COUNTRY: Mozambique
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Marine Conservation and Care Work
WRITTEN BY: Adam Rasko
We are finally getting into the swing of things and starting to feel more Mozambican everyday. We have established a typical routine of waking up at about 7am, having breakfast at the Albatroz Restaurant and then preparing for the morning dive with the Peri Peri dive shop. After the dive we have an early lunch and then chill in the afternoon by either watching movies, going to the beach, surfing, shopping to the market or walking to get internet.
However, a couple experiences this week have been anything but typical. One dive especially comes to mind, when we went to Manta Reef on a 40 degree day. We begun the dive with the usual boat entry of pushing the boat from the sand into the water and then we started our 30 minute boat ride to the dive site. The water was crystal clear and we could see the bottom of the 30 meter reef from the boat. We had high hopes of seeing loads of animals as the day before the dive centre saw a few Manta Rays and a Whale Shark in the area. As soon as we got down we saw a huge Reef Manta circling around us and then before long we saw a Giant Manta and a few more Reef Mantas!
The dive also saw us get up close to massive schools of Yellow Snapper and Barracuda, a few Honeycomb Moray Eels, a White Mouth Eel, two massive Potato Groupers and much more. I also got attacked by a playful blue trigger fish who thought I was a predator! When we reached the surface we were all content with an awesome dive, however it was just the beginning of what we would see that day. On the boat trip back we firstly came across a small pod of the rare humpback dolphins and circled them for a while. Then a few minutes later, just after the skipper gave the radio call that we where about to head back to land, we found a Whale Shark!!
It was an awesome experience and we snorkelled with it for about 30 minutes as it effortlessly glided through the water. On the boat we all thought it was massive however according to the dive instructor on board it was only 6 meters long. This seemed huge to us, but it was small in comparison to the 15m that the adults grow to. It was an awesome dive. The best I have ever been on!!!
In the past week we have done quite a lot of social work which involved a mixture of looking after local children at the kindergarten, teaching English at the local SOS orphanage and providing swimming lessons to the children from the orphanage here at the Albatroz swimming pool. To get to the kindergarten, we typically go down to the market at 8am and find a Chapa (local taxi) to take us on the 15 minute journey to the petrol station. From there, it is a five minute walk to the kindergarten.
A Chapa ride is normally an interesting experience as the drivers attempt to squish up to 30 people into a small travel wagon. At the kindergarden we either help out with building works or we look after the kids and help prepare their meals. When we go to the SOS orphanage (about a 30 minute Chapa ride) we normally play with the kids for 10 minutes before we start helping out with English lessons or being involved in some sort of other activity with the children. The swimming lessons usually involve helping Messias (Volunteering Leader) teach and making sure all the kids are safe. Despite being very tiring, we all agree that the volunteer work is a rewarding experience.
Some of the other international volunteers have left us in the past week and, of course, we have to celebrate all their last nights in Tofo. This usually involved going out to dinner at our favourite local Italian restaurant called 'What-U-Want' before heading to play pool and chill at a local bar - Fatima’s. Then if we have enough energy we head to a beach club called Dino’s! Every Wednesday we also have movie night at a restaurant/bar about 30minutes walk from our house called Mozam-Beats.
Next week, as its the beginning of the month, there is supposed to be 6 new volunteers, so we are all expecting to have a fun week!
We are all having an awesome time and can't believe we have only got 2 weeks left.
Adam
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