Tofo, Pronounced Tofu

We heard from so many people in Villankulos that Tofo was an amazing place, with inexpensive diving and whale sharks. Even though we had to backtrack for a few hours, we were so glad that we went back South. We also found the perfect hitch to Tofu, Paulos, a nice attorney from Maputo, who was driving an air-conditioned SUV.

Tofo was everything Villankulos was—aqua water, beautiful beaches, great food, great weather—and more. We stayed at Fatimas, which is very hip and right on the beach. They have fantastic food and a great vibe too. I highly recommend the sweet potato curry.

For our first full day in Tofo, we did an ocean safari to see whale sharks. I had previously seen too many whale sharks to count in Mexico, but the price in Tofo was cheap and there was a chance we would see Mantas and whales too. Well, I was shocked when we not only saw whale sharks, but they did not move nearly as quickly as the ones in Mexico. We were able to swim right next to them for long periods of time. In Mexico, there were more than thirty sharks, but, at most, you would get to swim with one for a minute before it sped off or dove under. Here the sharks were fewer and farther between. We only saw about five and we really had to search for them, but once we found them, we could swim next to them for some time. One shark let us swim next to it for at least ten minutes. It would have let us keep swimming with it too, but the boat called us back in. It was like being part of the sharkès world, a really truly amazing experience. We also swam with Manta Rays and saw dolphins (from the surface).




After getting lunch, crab curry, at Fatimas, we headed back to the market to buy some cute bags, etc.

The next day was one of the best days I’ve ever had. I had initially planned on diving with Regina at Manta Reef, but Regina decided to take her Rescue Course instead. I still wanted to dive, but Manta Reef was too far away to take one person, so Peri Peri (an awesome dive shop) recommended that we go to Giant’s Castle instead. Due to that twist of fate, I was able to dive in what my divemaster called, Manta Ray Soup. We saw rays from the minute we started our dive until just before we started our ascent. We stopped at a cleaning station and there were rays circling directly above our heads, showing us their big white bellies. Although it was hard to look away from the rays, we also saw an eel and the extremely rare sea moths. Then, during our ascent, we could hear humpback whales singing. I had given up completely on seeing (or hearing) whales because it was the end of their season. I did not think that dive could get any better until we got back on the boat. Thirty seconds into our ride, a baby humpback started jumping out of the water less than 100 feet from our boat. It was breathtaking. Soon its mom joined it and we followed them until they dove down. I thought this was par for the course here, but after the dive, the divemaster said that it was the best dive that he had had all year and he told me I should not do any more dives here because it does not get better than that. It was the perfect way to spend my last full day in Mozambique.

(Note: All photos in this post were taken by Regina. She has a water camera, which was much more handy for taking photos in and around the sand and surf).