Dive Adventures in Tofo, Mozambique

Mozambique fellow volunteers visit!

July 17, 2013 By Tam Warner 3 Comments

Felix, one of the young men I volunteered with in Mozambique, has come to visit me in Cozumel! He is traveling Mexico with 3 of his friends from Oxford University. Felix is now an Oxford graduate! Time for real life….but not quite yet.

He arrived yesterday and we did a long snorkel from my backyard over to Chankanaab. I wanted to show Felix the dolphins and check up on the nurse sharks. The dolphins were so interested in us! After an entire day of performing for people, they seemed very interested to see us through the fence. There were 6 or 7 of them who really checked us out and followed us as we snorkeled. They were so beautiful…smooth and serene. And best of all, the cross fences which seemed to “pen” or corral the nurse sharks were totally gone! So were the sharks, although they had been around earlier in the day when my friend Lyn and her group snorkeled over there. Maybe we will see them tomorrow!

Today we dove Columbia Deeps, one of the southern reef systems in Cozumel, with towers of coral, very beautiful. Not much in the way of fish, but when one hasn’t seen coral like that, it is breathtaking. We then went to an area known as “Cielo”, a shallow aquamarine area filled with starfish. I didn’t see many today, but my friend Lyn went later in the afternoon and her group saw plenty of them! After our surface interval we dove Punta Palancar, the very start of Palancar Reef, made famous by Jacques Cousteau. It was absolutely crystal clear, and filled with fish, turtles, and a hunting green moray accompanied by a Grouper! I actually took a short video of the eel, which I will try to post. I’m not sure I can, but I will try.

We dove with an older couple (70s) and their granddaughter, delightful people, but after the first dive the older man had a rough time of it and stayed out the second dive. I was worried when we surfaced from our deep dive as they seemed to be struggling. All turned out well.

Tonight Randy and I were treated to a delicious meal, Felix cooked for us. He even made his own tortillas! While in Mozambique I stayed way out of the kitchen….I was absolutely floored by the culinary abilities of Felix and Patty, a woman from San Francisco who flambeed pineapple….incredibly wonderful. Since I have trouble making toast, I kept a very low profile in the kitchen. Tonight we enjoyed shrimp tortillas with guacamole and Mexican potatoes…Felix found a recipe and off we went to Mega, the grocery. Excellent meal, Felix even bought us Mexican white wine. Delicious!

It seems a funny thing, really, to consider that Felix is the same age as my son and his friends, and yet the experience in Tofo bound several of us together regardless of age. Tomorrow Marcel (Switzerland) and Dani (Munich) will join Felix (Cambridge, UK) and I (USA, originally from Ohio) here in Cozumel. We have a night dive scheduled for tomorrow night, their first! I will be sure to tell you all about it!

Ocean Safari in Mozambique

July 12, 2013 By Tam Warner 1 Comment

Ocean Safari may10

Marcel, Ben, Pieter and I went on our first ocean safari today…sadly, no whale sharks. But I did see my first ever Hammerhead shark and Black Fin Reef shark. We also encountered two pods of dolphins, both bottlenose and humpback dolphins. I was not in good position to take photos of anything. The water is full of plankton, so in order to get a good photo you’d need to be within 6 feet, I think. It was my first time in a zodiac (a sort of rubber boat), well not the very first time, the first one was when we went to look at elephant seals in Great White Shark infested waters, so obviously the goal was to stay IN the boat. Getting in and out of a zodiac has its challenges. Also there are no piers here, so the boat has to be driven to the beach, pushed into the water by the passengers of the boat, you then jump into the boat and ride over the waves to get out of the bay. An adventure, for sure! There were twelve people on the boat, so you can imagine the rush to get into the water. I went in twice but quickly decided it was too many people to get close to the animals anyway.

I sat out a couple of times, waiting for the whale sharks who never appeared. The energy it takes to roll off the boat, swim in the swells, then get back in the boat is enormous. Fortunately for my sugar levels I took a peanut butter sandwich with me. And yes, you are allowed to dive with diabetes, as long as you have it under control. I have it under control.

The area where the whale sharks feed is a four kilometer stretch just outside the bay, quite different from the 22 miles plus you have to go from Cancun or Holbox. The dive sites aren’t far off either. I am diving in the morning, at Manta Reef (MANTA RAYS!) and the “Office”. The fish are so differently marked and colored here, I cannot wait to start taking photos. There are a couple of dragon eels on the Office, I hear, and I’d love to photograph them!

Our coordinators, Ross and Katie, are back now, apparently Mozambique’s border guards are a bit power hungry and love to refuse visas to people. They had to go to South Africa in order to get a Mozambique visa! Crazy, right? They are both very likeable. I’ve spent part of the day learning how to put data into the fish databases, and I took my fish test this morning (I passed). So…ready for surveys.

There is another young man I’d like Ally to meet: Darren, a whale shark researcher from the Seychelles. Lovely young man. His passion in life is whale sharks, and he even has whale shark tattoos. Crazy!

I have settled in. Ages in the house range from 21 to 52, most in their 20s but a few in their 30s and one woman in her forties. I love Tofo….it is so beautiful. From the boat today I saw areas outside our bay, cliffs and huge sand dunes, beautiful homes high on the hills. One area is powered by a wind turbine. If you want to buy in Mozambique, do it now, I predict you’ll triple your money in 5-10 years. The town is filled with Aussies and South Africans, the research base at Casa Barry is a major hot spot. Scientists and interns and volunteers are everywhere. I’ve seen several tourists, none American so far.

I highly recommend Tofo to the mid-life crisis crowd, I am so glad I came. I am on my own, away from everything familiar, and I feel energized by the freedom I am experiencing. I love my family with every cell in my body, but you know we all play roles during our lives…I have always been someone’s daughter, sister, mother, spouse; taking responsibility and putting everyone’s needs ahead of my own. It is refreshing to just answer to myself, to do what I want to do when I want to do it, without taking care of anyone or being fearful of hurting someone’s feelings. The people here just accept me and make no demands. Maybe we all need an experience like this at some point in our lives. It is giving me space that I have never felt before. I am resolved to enjoy every opportunity. Tonight is a talk on sea turtles at Casa Barry, I plan to go over an hour early and have a nice dinner. The volunteer house is not a culinary delight! I’m already sick of pasta.

Exploring Tofo

July 9, 2013 By Tam Warner Leave a Comment

May 9

The volunteer organizers have been out of town since I’ve been here, stuck at the border into Mozambique. The other divers and I have had quite a bit of free time. Most of the group are just learning to dive, and spent the day in a classroom doing dive tables. I have been learning my fish….the fish surveys involve butterflyfish, rock cods (groupers), parrots and surgeonfish. So I learn 60 fishes for doing the surveys. I think I’ve just about got them, though.

After I looked at the fish, I decided to go over to Casa Barry, the lodge where the Foundation for the Protection of Marine Megafauna is located. I was so interested to come to Tofo because of Dr Andrea Marshall and Dr Simon Pierce, manta and whale shark researchers I saw on National Geographic (or Discovery, cannot remember). Andrea Marshall came to Tofo to do her dissertation, and has now been here for 10 years. I met her this evening at a whale shark talk given at Casa Barry. I certainly hope to attend talks that she gives on the manta rays while I am here.

So, I decided to walk to Casa Barry ( you walk everywhere here ) and my new young friends lunch at Casa Barry >Leslie, Marcel and Ben asked to come along. It was very sweet of them to come with me, so we had a nice lunch (the food was delicious) and then took a nice long walk on the beach. The tide was out and there were all kinds of things to look out. Sponges, tidal pools, groups of mussels that looked like rocks they were so thick, and huge dunes. Local people are out collecting mussels and whatever else they can find, they are also fishing off the beach. The people are so very poor here. The currency is the metical, and 1.00 buys 25 meticals. Children are selling bracelets and jewelry in the market for 20 meticals. The bank in Inhambane gave me huge bills, like 1,000.00 meticals, and no one has change for them. Tomorrow I plan to visit the market.

I’m very happy that in spite of my age the “kids” seem to accept me. I was very surprised when 3 of them came along with me to Casa Barry. I have so much admiration for them…I have found out that some of them are older than I thought, but here they are, taking time from their lives to do volunteer work, to travel the world, meet new people. Some of the older people (in 30s) have either quit their jobs for 3 months or so to do this, or taken leave, they have saved up in order to do this. It is a great group of people, always interesting, so many different experiences all over the globe. Many speak several languages, all are open minded and excited to try new things. Me likee.

We attended a whale shark talk this evening and now everyone is hanging out. Suzanne, from London, is the only volunteer here that is not on the whale shark project, she is here to work with children. She spent the day at an orphanage in Inhambane (she is supposed to teach in a school) and it sounded rather harrowing. She said the babies are very hard to take…I can only imagine. If my friend Lyn was here she’d be over there adopting some. The children in the markets are heart wrenching enough.

Tomorrow I will explore further.

When the tide is out.... — When the tide is out….

Adventures in Mozambique 2012

June 30, 2013 By Tam Warner Leave a Comment

In May 2012 I did a volunteer trip to Tofo, Mozambique. The trip, with All Out Africa, marked a turning point in my life. I kept a journal while I was there, and I would like to share my memories and photos with you. Also, I will be taking another research trip in January with Dr Andrea Marshall, Queen of Mantas. I am also excited that some of my fellow volunteers are coming to Cozumel this summer!

So, where am I going? And why? I am going to Tofo, Mozambique, home of the Foundation for the Protection of Marine Megafauna, (it is on Facebook), headed by Dr. Andrea Marshall (manta rays) and Dr Simon Pierce (whale sharks). For anyone who doesn’t know me well, I am an animal lover, an ocean lover, a scuba diver and an enthusiastic amateur underwater photographer. I heard about the project in Tofo through NatGeo (or Discovery). Andrea Marshall is known as the Queen of Mantas. She is in Mozambique where she researches the manta populations, and she discovered the existence of two species of manta.

To say I admire what she has done and what she is doing is a vast understatement. We can all argue about what causes climate change, but one thing we do know and can agree on: humans are harming the balance of life everywhere on our planet. The ocean is at the heart of all life, we depend on its food sources, its plant life, its currents, and its temperatures. The ocean and its animals are at risk. I decided I need to do my part. I’ve been doing fish species surveys for REEF for a year now, and this trip is, I hope, the first of many such ventures.

I grew up on Jacques Cousteau specials, the famous boat Calypso on its voyages of exploration, and how I wanted to be a part of it! Of course, I think every kid of my generation wanted to be Jacques Cousteau. In the days before world of warcraft, home computers, the internet and Facebook, we had to find our own fun and we didn’t live our adventures on our Xboxes, we lived them through our imaginations and through individuals like Jacques Cousteau, who generally had two television specials a year. No, we didn’t have cable, so we had to find out when it would be on, and be sure we tuned in. No, there would be no rerun or repeat of the show.

The first look at SCUBA (Jacques Cousteau invented the Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus), watching dolphins play, seeing sharks and incredible creatures from the deep for the first time fired my curiosity and wonder. I have never lost it. I have been diving with all kinds of animals, including Great White Sharks, manatees, dolphins, sharks, eels, all manner of fish, etc etc, but this is a dream come true, to participate in research designed to assist in the protection of our seas. I am excited to be on my way.

So, trying to stay awake as I hang out in the Admirals Club Lounge, waiting until 5p when I have to take a bus to another terminal to catch a British Airways flight to Johannesburg. Conserving my energy! I’ll sleep like a baby on the flight tonight. I will check in tomorrow, from Johannesburg!

Dive Adventures in Tofo, Mozambique

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