Truck Day 12 & 13 – Inhambane (Barra Beach)

Breakfast is at 7am this morning as we’re off on a boat for an ocean safari. At 8am we walk 5 minutes down the beach to Barra Reef Divers and meet the skippers who explain that we’ll be out for around 2.5 hours and that they hope to spot humpback whales’ dolphins and fingers crossed a whaleshark that we potentially could snorkel with (an 18m long vegetarian softy). We collect masks, fins and snorkels and board the rib. Its fairly choppy and a number of the group are starting to look a little pale. The waves are 1-1.5 metres high and there’s quite a swell. Sadly, the whale sharks prove to be elusive despite a long search. We do get to see dolphins and humpback whales fairly close up including two babies. The waters off Mozambique and down to South Africa are where the whales come every year to breed and give birth and it’s a great opportunity to see them. We head towards a reef and drop over the side of the boat in hopeful anticipation. The reef is almost non-existent and what is left is in a very very poor shape with few fish. Its incredibly disappointing after being informed the night before by the dive company owner just how good the reef was. We make the best of it and enjoy a splash around in the warm Indian Ocean.

We return to dry land and take a walk downtown to a small market, en-route the skipper of the boat drives past us in his truck and offers us a lift. We jump in, some more elegantly than others I hasten to add!! On arrival the market traders are absolutely delighted to see their first customers of the day.

We return to our chalet with our purchases and prepare for an afternoon on the beach with numerous dips in the sea’ sunbathing and a swim in the pool en-route home to shower and change for dinner. The beach is absolutely beautiful’ stretches for miles and is deserted bar about 8 people. Insane.

Saturday dawns slightly cloudier and more sultry than yesterday. I wake at 5am and after reading in an attempt to return to my slumber I can’t fight it any more and I get up at around 6.30am for a walk on the still mostly deserted beach whilst Brownie gentle snores in our bed. After breakfast we go for a swim in the pool and read for a while. The tide is coming in and we decide it’s time to work off breakfast with a bodyboard. There’s no one in the sea and we have a great time.

Whilst some of the group go with the truck down to Tofo, further down the coast, we decide to go for a late lunch at a fabulous beach restaurant, the Green Turtle. I have a plate of enormous prawns and Brownie has the freshest of crab salads. It’s a really nice opportunity for us just to spend some time together and dress up a little in our dresses that we’d purchased earlier in the week in Eswatini. We return to our chalet to pack at about 6 as the sun gently descends. It’s been another glorious day.