Tofo - August 13th

August 13th, 2008:

Short: Breakfast with an ocean view, Niki and Mortimer swim with sharks, Matt heads into town and chills, Pineapple big mama, Sun set drink in Barra, Watch the Olympics at Bamboozi

Long: We were able to get our first real view of the Tofo area this morning at breakfast. It’s a beautiful beach. Sometimes we have to pinch ourselves because over the last week, with the exception of Chimoio, we have averaged $10 a night to stay at places with beautiful water views. After breakfast Nikolai, Mortimer, and a few others took a boat off the coast to watch whales and snorkel with sharks. I am pleased to report that they successfully located and snorkeled with a few large (over 6m) whale sharks. While they were snorkeling I walked the twenty minute walk along the beach to the center of Tofo with hopes of using the internet. I found out that there is only one internet café in Tofo (Only one connection point), and it was closed. On the plus-side, I received some exercise, something we have all been lacking in the last few weeks.

While sitting on the beach I was approached by a woman selling pineapples. After negotiating a price, she sat down and cut up one of the smaller pineapples for me. She seemed very happy to have a customer. Despite me insisting I could only speak English, she had an entire conversation with me in Portuguese. She kept smiling and talking, and I simply nodded my head and smiled. She eventually wrapped up her tub, placed it on her head, and continued down the beach. Nikolai and Mortimer arrived back from their Shark snorkel a short while later.

In the evening we drove a few kilometers away to Barra, a place where we were told the sunset would be the best. The town is has a few posh resorts, and we sat for an hour at one of the resorts watching the sunset. The beach, half a mile wide a points, is one of the widest I have ever seen. We also took advantage of the hotels face-board before leaving ;) (Photo below). Once back at Bamboozi we grabbed a beer and watched the Olympics before heading to bed.