Give them their du(n)es

The weather forecast nearly stopped play today but I’m so glad it didn’t. At 8.25am we were breakfasting after having got nowhere with organising a boat trip into Bazaruto Archipelago, which is the primary reason for being in Vilankulo. By 8.30am WhatsApp had delivered the goods and we were scrambling to get ready for a boat picking us up imminently from the beach. The weather was a mixture of overcast and sunny with only occasional showers, so it would have been disappointing to have missed the opportunity.

We went to a snorkel site on the Bazaruto reef, which had nice coral and plentiful life. Pretending to be a shark and grabbing Tim’s leg was a fun game. Then we went onto Benguerra and Bazaruto Islands and enjoyed the solitude and silence of the lagoons, beaches and dunes. On Bazaruto Island some mega dunes confronted us with exhausting climbs and exhilarating descents. The dunes gave spectacular views of white sands, blue waters and green patches where vegetation has colonised. This beauty was followed by lunch on the sand with the eclectic mix of nationalities represented on the trip.

After lunch, a boat ride back to the mainland but a final scouting of the seagrass beds, looking for dugongs. Bazaruto likely has East Africa’s largest population so is a critical stronghold. A sighting thwarted us, but we had met a playful pod of bottlenose dolphins earlier in the day, which was wonderful in itself.

South Africans continue to market themselves wonderfully on this trip, and I’d like the next ones I run into to provide a different flavour of chat. When we got back to the lodge after dinner and stroll through the very deserted streets of Vilankulo, three absolutely wasted South Africans were in the bar, and we were never going to be able to pass by without an interrogation. I lasted about five minutes until use of the n word propelled me away.

Back in the room Tim asked whether I was tired.

‘No I’m ok but I’m raging.’

‘What will help?’ (kind as always)

‘A complete overhaul of society’s attitudes towards race.’