down, people are streaming up from the beach, wrapped in towels etc, all saying hello or boa tarde (good evening). I like the feel of Vilhanculo already!



Zombie is in fact just along the beach from where I meet it, so it’s not long till I’m walking in to a nice bar with a few people about drinking. It’s a few hours till midnight now, I really hope they have space available! Turns out they do, and in fact they seem fairly quiet.

I join the German guy who is married to the Indian South African girl, and the other African girl, and get down to drinking Dois M. Later the Afrikaans girl, Celia, and I go out to the beach at Tropical for party with a couple of the guys who work at the hostel. There are several hundred people just along from where we are, partying on the beach as several warm-up acts played. They’re luckily it’s low tide as at high tide there’s hardly any space on the beach. Well I guess more people would have ended up in the water perhaps.



The gig is sponsored by Vodacom, and they had out t-shirts to the crowd. It would seem that half of Mozambique wears either an mCel or Vodacom t-shirt as their standard apparel. At the bar I buy three beers, and get into a bizarre argument with the girl about how much 3x 35 is, she insists it’s 115, and is suggesting I am trying to short her! It’s cleared up when someone with slightly better arithmetic joins in the discussion.



At midnight there is the usual countdown, then a cheer goes up and fireworks launch into the sky, everyone is so happy, and the crowd immediately starts dancing around. Once the official display is over, some rogue fireworks start spraying about, so I made sure Celia and I had some crowd as a buffer. Amusingly enough, the local girls are all assuming that I’m with Celia, so no chance of me misbehaving tonight! Soon after, I walk he home before heading back to the party for some boogying! I call it a night fairly early still, which is probably a silly thing to do given how close Zombie Cucumber is to the beach – the pumping music carries on till 6am, stops briefly, then at 7:30am starts again! Just for a few minutes though…

New Year’s Day
Up a little later, it’s already warming up. Today’s going to be hot! As I pick them up off the floor, I notice that my black trousers are hosting a cloud of mozzies. Perhaps four dozen. Makes me shiver to think of it even now. My bag is similarly decorated. The good news is, of course, that the net worked, yay! Perhaps I won’t get malaria after all!

Round in the bar area, I ask for breakfast. They don’t have eggs, but they can give me Bacon Beans on Toast. Sounds acceptable. However, when it arrived, I queried the lack of bacon. Bacon Beans on Toast. Of course he meant Baked Beans. They are from a tin, he explains to me, it says Bacon Beans on the front. Still tasty of course. The place is owned by a Yorkshire couple. What is the connection between Yorkshire and Mozambique?

Incidentally, they taunt me daily with a Timothy Taylor’s Landlord beer mat behind their bar, whereas I know full well that they don’t have any in their fridge. Taps? They dispense cholera round here, not ale sadly. After breakfast I lounge about a bit, summoning the energy to head out in this increasing heat.



Celia and I wander out eventually, along the beach, me paddling for a bit. It’s intense now, and I’m missing my sunglasses which went as we launched the boat for that last dive in Tofo.



Inhambane has been hit hard by some tropical cyclones, in fact almost annually, and along the beach we see evidence of this – deserted buildings, cleaned out but for the concrete structure. Millennium BIM Bank dispenses cash suspiciously easy in my opinion. I need to follow up with BCI Formento as soon as possible to see if I were stung for the zombie cash withdrawal.



The supermarket on which I had pinned my air-conditioning hopes is closed, so we end up at New York Pizza, which is a silly or at least unimaginative name for a nice waterside restaurant which, amongst other dishes, does pizza.



I use the internet downstairs at 2M a minute, it’s bloody hot but I do discover that there are plenty of flights between Beira and Nampula – this is my cunning plan to skip the three day bus journey. Price is 2500M, of which 1500 is airport taxes. LAM and Air Corridor prices are different by 1.13M, which I find somewhat suspicious.

We wander up to the Central Market which is fairly deserted, but instead we find a nice café with ice-creams and more importantly Pastel Natas. I introduce Celia to their delights, before we buy some fruit and head back to Zombie Cucumber for pool action and some wine provided by our German South African friends. I tuck into Tilman, who is heading up to the mountains near Kashgar at present.



Later, we wander out to Dolphin Dhow Safari and Odyssey Dive school, my two choices for tomorrow. I’m leaning towards the former as the diving is expensive here, and I’d rather save my money for further up the coast. As we hit the beach, it’s clear that yesterday’s party spot on the beach is filling up again, perhaps they’re doing something tonight. Lots of happy Mozambicans are descending from town and the fiesta spot is filling up again. Wonder if they’ve cleaned up all this broken glass. Gulp.



So, at the dhow, the chap says things will be fine tomorrow. Then at the dive school, they say there will be 35 knot winds, and maybe everything will be cancelled. It’s expensive to dive here, I wish I had dived more in Tofo to be honest. At the dive school, or rather at the hostel next to it, I bump into Frank, the German, who is enjoying being a reasonable distance away from the noise in town. As we leave and head back along the beach, one of their dogs follows me, and it’s quite difficult to stop him. He looks dopey enough that if he comes all the way into town I can imagine him not working out how to get back.

We spend the evening at Zombie. I order a mix of the two dishes on offer, going for the fish, but without tomato and olive sauce, instead with lentil, chickpea and veg curry.



Too much food, but good. Bed early.

Swimming with Whale Sharks

Trip 5: Ocean Safari aka Swimming with Whale Sharks


This trip, snorkelling only, is clearly more amateurish than the dives, and so attracts a different kind of person. It’s called an Ocean Safari, but the main purpose is to find and swim with Whale Sharks, the biggest fish that exist. Apparently Dolphins are also sometimes seen. We have “Fi” leading us, and we carry our flippers down to the boat, where we launch in the usual way, then are issued with masks on board.

The drive out is not long and it’s less than 10 minutes before we find a whale shark. No messing about, I grab my gear and am first into the water, better to get in and sort out flippers and mask once you’re in I say. They tell you to slip into the water to avoid scaring the sharks away. This chap we have is young, so only about 4-5 metres long!! He is very docile though. Initially he swims away from our boat, so I follow him. Reflections from the water surface ripple across his smooth dotted body. He’s so big, with mouth like a hoover, stretched wide, sucking up plankton and small fish that he comes across.



Here’s the spiel on Whale Sharks, pinched from here:

The sole living member of its family, the whale shark is the world's largest living fish. Its massive, fusiform body reaches lengths in excess of 14m. It has alternating thin white vertical bars and columns of spots on a dark background, with long ridges along the upper side of the body and a prominent lateral keel. The narrow mouth extends across the full width of its flattened head. The eyes are small and far forward on the head.

This shark swims slowly near the surface, consuming small crustacean plankton, small fishes, such as sardines and anchovies, and even larger fishes such as mackerel.

The whale shark is found in all tropical and subtropical oceans, along coastal regions, and enters lagoons on tropical islands. It is mostly seen on the surface were divers and snorkelers can swim with this gentle, curious creature.

The whale shark ranges throughout the western and eastern Atlantic Ocean, the Indo-West, central, and eastern Pacific Ocean.


I can just about keep pace with him, myself and Fi in fact, with the others being picked up by the boat and brought along. Then he turns and heads back to the boat. It would seem he’s interested in us, especially the dual outboard motors which he pauses at and inspects with each loop. Circling round, I follow him. He seems to sometimes swim directly at me, then stops just in front of me, before veering off and swimming past me. It’s fascinating, as if he understands the game, what he’s supposed to do. He dips briefly down a few metres, so I watch from above, before he surfaces.

Eventually the other swimmers are getting impatient, having sat on the boat for a while, so I’m told to get back on board. Frankly I could swim about with him all day, but there are some very seasick passengers who I’m sure would not be so happy to wait. We drive around near Tofino Beach, the next beach along, but they find nothing else so drop us for a quick swim on very boring and barren Clown Fish Reef, apparently a training dive. I’ve got a slightly burnt back, despite my suncream. Not good if I’m carrying my full backpack tomorrow, I will suffer!

At Tofo Scuba, I pay the bill, which is not bad really. I want to dive more, but had better save myself, or rather my wallet, for later. I do however buy the t-shirt! Sorry, was going to put a photo here but I haven’t got round to taking one. Later, dear reader, check back (if you really want to see!).

Tofo for Open Water Course?
Is Tofo good for doing your Open Water Scuba Course? To be honest, having been here, I would say on reflection that it is not. Why? Because the shallow stuff isn’t great. Tofo diving is famous for two reasons – whale sharks and manta rays. Whale Sharks are best seen snorkelling, and the Manta sites are all deep dives, which you need to be Advanced certified for. To learn, you want somewhere with busy reef action which is easily accessible – I think Redang Island where Hedge and I did our Open Water PADI was absolutely perfect – we’d just walk down the beach and swim out to reefs. Perhaps further north along the East African coast it’s better – I know the reefs are supposed to be better there. Watch this space!

Chatting with Henry and a couple of girls, I finally get my laptop and phone charged! It’s been three days with no real access to power! Can’t cope! Can’t compute! Back to Bamboozi’s to change my mosquito net before reception closes – I’m not suffering again tonight! I find our room is not locked, apparently Sally, the Malaysian girl, has lost the lock, somewhere in the room. She doesn’t know where, so I put my combo lock on the door instead.

Next out to Dino’s for another tasty thin-base pizza and a beer, plus Tilman of course, then home for a breezy cloudy (i.e. bearable) night. I’ve decided that tomorrow morning I’m definitely leaving for Vilhankulo. Back at my room I find one of the girls has left the combo lock unlocked. Nice. I sit in my new net, fully mosquito-protected, reading Tilman. Suddenly! The HORROR! A mosquito! In the net!! The mystery is solved. These mosquito nets simply don’t work! How terrible!



Another bad night of me being mozzie dinner beckons. And true to form. I’m so glad to leave…

Back to the Office

Dive 4: The Office
This one's for Boydie!




Distance to Travel: 14km from Tofo Beach.

Approximately a 30 minute boat ride.

Depth: 19 - 24 meters

Max: 24 meters

Bottom Time: 28 minutes

Topography: This is a rock pinnacle, 10 km’s straight out to sea and comes up from a depth of over 90 meters. The reef is made up of a number of ledges and gullies, part of which includes an extremely rare Manta cleaning station. This is primarily a drift dive with the current running from North to South. The cleaning station is situated on the Northern point of the reef and divers will be treated to the sight of Mantas being cleaned by Cleaner Wrasse. Also seen on this reef are a number of resident Leopard Sharks, White Tip Sharks and Potato Bass. As this reef is 10 kms from shore, a vast array of game fish can be seen on most dives.

Degree of Difficulty: A more difficult dive, due to current, therefore we recommend that you have at least 20 open water sea dives.

Visibility: Ranges from 15m to 40m

General: An absolute must for Manta enthusiasts. Mantas may be seen on approximately 8 out of 10 dives, it is also the home of Leopard Sharks, White Tip Reef Sharks, Potato Bass, Giant Moray Eels, Turtles, Tropical Fishes and an abundance of game fish.

Luckily mains power apparently came back at 7:30pm last night, so Tofo Scuba have filled their oxygen tanks and we’re ready to go. I turn up at about quarter to seven, and notice the tanks for my dive are almost all Nitrox except Henry and myself. This means more experienced types diving, a good sign for the dive. Furthermore, it’s lead John and Nikki, the founder owners of the dive school. Very good sign! Also, a chap is coming along with us and videoing the dive, hence the shots I have for you. Now you get to see what diving is like! First, a cup of tea!



John worries me slightly during the briefing, talking about the sometimes strong currents experienced at this site we are heading to, The Office. However, it has cleaning stations for Manta Rays, and a variety of sharks have also been spotted there, including a Great White a couple of years ago. Fingers crossed!





It’s rough getting the boat into the water, and as the lead person on one side, I end up getting clobbered by a large wave, taking my sunglasses with it. They were only cheap ones from Boots, but I’d grown rather attached to them. Shame. It’s not a very comfortable drive out either, as the site is quite far - 19kms according to John. At the site, it would seem there isn’t much current, a very good sign.



We drop down, straight on to a spot with a Manta cleaning station.


Down down down


Looking up

On the bottom, we group up, find our buddies, and have a look around the surrounding area. A minute later, a large Manta Ray comes by, yay!!!






It sweeps past, then turns, and circles around us. It’s so beautiful to watch, they are so graceful in their movements. This is why people come to Mozambique to dive! I’m so pleased, with this being my last dive and last chance of seeing them. Now I can buy the Manta Ray t-shirt in the dive shop – I felt like I didn’t have the right to buy it without seeing the actual rays!





We carry on the dive, visiting some interesting gullies, and I see a decent-sized reef shark, perhaps a couple of metres long.


Small fish living in the anemone


Good looking moray


Reef chaos


Look ma..

The site isn’t great for reefs, but still is a nice dive, even without the highlight Manta. Finally it’s time for us to end the dive. Here in Tofo they always go up nice and slowly, as the nearest decompression chamber, should one have a problem, is in Durban!! No chance of getting there in an emergency. So slow ascents!





As we come back up, several Devil Rays circle below us, truly a beautiful site in the shimmering blue water.





Surely any of you reading this who have never dived are now inspired to do so? Talk to me if you need more persuasion! That said, I didn’t feel too good coming back, with the long ride South against the swell.



That’s me done here in Tofo, no more dives. Shame. Still, I’ve racked up 17 hours underwater now, with 23 dives. Frankly if money was no object I’d be underwater all the time, I love it!

Back at base, I get to charge my phone and laptop a bit finally, using the dive centre plugs. I call Junior Backpackers in Vilhankulo, who have space, so I decide I’ll skip out of town for New Year’s. Almost seems a shame given that it’s no issue to stay at Bamboozi, but I can’t have another night being eaten! After lunch, it’s time for my final ocean trip here…