Manny Takes Us Around Tofo

Just thinking about this day gets me all giddy.  After this day I would seriously have contemplated missing my flight back if I had a job offer. 

We had signed up to go on an ocean kayaking trip.  We got to the dive center at 8:00 ready to go.  We had 2 families with us and our guide Manuel, Manny.  He drove us to the point of the peninsula, picking up the kayaks along the way, and we set off.  The tide was low so there were sand banks between us and our destination - an island.  We had to weave around the banks like a maze.  Jim and I shared a kayak and Will rode with Manny.  We stopped half way at a large sandbank to have a snack and look for shells.  There were TONS of silver dollars.  We also found an 8-legged star fish, flounder, crabs, and other pretty shells.  The second half of the kayaking was even prettier.  We started going over this area that was just covered in starfish.  They were orange and red, big and small...it was ridiculous.  By the time we got to the island I was tired, but I would have stayed out on the water longer because it was so pretty.

Mussels with salt drying in the sun

The island (I forgot its name) has about 800 habitants.  Manny introduced us to the chief - Eric - and then he showed us around.  We got to see the local clinic, the school, the 2 churches (Catholic and Episcopalian), houses, the Chief's pigs and shoe shop, and the restaurant.  We had a local-style lunch with dried mussels, rice, and matapa.  SOOOOO tasty.  

We had to go not long after, sadly.  The tide was coming in and Manny didn't want out truck to get stranded where we had left it.  To get back we took a dow - a rickety sailboat.  The sandbanks were all under water by now.  The ocean is crazy.  We then drove back to the dive center and that was that.  It was such a beautiful day, but it was still going.  During the course of the day we had befriended Manny and he offered to take us out that night.  He dropped us at Bamboozi and we made plans to meet him back at the dive center after we had showered and he had finished work.

An hour or so later...we go to the market to meet up with Manny.  Most of the traditional goods are gone, though a lot of things are left out (safety was amazing).  The food stalls were busy with people buying alcohol and food.  This moment was really exciting for me.  We first ran into the guy we befriended at Dinos who worked in the market and chatted with him for a second before he left for home.  Then we ran into a guy from the dive center who we chatted with quickly before we found Manny.  I love when things like that happen, like we're known here….no big deal.

Manny took us to his favorite restaurant right in the town center.  It was very low-key with just a few plastic tables and a short menu in Portuguese or Bitonga (the local language).  Either way, I couldn't read it so Manny enlightened us.  We could get chicken or fish with rice or chips.  We all went with fish and Manny got chicken.  We ordered beers all around.  I got my favorite - Laurentina Clara.  Manny got the Laurentina Preta which I tried...super stout.  Tasted like coffee.  It was quite tasty.  As was the food.  The fish, it turned out, was barracuda.  Jim and Will had ordered this the night before because it is supposed to be awesome -which it is.  Although, at this place it was about 200 Mt cheaper!  The plate was filled with some salad and a lot of rice and a nice sized fish steak.  It was so tasty.  The chicken was really good too.  The whole thing cost 80 Mt which is about $3.  Crazy. 

We chatted about random things and Manny told us some stories from working at the dive center.  My favorites:

1. One time while kayaking he saw an octopus.  We emptied out his dry-bag and stuck his paddle in the water.  He just flicked up the octopus and caught in the bag.  He then gave it to the chief who cooked it for the lunch.
2. He says that when a storm is coming in, right past the rough water near land the animals all gather so you can jump in and see whale sharks and dolphins and manta rays just swimming everywhere.  He's seen 10 whale sharks at once.
3. One whale shark swam up to a boat he was in and came out of the water with its mouth open at the boat.  Yikes.

After dinner he took us to a bar which was just a stall with one table.  We drank local gin and sparletta.   The gin was definitely home-made style.  It tasted a lot like the schnapps I had in France, but with a slight addition of gin's piney flavor.  It came in a plastic bottle with a shotty-looking label applied to it.  It did the trick.  Soon we were chatting and dancing with everyone there.  We ended up buying the cd from the woman working the bar at the end of the night because the music was so fun.

Walked back home along the beach.  I will never forget that day.

Our last day was cut short.  Jim and I picked up a couple more things from the market, had another prawn curry bunny chow from the bread shack and took a last dip I the ocean before we took a taxi to the airport. 

Quick notes on the flight home:

1. The Inhambane airport is 2 rooms big - the smallest thing I have ever seen and we took a prop-plane to Maputo. 

2. Our flight got into Joburg late at 6:50 and the flight to PE left at 7:45.  Thank you to all the people who let us cut lines.  Thank god we know the airport well enough by now to run straight to where we needed to go.  The guy at the counter first told us the check-in was closed - we arrived there with 28 minutes to departure time.  We begged a little and he eventually printed out tickets.  Whew.  Made it home safe and sound, but now it's cold and raining and I don't want to be here. :(