COUNTRY: Mozambique
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Marine Conservation and Care Work
WRITTEN BY: Adam Rasko
Hello All,
I’m currently typing this blog in the Albatroz lodge, a straw thatched beach house located 50m from the pristine Tofo beach near Inhambane, Mozambique. My name is Adam Rasko, I live in Sydney, Australia and I’m on the Antipodeans GapBreak/UniBreak Program. There are currently eight people living in the Albatroz lodge. In the Antipodeans group there is Olly from Sydney, Julia from Byron Bay and Anthony from Brisbane. There are also other independent volunteers from around the world including including Malaysia, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Norway.
This program works through a link with a local organisation. The organisation supports the local environment through marine research on whale sharks, manta rays and turtles. The research, data and photographic evidence, gathered through ID tagging and photographing, is sent to local universities and the regional government to help sustain the marine life for future years.
Us volunteers also have the option to take cameras out on our weekly dives to record the patterns of each animal. This allows researchers to collaborate the data and estimate the thriving populations of the marine life. Weekly talks are given to educate us on the marine life in the Tofo area.
The talks allow us to add to the sustainability of the surrounding marine life by helping us identify various species underwater and record the number of female/male whale sharks in the area. The researchers were particularly excited this week as about 70 Leatherback Turtles, which are critically endangered, hatched from a nest located near us.
We have also learned that Asian fisheries have contributed greatly to the endangerment of manta rays and sharks – they have a superstitious belief that their gills can filter human blood.
The weekdays are planned with dives, ocean safari snorkels and participating in community projects with local children.
The first week, all of us volunteers were busy completing our respective Padi diving course. Julia and Anthony are midway through completing their Padi Open Water Dive course, which involves dive theory, a pool dive and multiple boat dives. Olly and I are completing our advanced course because we are already have our open water qualifications. We've been on a couple deep dives (30ish meters) so far at local reefs including Salon, Outback, Giants and Sherwood Forrest. They have all been awesome fun and we've seen lots of cool things including Honeycomb Moray Eels, Potato Groupers, Turtles, Dolphins, Giant Frog Fish, Mobula Rays, Blotched Fantail Rays, Humpback Snappers, Morish Idols and loads more!
The community projects haven't really started yet however today a few of the volunteers helped teach 20 kids how to swim in the pool near our house. They were all really cute and keen to learn how to swim. Next week we will all be participating in building a kindergarten and more swimming classes.
The weekends are completely free, with no real plans or rules enforced so we decided to hire a local sailboat in Inhambane. Our tour guides sailed us to Survivor Island. The trip consisted of fresh breakfast with mouth-watering fresh bread and hand picked fruit. The water is warmer than anywhere on the Australian east coast, crystal clear and teeming with local marine life.
We were able to snorkel off the side of the boat, witnessing an array of sea slugs, giant crabs, lobsters and a vibrant array of small fish. The island was welcoming and the younger children played on a set of makeshift drums, flaunting their hardened feet in the sand. We were shown around the villages, witnessing baby geese cracking out of their fresh shells. We visited the primitive local hospital, school and church ground. The lunch was cooked fresh with all the local herbs and seafood. The organisation also dedicated half the cost of the sailing trip to the local island allowing them to widen and hopefully add to their collection of books, school tables and educational equipment.
That night we decided to have a BBQ with the 12 other volunteers and a couple other stragglers who wanted a good feed. We caught a chappa (a local taxi) for 20 mets each to the city of Inhambane to buy supplies. We ended up buying Boerwurst (South African sausages), steak and ribs. In typical African style, the eating only begun at 9:30 but it was worth the wait. After we played card games a few went out to the two local bars, Dinos and Fatimas where they stayed long into the night.
The beach is a two-minute walk down the “stairs of death” (don’t fret, their not as bad as they’re made out to be). The weather is humid but with the beach nearby and our shady cottage and three freshly served meals a day, its absolute bliss.
The market encroaches onto the beach and all our local supplies can be purchased for a fifth of the usual Australian prices. Including tasty mangos for about AU$0.30. The local language is Portuguese, however many of the locals can speak passable English, as well as French and a few local dialects.
We have all had an awesome first week. Stay tuned for more news from Tofo beach.
Mozambique Team :)
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