Tofo – Day 2

On Sunday we relaxed by the beach enjoying the soft white sand and warm currents of the ocean. And then….psssssssssssst!!! Out in the water about 100 meters from shore we spotted the signature of the hump back – a water and mist trail – which was ejected out its blow hole. This continued for a few minutes and then we glimpsed a slice of Heaven when a whale surfaced for a brief moment. Amazing. I can’t explain it any other way.

The rest of the day was spent in true Sunday fashion, with no hard work, but lots of food and good company. I played game of soccer called “le-le” with some locals. Essentially it is keep away with a huge circle of people trying to keep the futbol away from the one person who is in the middle. I practiced my capoeira on the beach with some kids who found it terribly amusing every time I landed on my rear end. That happens a lot in capoeira – at least for me – because there are a lot of hand stands and flips and holds which require lots and lots of practice to master. I went for a short run at dusk along the beach but it was cut short. The tide comes in the afternoon right through the night. Over 100 meters of beach disappear as the sea pounds the sand walls lining the edge of Tofo. It’s a very violent process. Some of the more established bars like Dino’s have walls to fortify their part of the beach, but really its only slowing down the eventual erosion. What the ocean gives it shall also taketh away.

The people in Tofo were all wonderful. At night the darkness takes over and the few light posts there are do not do an adequate job of lighting up the beach or the trails from our cabin to town. But, the good news is that everyone says its 100% safe. We didn’t take any chances though and always travelled in packs with at least two of us together at anytime.

I did have one moment when I thought I might have to scream out for help. I was walking up the hill back to our cabin to grab my camera – which I had forgotten – and I was alerted when I looked up and a few steps ahead of me stood a huge predator ready to pounce on me protected by the cloak of the night. A loud sheepish yelp started to develop in the deep trenches of my belly when I stopped myself. It was just a dog. He jumped at me and started licking me. Gross.

The bus back to Maputo was an even earlier departure than the bus to Tofo. It departed at 4am. This time we managed to get a little bit of shut eye before packing up our things in a grand hurry and catching the bus. In a record 6:30 later we were back in Maputo safe and sound. Ahhh….good to be home.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozambique