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| ashley's Diary |
| Date |
Sunday, 18 Jun 2006 |
| Country |
Mozambique (Tofo) |
| Weather |
Sunny & Wet |
| Diary |
The reason for ending up in Tofo was that we were again trying to outrun the rain. Stayed at Bamboozi camp on the beautiful beach. Met some lads from India on the Mahindra Challenge, driving from Delhi to Cape Town in their surprisingly up to date and reliable Mahindra Scorpios, but as they said to me “You wouldn’t recognise India now”. Their claim to fame was that they were the first overland team to drive across the border between Egypt and Sudan. This border is closed, but one of their members used to work with the Indian PM and so a few phone calls later it was open….It isn’t what you know, but who you know!
I decided to take Ella and Tess snorkelling with the Whale Sharks, huge creatures which cruise up and down the coast. The Indian lads thought it would be fun to come along as well, but most of them couldn’t swim so were equipped with life jackets for more of a bob than a snorkel. Don’t think they realised that whale sharks, despite their massive size are harmless. First one we saw was a small one about 5 metres long and as I got in to the water to join the bobbing Indians all I could hear were the screams as the Indians spotted this shark swimming slowly towards them….I could almost hear the music duh-DUH, duh-DUH, duh-DUH. Wonderful experience as you can quite easily keep up with them in the water and they seem totally unbothered by people (the sharks that is). My turn to be slightly worried came (more like absolutely petrified) when swimming above a whale shark I spotted a 2 metre long shark underneath. I came to the surface about 50 metres from the boat and shouted “SHARK!!” Captain of the boat replied “Yes, whale shark” to which I replied “NO, SHARK, SHARK!!” “Yes, they are big” was the reply! After clambering back on to the boat I lay panting on the deck like a marooned elephant seal saying “Shark, shark” finally got through to the captain and he helpfully identified it as a white tipped reef shark “You don’t often see those” he said….Probably contemplating charging me extra! Anyway we all enjoyed it and returned to shore escorted by a school of dolphins with all limbs present and correct. PIC SHOWS: ELLA TOOK THIS JELLYFISH ON THE BEACH
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