Blogs from Tofo, Southern, Mozambique, Africa

Saturday 17 February – Barra Beach and Tofo It was an overcast day as we woke and walked to breakfast at 8.00am. After cereal, eggs and bacon, it was clear this was going to be another day of rain as it was the previous afternoon. Not to be dissuaded, and because it was not suitable to go with the boat out in the bay, we decided on riding quad-bikes to Tofo. Gareth our guide took us the Flamingo Bay Resort amongst the mangroves, to register and to pick up the bikes. It looked as though no one was staying at the resort which wasn’t unusual at this time of the year. December and January are their raining season, as well as February…apparently. After getting our driving instructions, along with our guide, we revved the engines and ... read more

Bon, mon voyage au Mozambique commence à dater mais il n'est jamais trop tard pour bien faire et finalement parler de ce magnifique petit coin qu'est Tofo. Le paradis se mérite tout de même et il aura fallu affronter les dédalles administratifs pour obtenir le visa avant de se mettre en route en bus pour traverser la frontiere entre l'Afrique du Sud et le Mozambique. Direction Maputo pour une petite escale puis Tofo ! J'imaginais bien que le voyage serait long mais je suis loin du compte. Entre Maputo et Tofo j'ai passé 10h avec un petit garçon sur les genoux tellement le minibus était bondé. Il y a quelques années je prenais des bus pendant 30 heures ou plus et je m'en remettais bien mais il faut croire que j'ai tout de même vieilli ! ... read more

I was up at 5 a.m. to pack my tent away and get the bus to Tofo, just under 400 km up the coast. Fatima's Nest where I was staying in Maputo, also had a place in Tofo and provided a shuttle bus, door to door. Except this wasn't exactly the case. They picked us up in a minibus and brought us to the bus station, where we were transferred on to the local bus to Inhambane, about 20 km from Tofo. The local bus usually only goes to Inhambane, but this one brought us all the way to Tofo. It was a long, uncomfotable 8 hour journey though. Tofo is all about the beach and even though it was late afternoon when we got there, I still had time to have a swim after putting ... read more

I spent a miserable night last night. On my way to bed I discovered that our electrical outlet quit working, so I had to go downstairs and sleep in the middle, airless, windowless, storeroom/bedroom. The mattress (if you can even call it that) was so thin I could feel the bed slats, so I decided to put the mattress on the floor. I did get a fan and had it on all night. I woke up aching. I then changed, went upstairs and turned on the faucet…no water. Shit. So I decided to check into Casa Do Mar a day early. I then did a two tank dive this morning. The ocean was a bit rough, with swells. The first reef was 30 minutes out, called Outback. No mantas, leopard sharks, bowmouth guitar sharks, leatherbacks or ... read more

Today has been so eventful I really don't know where to start. I guess I will start this morning. Leslie (my roomie) and I walked down to the market, I wanted to buy a couple of things. She had to leave for an ocean safari after 30 minutes or so, at which point every guy in the market bombarded me. They need to eat, feed their kids, they are my friend, they make good price....omg. It went on and on. And yes, I bought. I also ran away, down the road to Fatimas, a sort of beach bar/restaurant. Two guys followed me, but when I shook my head they left. I guess they didn't want to get the Fatima staff upset by hassling their customers. Fatimas is nice...a lovely place to sit and just watch the ... read more