A Tofo beach
After I had been in Vilankulo for about a month, we took a trip south to Tofo, where we stayed for a night. Tofo is a big tourist destination, known especially for diving and for the diverse marine life. We did an ocean safari, meaning we went on a dingy searching for dolphins, whale sharks, rays, and other sea creatures. If we spotted anything, we all had snorkeling gear and could jump off the boat for a closer look. It was very cool, but the process of getting to Tofo was a mission. We took a car, then ferry, then chapa. A chapa is basically like a minivan taxi, but filled beyond capacity. We counted at least forty people in ours. The back door was held shut with string, and at one point while the driver was trying to cram more people into the car, the side door came off its hinges. Luckily, our trip lasted only an hour. The rate was set at 44 mets (22 each - 60 mets is about $1) but we didn't have that so paid only 37 mets for the whole trip. Public transport here is always exciting…
Another day, we were in a tuk-tuk trying to get to a certain restaurant. Before getting in, we asked if the driver knew where the restaurant was (“yes, yes of course!” he said) and then negotiated a price – 100 mets. We then climbed in and drove, and drove, and drove. I was pretty sure we were driving in the wrong direction, and said so to the driver (as I don’t speak Portuguese and he didn’t speak much English, this was a little hard.) He stopped and asked someone passing by for directions. This happened twice. Then, finally, he found the right road, but it was a steep sandy downhill. We got stuck, and all had to get out and push the tuk-tuk down the hill with the help of a man passing by. Once down, the driver said he could go no further, and we should walk the rest of the way. Then he asked for 300 mets, since he had taken longer than originally planned. We said no, it was his own fault for getting lost, and we had agreed on 100 mets. After some discussion, he took the 100 mets and drove off. Then, the passerby who had helped push the tuk-tuk out of the sand came and asked for his own recompense for helping. “Just 100 mets, only 100 mets, a deal,” he said. We told him no, we had no more money, and walked away to the restaurant.
A tuk-tuk
As I was flying out of Vilankulos, another funny thing happened. In order to enter town, you need to fill out an immigration paper. I thought this was only necessary for entry into Vilankulo, but when I flew out, they insisted I fill out one leaving the country as well. One of the questions asked is where you are staying - city and address. I was flying to Johannesburg to see my cousins, but couldn’t remember the exact address. I had it in my phone, but there was no wifi in the airport, so I couldn’t look it up. So, I filled out the rest of the form, left the ‘address’ part blank, and carried on hoping no one would notice. Foolish choice. Sure enough, as I handed over my passport, boarding pass, and immigration paper, the man behind the desk said, “sorry, madam, you have haven’t put an address.” I took back the paper and shuffled around a bit, pretending I had a solution. The people in line behind me were getting impatient. I told him I did not know the address, but he didn’t seem to understand. I handed the paper over again, pointing at the address part and saying again “I forgot what the address is.” He looked at it, looked at me, and said again, “sorry madam, the address…” I took out my phone to try for wifi again, and saw that there was a network for the airport lounge, but it was password protected. Again, he didn’t speak much English and I speak no Portuguese. So I held the phone out to him, pointing at the wifi password message to ask what the password was so I could connect and find my address. He looked at it, nodded, and smiled, saying, “oh yes, very good,” and then wrote the name of the airport lounge on the line for the address in Johannesburg and motioned me to pass through the gates. I'm not sure what happened there, but it's clear that there was some extreme error in our communicatoin.
The ferries are another cool way to get around.
