Tofo Days

Geared up and ready to swim with the elusive whale shark

In Tofo, I found excellent seafood (including a hot rock place that churned out garlic crusted fresh shrimp that will be a prominent feature of my dreams for a year to come), a variety of English-speaking expats from every corner of the globe, and a smattering of soft sand beaches some only accessible from climbing old reefs washed ashore or renting 4x4s.

The highlight of the stay had to be the snorkeling trip on our third day though. We donned snorkeling gear in an attempt to find and swim with dolphins and the rare whale shark which really only lives off in the Indian Ocean coast of Africa. Unfortunately despite a frantic sighting of a whale shark by the boat's captain and subsequent orders to quickly put on our flippers masks, we didn't get the ultimate pay off. We were either too slow or the visibility was too poor. This might lead to suspicions that the trip was a let down. Much the opposite. The boat ride itself was great fun, zipping over waves and floating on the rough waters just a few meters away from the jagged coastline was exhilarating. Oh and this: we saw four humpback whales. They are too dangerous to enter the water with, but that was no problem since they seemed content to come to us. One surfaced 3 meters away from the side of the boat I was sitting on. As I was scanning the horizon I nearly fell back into the boat as the nearest water erupted with the largest animal I had ever seen. Truly spectacular.

One other Tofo anecdote warrants telling. One afternoon after playing some beach cricket with two English friends I had made, I joined Bodds and Kulsum sunbathing on the beach. As soon as I arrived, some of the local 11-13 year olds surrounded us to pedal little ankle bands and wrist bands made of shells and beads. Kulsum had orchestrated a race between two of children. The fastest one to complete a headband to her liking would win her business. While they toiled away (impressively using hands, feet, and teeth in unison to complete the process) several other children had joined us and I started chatting about farm animals with a boy named Rodrigo. His family, he was proud to report were the owners of several pigs, chickens, and goats. I told him that my family had chickens too and tried to explain what a sheep was. It was great fun and required Kulsum's Spanish knowledge of farm animals and several expert sand pictograms. One of the best moments had to be when I told Rodrigo about my neighbor, a pig farmer, who had 5,000 pigs. This kept him silent for 30 full seconds. He was reanimated when I told him the medium pigs were 70 kgs. This, he contended was a huge pig and the remark caused wide eyes, nervous laughs, and arm waving from him and his friends. 

Posted via Blogaway

Posted via Blogaway