Wanted: Rest and relaxation for two weary travelers starting their travels in Africa.

Found: Tofo Bay, Mozambique.

Back in September we met a wonderful group of South African’s in Bolivia. Upon hearing our arrival date in Johannesburg they quickly informed us that well, the entire country is on holiday from mid-December to mid-January. Translation: transportation, accommodation and activities would be completely booked or ridiculously crowded and overpriced. Ouch.So our plan, at their suggestion was to hang out on the beach in Mozambique for a week or so and let the crowds have their fun and go back to work.

That was the plan. What we found when we arrived in Mozambique was an ideal little vacation spot on the Indian Ocean. We popped our tent up and headed to the beach. While the town of Tofo is developed its not overly touristy and so its got the right mix of enough to do that you’re not bored, but enough space so you’re not overrun. The vibe was very lassaiz-faire. Do as much or as little as you want the town seemed to say. So we jumped right in. We learned the hard way to put sunscreen on the back of your knees when surfing and to put your flip flops on before actually walking up the beach after jumping off the dive boat. Surfing it seems, is a lot harder than it looks. After a two hour lesson, which really amounted to paddling out against the waves, catching one, trying to stand up and falling, we were beat and burned. Success was fleeting, but just so its on the record, we both successfully “surfed”.

One of the most popular activities in Tofo is diving. According to other divers, Tofo has some of the best diving in Africa. Since we missed the whale sharks in Honduras and Belize, we figured we might as well go ahead and dive here in the hopes of seeing something neat. Admittedly we are new to diving, so when we saw our first octopus we were excited. And then there were schools of trigger fish and natal knifejaws, lionfish and some spotted rays to keep our eyes busy. Enthralled, we went for two more dives gaining our advanced deep water dive certification. No whale sharks, but we saw tons of honeycomb moray eels and a dragon moray, which is apparently very rare. Also saw some huge barramundi cod, which frankly I didn’t want coming anywhere near me. Diving is fun, but expensive. If we come home early, diving might just be the cause!

We spent the rest of our days eating fish and chicken meals, lounging by a pool and watched the stars come out at night. It was peaceful, relaxed and hot. Ridiculous “we’re barely in the tropics right now” hot. Its a hot sun in Mozambique, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

During the day we could find relief in the shade or in the ocean, but at night we melted away like butter on a frying pan. Someone told us that the temperature was above 35C and you know what I believed it. A week lying by the Indian Ocean was about all the rest and relaxation we could take. Any more time in the water and we would have grown gills. As luck would have it we found some rather exciting news online and we were off to South Africa.