Rainclouds in Paradise, or F*** You, Jellyfish

Good thing we relished in that sunny day on the beach in Tofo because we haven't had very many. It seems the precipitation is heavier than usual this winter in Mozambique. It's usually a tropical paradise this time of year with hot, but relatively mild temperatures. The last couple weeks though, have been quite chilly, especially at night, with consistent cloud cover and sporadic showers. Chris Conz and I couldn't complain though--it's still more pleasant weather than what we left in Lesotho.

Our last day in Tofo, CC and I packed up all of our belongings and laid on the beach like hobos with our backpacks for a few hours. It was hot and perfect--and our backpacks made good headrests. Then we met Kj and our new friend Erik for lunch in the Tofo market before taking the 1-hour bus ride to Inhambane where we stayed for 1 night. We arrived in Inhambane at dusk and watched the sun melt into the water. Our hostel was right on the waterfront , and we had a beautiful view for the next hour or so. The next morning we boarded the ferry to Maxixe (masheesh)--only a 10 meticais trip over rough water to the mainland. Then from Maxixe, we took a chapa (minibus taxi) to Vilankulos, a sleepy town on the coast about 4 hours north. Here we stayed at an awesome place called Zombie Cucumber, named after a book about Mozambique called "Kalishnikovs and Zombie Cucucumbers". I hope to read it soon when I can get my hands on a copy. This was our favorite place by far--friendly people and a cute, simple hut. We stayed at Zombie for 5 nights and loved it. We went on a dhow safari one day. There were 3 of us tourists--CC and I, and Wei, a female traveler from Singapore. Then there were 4 Mozambican guys manning the boat. We drove out to Magaruque, the smallest of the major islands making up the Bazaruto Archipelago. We walked around the picturesque island, ate a feast for lunch of barracuda and rice and pineapple and salad, then proceeded to snorkel after we stuffed ourselves. We got into the ocean from the beach wearing our fins and masks, confused as to why we were still at shore. But just a few meters off-shore was a gorgeous reef full of different kinds of fish. It was spectacular. CC and I even saw an octopus and a strange, long, thin fish that we can't find an accurate description/name for. Unfortunately the clouds covered the sun by the time we got in the water so it was too cold to stay in for very long. It was fabulous though--snorkeling is really fun, usually. The sky darkened and clouds covered the sky completely as we got back in the dhow. The motor broke shortly after departure so we had to sail the whole way back which takes a lot longer. That's when the whole crew came in handy-they even had to jump out and push the boat a couple times when it got caught in a sand bar. Sailing was nice except that it was cold, and it started raining as we approached the mainland. Our teeth chattered as we jumped off the boat at low tide and walked to shore. Luckily, Rodriquez, the dhow owner, picked us up in his truck and took us back to Zombie where hot-water showers awaited. It might have been my favorite day in Mozambique so far.

A couple days later, CC and I went on another adventure to a different island in the same archipelago. This time, CC went diving on 2-mile reef with a few people, and I snorkeled with two French guys on the other side of the reef. The water was way too rough for snorkeling, but we didn't want to do nothing so we jumped in anyway. I had trouble with my snorkel (it wouldn't fit in my mouth) plus the waves kept pushing me around. I kept coming up out of the water to fuss with my snorkel, and one of those times--BAM! Jellyfish to the face! No, not really, the jellyfish didn't lunge out of the water to sting my face, but a large blue jellyfish (bigger than my head) ran right into my arm and stung the shit out of me. It burned so bad, but I tried to tough it out. It got a big patch of my elbow and forearm, then some tentacles lashed my upper forearm... F*** you, Jellyfish. It's been almost 3 days, and I still have the marks on my arm. At least it stopped hurting by the next morning. After I got stung, I freaked out a little bit, mostly because I didn't know what hit me and I just saw this big blue blob rubbing up against me. If I hadn't been wearing a shorty wetsuit, my stomach and chest would've been stung too. Of course, if I had a full wetsuit I wouldn't have been stung at all. Hmmm. I snorkeled for a bit, but I just couldn't relax. Every time I saw a jellyfish, I frantically swam in the opposite direction. A woman on the boat had to swim out to tell me I was going the wrong way and missing the reef. There were lots of colorful fish and plants underwater, but I couldn't enjoy it amongst my burning arm, jellyfish paranoia, and seawater in my snorkel every other minute. So when the boat left to go pick up the divers, I tagged along and left the Frenchies alone--they weren't very friendly anyway. After all the divers and snorkelers were on the boat, we drove to Bazaruto Island for lunch and relaxation. CC and I walked up the big sand dune before eating out tuna sandwiches. The divers went out for the second dive in the afternoon, and the snorkelers were left to explore the island. I took a nap in the sun because it was a beautiful day. Then I did a bit of snorkeling off the island's shore. It wasn't as good as Magaraque and my jellyfish paranoia got the best of me so again I didn't stay in for very long. CC saw a lot of awesome marine life on his dives--giant turtles, reef sharks, stingrays, potato bass, and a longhead flathead. Unfortunately neither of us saw a Harry Hotlips which is my new favorite fish.

Yesterday I accompanied Chris Conz to the airport in Vilankulos. He's on his way back to Qacha's Nek, and I'm on my own for the next 2+ weeks in Moz. Next up, I'm visiting a few Peace Corps Mozambique volunteers in the southern part of the country. Should be interesting!