Inhambane and Tofo

Submitted by rootsinafrica on Sun, 06/04/2008 - 13:25.
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We left Xai Xai (for a change) at the correct time to ensure an early arrival at our next stop , Inhambane. The road was OK, a stretch of about 100km in true Moz style a bit of a disaster with crater potholes which takes absolute concentration to stay on the road. We stopped in Inhambane town for a delicious cup of coffee and Stews standard beer, had the best salads ever (remember we have not seen salad for a few days!!!) and discussed with the locals whether we should go to Tofo or Bara, decided to give Tofo the thumbs up and as we had loads of time to check out the places, once again found a spot at “Nordiens” right on the beach. Our standard requirements now are not negotiable!!! Sound of the waves, right on the beach nothing less !! We do not have a problem with extras as long as Stan can be parked close to the abode to enable us to use our fridge, most times our water (!!!) as well as our cups/food etc. Yes, you got it right, the standard accommodation here is nothing more that 2 beds, if you are lucky, the place has a loo and a shower and luxury is if there is a fridge in the room. Anything goes if it is called “self catering”

Tofo has a completely different vibe than the area further south where we came from, younger crowd and a lot of Europeans and Americano’s. A real laid back vibe and we had to laugh at ourselves, the place is most probably the size of Riviersonderend (if that) and we already think of it as civilization and a big town!! We will be in for a shock once we hit the UK!!!! There is a colourful local market, a few great eateries and a lot of bars!!! And hey……..you can even get wine here as well as HUNTERS !!!!! Heaven

Our hut at Nordien's Market at Tofo

The thing to do here is surfing (yeh go John, the waves are great) and/or diving. Since my open water 1 diving qualification is but a distant memory and since Stew always wanted to do the diving course, we decided to take the plunge and go for it ! I knew chances are that my back will not cope, but we had to try and started, I got as far as the first open water dive, about halfway through the course and unfortunately had to give up as my back started talking to me!! A big pity, but at least I got this far and can always continue once my back is stronger. Stew is still busy and loving it as the marine life here is awesome and the visability under water 20x better that in Cape Town. He will no doubt keep you all updated once he finished. In the meantime I will keep the site updated and send pics so you can all share the place with us.

Today is our last day at Tofo and I decided to explore the town Inhambane a bit. Interesting.... best of all is that i found a cafe with , wait for it ...wireless connection!! We also now discovered that we were taken for a HUGE ride by some Vodacom employees who convinced us that we will be able to connect with the modem anywhere as long as we buy time..........we bought a R1000 airtime !!!!!!!! for the connection and now we were told that Vodacom is only registered for voicemail and sms in Mozambique!!! Gatslag is that we cannot even use that now as we never got the roaming for the number.....all very disturbing as it is money wasted, you loose it after a month and it now seems that they do not haver any agreement anywhere in SOUTHERN aFRICA! Oh well.......by the way, we urgently need news on Zim, a bit cut off here and the only news we get is that it is chaos there. we need a bit more as the plan is to go there next week.

A typical Inhambane scene

SCUBA Diving

Scuba diving is something I’ve always wanted to do, but a combination of no time, asthma, claustrophobia, sinus/hayfever  problems  and general inertia meant this was unfulfilled, until I decided to take the plunge (literally), ignore all the problems, and go for it. A Dive school called Diversity in Tofu was the venue, and together with Annaliese initially, and a visiting lawyer  (can’t get away from them) from London, Toby, we   crammed in the 4 day course into 3 days. 

 

The first morning was  a mass of theory  and bewildering terminology, together with  a pool dive. Then, that afternoon, we were off in the boat  and down to our first ocean dive. Despite the best efforts of our instructor, Donna Rodgers, I was very nervous, but the incredible underwater world below was  worth overcoming all those fears. It was truly amazing, and Donna’s expert tuition made the initiation to Scuba diver relatively seamless.

 Have I ever been an attorney????? Diver...yeah!!!!

The next day  was hectic, more theory, 3 pool dives to learn new skills, and then 2 back to back dives  in the ocean to practice those skills. Underwater was phenomenal, time passing in a flash, filled with moray eels, pesky shoals of brightly coloured fish, huge star fish,  a small ray or 2, crocodile fish, paper fish….. WOW, what a new world  of adventure. The day ended with a compulsory 200 meter free swim from to boat back to the shore, more exercise in a day than I can remember for a while!

 

The last day consisted of the exam, and then final dive, when newly learned skills were put to use when Toby’s  air ran out on the bottom! We all made it back to the boat safe and sound, and I am now a qualified SCUBA diver  to 18 metres below!