Flora and Fauna Lecture

Makeshift Laundry Line Using Mosquito Net Ropes and NRS Straps

Mark and I had a full day of activity.  First, we improved our laundry skills by washing, rinsing, and drying two bags of laundry.  Usually when we travel, we use an affordable local laundry service.  My heart skips a beat just thinking about sending away dirty travel clothes and 24 hours later receiving a stack of freshly  scented, perfectly folded laundry.  The $10 per bag prices here, however, cause my heart to nearly stop beating altogether, so I’ve settled for some happy medium where I wash my own clothes, keep the cash for myself, and call “cleanish” good enough.  By the way, we’ve discovered a preference for Omo, the local suds, over our Bronner’s-type concentrated soap from home.  It’s probably toxic, but the starch seems to help the clothes dry faster and leaves them nice and easy to fold.

Second, we hitch-hiked into town for meticash.  The petrol station’s ATM was out of order, so we caught a second hike for the remaining 20k into Inhambane.  Standing in BCI’s ATM foyer was the highlight of my day.  I wanted to keep removing cash just so we could loiter in the air conditioning.  It was the first time in over a month that I had felt dry rather than muggy and sweaty.  Those few minutes were such a treat.  From the ATM, we made our way by foot back through town, toward Tofo.  Along the way, we passed Portugese-inspired concrete houses, something decidedly longer-lasting than the grass huts with thatched roofs we had been seeing in the villages.  We were tempted to pluck fresh limes from the mature trees in their fenced yards.  We made our way through the street markets, briefly stopping to purchase a 50 cent glass bottle of Pepsi from a young vender.  As we drank the soda, we conversed with the young attendant in Spanish and he spoke in Portugese.  The kids here learn about 4-5 languages in school, and yet, the Zimbabwean construction worker who gave us a ride into Inhambane had told me that he was keeping his kids in Zimbwabe for their education which, in his estimation, was stronger than here in Mozambique.  We purchased bamboo laundry clips and some more Omo detergent before patting our hands out indicating we were looking for a lift back to Tofo.  A contractor in a beautiful green Nissan 4 wheel drive pulled over to let us in.  With his remote control, he cranked up the bass on his Dire Straits CD, and we sat back and enjoyed the ride.

Road-side Beverage Stand

Chickens for Sale

Used Clothing Store

New Clothing Store



Downtown Inhambane



Local Village Kids

Thatched Roof Building on the Way to Inhambane

Water Tank

Third, we headed to Dino’s where Mike and Justin were ready to learn from Mark about how to set up a blog for their solo trips.  While I checked email on wifi, I treated myself to a second milkshake, vanilla this time.  It was like sipping angel food cake, unbelievable.  Hook me up to an IV and cut me off when I’m 800lbs.  Those $3 milkshakes are heaven in a glass.

Fourth, 6pm rolled around, time for the Flora and Fauna lecture.  I headed south along the beach to the familiar red umbrellas of Casa Barry’s, paid for the $3 ticket and headed into the classroom.  A projector screen covered the front wall of a small fanned room where about a dozen people were seated.  Chris, the young scientist, welcomed us, explained that the lecture was informal, and invited comments and questions.  He showed pictures of several things we had seen while diving like the blue spotted rays, which are different from devil rays and mantas.  Some differences were eye and mouth location, color, size, and the presence or lack of stingers.  He showed pictures of sea turtles and explained that the global temperature affects how many eggs become male or female.  He explained that the eggs hatch and the turtles book it out to sea and don’t return to their home shores for up to 30 years.  He explained how their lives are complicated by plastic bags found in the ocean.  Apparently, they’ve been finding dead sea turtles with a wad of plastic bags in their stomachs.  The bags don’t digest, can’t pass, and can’t be thrown up, so they sit in the stomach making the turtles positively buoyant to the point where they can’t dive down to feed anymore.  Also, their lives are endangered by the demand for sea turtle soup and turtle jewelry.  It broke my heart to hear about how long it takes a turtle to develop and how quickly their lives are ended.  They’re such beautiful, majestic creatures.

We also learned about the biodiversity of local sharks, dolphins, and whales who prefer the Tofo area due to its perfect temperatures and high prevalence of plankton (which was described as anything that can’t swim against the current).  We saw pictures of eels and learned about their unique double jaws.  I was comforted to find that when they open their jaws, it’s more than likely for fresh oxygen rather than eating my fingers.  We saw pictures of crocodile fish (which are difficult to pick out because they blend into the reef with their camouflage).  We saw pictures of poisonous scorpion and lion fish that reminded us of the scuba rule: Don’t touch anything that appears too pretty or too ugly because it’s probably poisonous.  I liked the pictures of the rose-type flower where nudi branchs lay their eggs.  I thought it was interesting that they only live for a few weeks to a month and have both male and female reproductive parts.

What was particularly fascinating to me was how much the scientists don’t yet know about marine life.  Why do the rays do above-water acrobatic tricks?  Where do the sea turtles disappear to for their first 30 years?  Three scientists, Andrea (an American), Simon, and Chris, along with Peri Peri Divers have been working to better understand these questions, but there’s still a lot to discover.  You can follow their work at www.marinemegafauna.org and on facebook at Marine MegaFauna Foundation.  It’s interesting stuff.