Devil Rays
Manta
Whaleshark
Halloween Night
The local Market
On our Roof the last night
More Halloween
Young Kid
Our last night in Tofo was fun; we went to the local place with some friends for dinner. Then to the bar Fatima’s to have a goodbye drink with everyone. It was fun, almost bittersweet, and through our exhaustion we did not want to say goodbye. The last morning went okay as well, luckily we woke up early and got everything packed because our ride showed up 2 hours early. We went to my favorite local lady at the market and said bye and gave her a Tofo Scuba shirt. Then to our money exchange guy and the bread shack guy and gave them shirts as well. Strange goodbyes to people we may never see again. We bought some souvenirs, including a couple bracelets from a small boy, in exchange for a couple of pictures. We did not get to say goodbye to a few people but oh well it happens. I GOT MY PASSPORT BACK, it is not stamped but the guy I am with knows people and promised to get me out, and I got $170 back so that worked out well. Just lots of stress for no reason.
The first part of the drive was plesant; some Peri Peri stands where they make local hot sauce, with tons of different kinds. And then a turn off to this little village of Zavora, a very lush area with thatch-roofed homes scattered sporadically on the way, very Africa. Our friends John and Roy, that are driving us are opening up a small dive shop in this untouched village. We sat in our own chalet looking over the sea from a whole different view; we were in one of the nice cabins because the place is empty at the moment so we got a great discount. And there is television in the restaurant, meaning we get CNN for election results. We woke up at 7 am hoping the generator would be on to tell us the fate of our country. Of course it was not working this morning. But after some begging we convinced them to attach a battery to the television so we could be some of the last people in the world to see that we have our first black president. Pretty interesting to be here in Africa and watch such a historic moment. And I am proud to say that I did manage to cast my vote, it was a bit of a process, but I got it done.
From there we continued our drive through Mozambique to the South African border. We drove through the several mile flood plain where they told us about the massive floods that rushed through the area several years ago. It was interesting to hear that during such tragedy the people all worked together to help each other survive. And there was no looting or crime or anything. Anyways as we arrived at the border Roy told us the plan that him and I would go to check the car in and Russ and John would go check themselves in, and then we would just leave. The plan worked perfectly and just as we were driving over the border and Roy was congratulating me that I was crossing the line and safely smuggled out of Mozambique the car died, right on the line. Fortunately it started again and I made it out with no drama. But a fun story.
From there we arrived at the hostel, which was a beautifully decorated home, made comfortable and perfect for backpackers. At this point we were convinced to go on a Safari the next morning. We had talked about renting a car and just driving ourselves but the safari seemed so much easier.
Our House
Our money exchange guy in his new shirt
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