Dive Adventures in Tofo, Mozambique

More Tofo Volunteers Arrive in Cozumel!

July 23, 2013 By Tam Warner Leave a Comment

Marcel and Daniela arrived from Cancun around lunch, as we had a night dive planned. It was so wonderful to see Marcel and Daniela! It seems like no time has passed at all since our time in Tofo a year ago. Randy and I took everyone to the other side of the island for a drink. We were all excited for the night dive, it was Felix’s first, and Daniela and Marcel’s second (but they said their first night dive was not a big deal). Felix was a bit on the nervous side, but that is completely normal. We got to the boat, a 35 foot luxury liner compared to the zodiac in Tofo, where we were briefed, and we descended during twilight. It is best to do a night dive with beginners at sundown, the darkness comes on gradually, almost unnoticed, and it eases them into the experience. Night brings out different fish, different animals, and I so very much wanted them to see an octopus.

It would be really unusual for one to do a night dive in Cozumel and not see an octopus, but hey, you never know. I was worried during the dive until we spotted that first octopus, then ahhhhhh….I relaxed and enjoyed the next 5 octopi! Huge crabs, eels, open corals, lobsters, brittle stars…night diving is wonderful. And the colors are amazing! Using lights really shows the beauty and color of the reef and the corals. Just gorgeous. They LOVED the night dive (of course!). Afterward, we went to the Money Bar to eat. Diving makes one hungry!

The next morning Felix left us for Cancun and home to London…he starts an internship next week, so…holiday time is over for now for him! But 3 weeks in Mexico was a great way to celebrate his graduation! On the way home from dropping him off at the ferry Marcel wanted to know if we could do another night dive! Sure! I’m always up for a night dive! So the three of us went again, and had another great dive. There were several first timers on the boat for the night dive, so there was nervous energy down below.

Everything went well, though. Home to bed for our early morning dive adventure!

Off we went the next morning to Punta Palancar and El Paso de Cedral. Diving with us were Carol and Brian. Brian is a quadriplegic, and still is able to dive. He was a Salvage Diver in the Air Force, and I thanked him for his service. I don’t know if that is how he was hurt, but salvage diving can be quite dangerous. After they “gear” him up, the dive master on the boat holds Brian’s tank and that is how he dives. I am full of admiration for him…he and his wife are obviously strong minded individuals.

The dives were beautiful….we saw turtles and groupers and giant parrotfishes and eels and a nurse shark….very beautiful dives. We went to dinner with my husband and daughter, Ally, and our next door Cozumel neighbors, Lyn and Mark.

It was a fabulous meal in great company. We very much enjoyed it.

Alas, all wonderful things have an end, and Marcel and Daniela headed out this morning for Cancun to Philadelphia, then Daniela home to Munich and Marcel home to Zurich. It was so natural to be together, as though no time had passed. We discussed doing another volunteer trip together…maybe to Thailand. We will try to make that work! It meant so much to me that they came to Cozumel to visit me this summer…we had a very strong group in Tofo, and I feel connected to all of them. Living in the same house with people for weeks does tend to create bonds of affection, and I am very fond of Felix, Marcel, and Dani. Hasta Luego, mi amigos!

Do and Go and See NOW

July 23, 2013 By Tam Warner Leave a Comment

Crazy day. Today is Daniela’s birthday, and right now Felix is baking her a cake and playing some techno disco music. Where to start? First, I received an email that Rex is not doing very well and he is in the hospital. (My father-in-law). Apparently he has fallen and broken his tailbone, has a ruptured lumbar disk, and has had a somewhat difficult time cognitively. I’m very sad about it…he will go into rehab after he gets out of the hospital. I hope cortisone will work for his disc. It is troubling to watch our parents become infirm, it certainly lets us know that time is passing. I am glad he has done so much travelling in the last 5 years, he has been everywhere. None of us know when we are going to have problems, so we have to grab every moment, and I believe he has. I have always known this truth, I grew up going to the funerals of those who never made it to retirement, so I have always taken opportunities when they come my way, to travel, meet new people, experience new things. Age is creeping up, people my age have become ill, so I am going to do and go and see, before I cannot.

First dive this morning I saw a honeycombed whip tail stingray, the most dangerous ray in the world (or so I hear). Not close enough to go to the trouble for a photo, but it was big and beautiful. This was ray day….the whip tail, blue spotted rays, an electric ray, a Jenkins stingray, but no mobulas or mantas. Quite interesting animals on the second dive this afternoon: a Spanish Dancer egg case, for one thing. It looks like a gorgeous pink ribbon. The dive this afternoon was a mess: they forgot to bring my weight belt, prescription mask, and fins…. That was not the worst of it, though. We did the dive, I cannot see very well (no prescription mask), and of course I cannot push myself out of the water onto the boat, though I tried and ended up swallowing too much salt water. The reef, Salon, is only 10 minutes out of the bay, and when we return from a dive we “beach the boat”. Beaching the boat means that the driver runs at top speed ONTO THE SAND. It can be a bit harrowing, but today, I flew up out of the boat and landed in the middle, on a metal rod that runs the length of the boat. Embarrassing? Completely. I am quite sore. You know, it has to be said, I am a true walking, talking disaster zone. I am clumsy, often falling for no reason except I guess I don’t look where I am going, I am accident prone, and I cannot seem to stop these stupid incidents from happening. And yes, I spent most of my childhood in the corner, always in trouble for something. No matter where I go, these things follow me, I guess it is just part of being who I am. It ain’t easy being me!

Tomorrow we are off to Villancula and Bazaruta Archipeligo: Daniela, Ben, Suzanne, Marcel, and myself. I hear it is beautiful up there, especially around the islands….calm, warm seas, no current, hopefully a bit of a rest. I won’t have access to internet until Sunday night (as far as I know at the moment) so I will check in then. As everyone says here, cheers!

PS: Just had the big birthday celebration for Daniela. Darren (former bartender) mixed up some punch and everyone ended up playing some sort of truth telling card game (of the questions were mostly sexual in nature, and I have to say, they took it easy on me!) It was one way to get to know everyone!

A Giant Manta Ray and White Tip Shark!

July 22, 2013 By Tam Warner Leave a Comment

May 16

moz 12 office honeycomb throat — Beautiful Office Honeycomb Eel

Marcel and Ben continue to work on their Advanced, and the Open Water Group passed their tests so they are certified and working toward their Advanced Diver, well, except Melissa. She is dating the dive instructor though, so I have a feeling she will pass. They all seem to enjoy diving….if they like it here, they can dive anywhere. It is lovely to hear them all talking about their dives, so excited by everything! I love it.

Today we all circulated and signed petitions regarding the massacre of sharks and rays yesterday. The Foundation for the Protection of Marine Megafauna is rushing them to Maputo (the capitol) tonight. Most of the fishermen here have small rowboats, but this was a much larger, motorized boat. They have been told to fish 3 kilometers from shore, but they were in the bay. Even so, it is not illegal here, hopefully it soon will be. Darren, the marine biologist from the Seychelles, filmed it and there are many photos of the event. Let’s hope the government will understand that tourists are here to see these animals in the ocean, not being butchered on the beach. Rumor has it there is a Chinese mystery man in Maputo who pays top dollar for shark fins….some of the local guys who work in the dive industry are trying to find out his name.

I feel as though I have been here much longer than 10 days. I have become much stronger physically as the hills and treacherous stairs to the beach are unavoidable. It has been good for me. I have been diving every day since Friday, and I’ve done 3 ocean safaris. Launching the boat is no picnic, either, everything here involves physical exertion. I’ve started to know the scientists and divers….grad students, research assistants, biologists, they are all doing awesome work. I usually dive and safari with Ben and Marcel, and Darren is on every ocean safari as he is here from the Seychelles to measure and film Whale Sharks. Not much luck for him yet!

There have been few sightings in the last couple of months, and I sense a little concern. Great news filtered in today: a Humpback Whale was sighted off of Barra (one of the points of the bay)! I would love to see one. They come here to breed in late May, early June, so I may get lucky. I am also posting a photo of Marcel doing his laundry, and yes, I have to hand wash my clothes, too. A first for me.

I am very glad I decided to do this trip, and I hope it will be the first of many. I am diving in the morning and again in the afternoon, Friday morning a group of us leave for Bazaruto, a chain of island off of Villancula….it is said to be beautiful and serene, with incredible snorkeling. I am looking forward to it.

The Marine Megafauna Foundation in Tofo

July 21, 2013 By Tam Warner Leave a Comment

I attended a talk on Manta Rays last night by Dr Andrea Marshall. Casa Barry Lodge hosts the Marine Megafauna Foundation, so the researchers are based there. Casa Barry is up a hill, then down a hill, from the volunteer house, but hey, everything in Tofo is up or down a hill. Andrea Marshall is so charismatic…her passion for the conservation of Manta Rays is infectious. I saw a Discovery Channel special on the work she does with mantas and that is what sparked my interest in coming to Tofo. I want to help support this effort to the best of my ability. (I am scheduled to go to Komodo with a research team on Mantas January 2014!)

Andrea arrived here 10 years ago to do her graduate work, the first study of Mantas, and 10 years later there are 87% FEWER MANTA RAYS. I’ve been here a week and I’ve seen only one manta, and no whale sharks. The reason for this is obvious: today, on the way to Outback reef for a dive, we saw a fishing boat pulling up sharks and rays in a NET. It is not illegal, these animals are being fished for their fins so quickly they cannot sustain the population. After our dive (where I saw a mobula ray!) we saw them dragging sharks to the market from the beach, so we followed, and everyone is standing around watching guys cut them up. The rays were just babies. These people are so poor, the life expectancy is so low here, that the locals just cannot understand that they can make more money over the long haul by keeping these animals safe. For them, it is about RIGHT NOW. Eating right now, making enough money to last for a month for fins, they do not comprehend that the reason the tourists are here are the animals they are killing. It is so sad, so demoralizing. We all walked away in disgust, anger, and deep sorrow. Here are photos.

I have started doing fish surveys and research dive logs, and today I am learning to search the whale shark database and mark the shark ids. They use the NASA system for charting stars to chart the spot pattern on the sharks. I’ve also contributed turtle id shots. The dives the last two days have been much better…Mozambique is not easy diving. It isn’t easy, period. The walking is very difficult, up and down hills to get anywhere, but I am managing. Today there were a few older divers…it was nice not to be the oldest one in sight! I have to admit that it is a mixed blessing…I do feel stronger every day, but I also feel worn out and in pain a bit. I am pacing myself, and I will absolutely be able to complete this program.

I am comfortable here, this is not luxury, but it is fine. Compared to the people of Mozambique I am living like a Queen in this volunteer house. I feel like I have known this group forever….the bonding takes place so quickly when living in the same house.

My admiration for these people grows daily. My 22 year old roommate, Leslie, is from Switzerland, and has done volunteer work all over the world, including Antarctica! After 2 months here, she is off to Simon’s Town (right outside of Cape Town, South Africa) to work on the Great White Shark project. A small Great White was seen here day before yesterday…it was speared by local fisherman, of course, so it is probably being eaten by now, its fins on their way to China. These animals are going to be gone in 10 years if something is not done soon.

I confess I am feeling sad today to miss my daughter’s 25th birthday, but I think it was more important that I was there the day I gave birth! Happy, happy birthday, sweet and darling girl, I love you so much! I wish you could be here and meet these amazing people! What a way to travel the world! They really are an inspiration.

I’m exhausted already….an ocean safari, dive and manta ray talk yesterday; today an early morning dive, computer work, and two talks. Oh, and laundry. It is never dull here.

Dive Issues continue in Tofo

July 20, 2013 By Tam Warner Leave a Comment

May 13

Still having issues with the diving here. I feel like a complete idiot. It is not very buoyant here….and I am over-weighted, so I slammed into a few things….not a good thing to do on a reef. Shit! I have felt bad about it today…I have not adjusted to the diving in Tofo…it is true that the conditions are not easy, though the sea was very friendly today. Sometimes I feel like I have bitten off more than I can chew (so to speak), but I am managing. I cannot heave myself into the zodiac from the water, and I hate that. I have had two back surgeries, and in 2000 my lower spine was basically rebuilt, and I am able to do activities now that I could not do for years, but I can feel the weakness of my left leg pretty keenly at times. Tofo is a young town,one and although back surgery is not an age thing, I do not want to be so far below their abilities that I stand out any more than I have to. The 20s and 30s crowd is big here, mostly English or Australian, and they are dressed like the surfers in SoCal.

The native population here is altogether different. Mozambique suffered through years of civil war and the atrocities were numerous. Most live on the coast, or near the coast, as the interior of Mozambique is still landmined. In a country where subsistence can be difficult, one doesn’t run into educated individuals, or those who care at all about the environment or sustainability. There are no doctors in town, no one to help if you fall ill. People here have a low life expectancy, in the 40s for men, 50s for women, so you don’t see old people very much.

On a happy note, I swam with a Giant Manta Ray today! So, so beautiful! I also saw my first frogfish. They are absolutely marvelous! Now that I have seen one, maybe I’ll be able to spot one in Cozumel. Saw a loggerhead turtle today, a crocodile fish (freaky!), tons of seastars of all different colors and sizes, 4 gigantic lionfish swimming around…..a very cool dive if I could figure out how not to over inflate my BCD (dive jacket) and could maintain some buoyancy. I am very pissed at myself as I am sure you can tell. I did take my Dramamine today and had no seasickness. After the dive I had a bite to eat at Albatroz, a restaurant just up the hill from the house. They have coke with ice. Ahhhh. You have no idea how good a coke with ice can taste here! I took a nice long walk along the beach, did a bit of yoga, and now I am at the house, very tired. Tomorrow I learn to identify whale sharks on the database, do an ocean safari, and then dive. This coming weekend I am going on a trip to the Bazaruto Archipeligo with some of my house mates.

My first dive in Mozambique

July 18, 2013 By Tam Warner Leave a Comment

May 11

Today was my first dive. It was a completely different experience than I’ve ever had before. I fought terrible seasickness, for one thing. Apparently, the med I am taking for malaria preventative causes seasickness. Must take dramamine. Here is how it goes here with Peri Peri divers: from the dive shop you go down the “stairs of death” to the beach where the boat is being backed into the water by a Tracker. Everyone gets on the sides of the boat and pushes it out (it is a zodiac, but large). The women jump into the boat first, then the men, then you battle the waves to get off of the beach. The water is really pretty calm right now, but it is a bitch to get out of the wave line. Once out of the wave line it is open sea, and it is “yeehaw, ride ‘em cowboy”. I appreciate the zodiac, if it was a hard boat my spine would be in shards. We looked for whale sharks on the way out, no luck, and got to Manta Reef in 30 minutes or so.

I now know the “protocol” for diving here in Tofo. Weight belt first (I was overweighted for the first few dives), fins, tank (they put the tank on me, but holding it up was totally uncomfortable), mask, and negative entry. What is a negative entry? All air out of the BCD, roll back and just keep going. So, I had a few technical difficulties. First, the camera I had set up perfectly was suddenly set completely differently. I think someone opened the housing to look at the camera and in the process shut the flash trigger. So, there I am, at 20 metres, with no flash or strobe. The visibility was poor by Cozumel standards, probably 10 meters or so, 30 feet. The water is full of plankton and huge jellyfish, yes, the jellies from Finding Nemo. BUT. OMG, there is so much on the reef! The fish look like they’ve been on steroids! The trumpetfish are big and fat, I took photos of a scorpionfish twice the size of the scorpionfish on Cozumel. I saw a purple spotted eel, a four legged starfish, and then things started going wrong. I’m diving, checked my air and I had 150 bar. my jacket is overinflated, and I have 50 bar. Obviously, technical problems. So, I basically became completely nervous that I was running very low on air, and I didn’t want everyone to have to come up with me. I popped up without a safety stop, and that is never a good thing. When the dive master asked me why no stop, I said I was shaky from low sugar…not wanting to admit I ran out of air. I paid a price for that later on in the trip.

Waiting for the boat I really felt ill. To get back on the boat the skipper has to pull you up out of the water (or he has to pull me out of the water, most of them are strong enough to get themselves back on the zodiac, dammit, so humiliating). By the end of this trip my shoulders are going to be completely pulled out of joint.

Everyone got back from the dive, and off we went to look for whale sharks again. We found dolphins, and a Giant Manta ray. The manta was absolutely beautiful, just under the top of the water. Of course my camera was put away, but I have plenty of time to photograph mantas (I hope). One of the divers, a woman from Singapore, was very seasick and spent the ride back getting sick and being completely miserable. Tomorrow I dive again, and I must remember to take my Dramamine!

I just finished a game of Uno with the group, they are now playing spoons, of all things! I grew up playing spoons on Christmas Eves on Freeport with my family….they are having a great time with it. I took a video of them playing, I’ll post it in a day or two. They are an enthusiastic crew! Pieter, our young man from the Netherlands, is absent, as usual…he has a girl he is interested in who is at Fatimas, a bar and hotel on the beach. Most of us are here in the house tonight, four of us are diving tomorrow. 630 a.m. comes early.

I enjoyed a nice lunch at Albatross today, it is just a short walk up the hill (everything is up a hill or down a hill here….mostly up). The Mozambiquens are so very nice and polite, they always have a smile on their face. Tonight, Patty from San Francisco fixed a lovely corn and potato chowder, followed by flambe pineapples with rum. Wonderful meal.

I am off to bed, hopefully my dive tomorrow will be wonderful.

Dive Adventures in Tofo, Mozambique

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