After 10 weeks of surfing in South Africa together we said farewell to those who weren’t staying on for the Mozambique leg of the trip. Much has been said about how incredible Mozambique is throughout our 10 weeks in South Africa and the excitement and expectation amongst the group going was equal to the envy of those who were unfortunately unable to accompany us. It was two half days worth of driving to make our way up to Tofo, Inhambane and the scenery on the drive up was something special. The climate, culture and landscape changes so quickly over such a short distance and even though Mozambique is neighbours with South Africa there is a complete contrast in culture, landscape and most noticeably, infrastructure. It’s the reason we called it a surf safari because without a 4×4 and a knowledgeable guide your time surfing in Mozambique could be very tricky. Luckily for us we have the best in the business, Ryan Ribbink. Ryan has been our liaison in Mozambique for years and is known as Mr Mozambique when it comes to surf tours, he is the man all the professional surfers go to when it comes to touring this vast and untouched coastline. In recent years he has hosted world champion Gabriel Medina and many others like Owen Wright, Matt Wilkinson, Jordy Smith, the Hobgood brothers and many more, so its safe to say we are in great hands.
Our offroad vehicle gets us everywhere we need to go
Tofo
Tofo is our home for the first two weeks of our stay in Mozambique and we couldn’t be happier about it. It’s personally my third time in this magical place and every time it gets better and more difficult to leave. We’ve fallen in love with this small little fishing and tourist village. It is a place of relaxation and fun, time almost stands still with nowhere to go and nothing to be and it is one of the greatest places to ‘get lost’ with your friends. The food is great, the people are better and there are so many small seemingly insignificant things to see and do that when compiled together, steal your heart. Our accommodation is at a place called Turtle Cove, a lovely, spacious and homely yoga retreat venue, owned by a local legend and surfer who is always eager to share stories and waves with our crew when we come through, often telling stories of great cyclone swells past and showing us compilation videos of the best swells of the year. Our time here is coming to an end but it definitely feels like none of us are ready to leave.
Surfing
Our surfing in Tofo and Tofino (neighbouring bays) has been the stuff of dreams, we haven’t always had the greatest conditions but we’ve always have a great time in the water and how couldn’t we?? With water that is crystal clear, warm yet refreshing (it’s way hotter out of the water), an abundance of marine life, views that are sensational and empty line-ups all to ourselves its easy to see why this hidden gem of the surfing world is so popular by those who are in the ‘know’. It has also been great sharing beers and waves with the locals and local surfers who are incredibly friendly and unlike many other international surfing destinations there is a great humility and brotherly culture amongst all surfers and locals here. This is a humble place and a great place to be a part of surf culture no matter what your skill level.
We’ve had an incredible amount of fun here already and every sunset counts down another day. It’s a soulful time after of a day of surfing with great friends in a place this beautiful to watch the sunset and be thankful for every opportunity afforded to us and grateful for the amazing time we as a group have shared together. We spent our Thanks giving doing exactly that.
As the sun sets on our time in Tofo we’re left longing for more time here. We had a great time reflecting on the short time here so far in this little edit I’ve put together, I hope you enjoy it and it inspires you to pursue the adventures you’ve been dreaming about.
We’re just past the halfway mark of our time in Mozambique, stay tuned for more on the blog as we make our way back down the coast towards Ponta Do Oura in the next couple of days.
Till then 🙂
Luke