Part III: Blank/Thiel Christmas Vacation 2009

If you've made it this far, you know that we arrived in Tofo/Praia da Barra on Christmas Eve night. So, on Christmas morning we woke-up leisurely, read on the patio, and enjoyed a typical 'English' breakfast including 'beans on toast.'

Early birds

Writing in her journal sporting a Christmas tee

View from the patio

There was an apron provided, so I mean why get my nightgown dirty?

Then, about noon we headed to the Tofo side of the peninsula and tracked down a surfboard for Doug while the rest of us enjoyed the perfectly warm and clear Indian Ocean and reading or walking on the beach.

Praia da Barra side of the peninsula

Tofo side of the peninsula

It was a perfect, relaxing Christmas! The highlight for me was when we discovered the Hotel du Mar was open and stopped in for a couple quality Mozambiquan beers only to learn that a sushi bar had just opened on the 20th of December. HALLELUJAH. Apart from my nephew, Henry (see Happy New Year blog entry), the #2 thing I miss the most is SUSHI.

Let the record show that we ordered the ‘salmon platter’ and all 4 of us shared it…but, two days later we returned and I ordered a salmon platter FOR MYSELF. Okay, in my defense, Biss got one all to herself, too. It was just that good. But, I digress...

Our casita

Bathroom

Kitchen

For Christmas dinner we bought some jumbo shrimp from a couple of locals and Biss chopped off their heads and cleaned/peeled them all!

On Saturday and Sunday we did three dives with Tofo Scuba (where I was certified) and since Biss and Josh had borrowed a friend's underwater camera we were able to take lots of underwater pictures. Our first dive was a shallow dive at 'Salon' and then we did a deep dive to 'Manta Bay' and ended with another shallow dive at 'Simon's Reef.' The weather was perfect and the sea was clear. We even saw this crazy octopus that changed colors from white to blue to purple and finally to speckled just like a rocky piece of coral. Amazing.

Tofo Scuba

Doug and Paisley

I don't know this fish's real name, but I call it a 'bandit' fish because it has a mask over its eyes

Look closely, this is a crocodile fish and they are so camouflaged that you can swim by one without even noticing them

Biss and Josh

I think his real name is a 'porcupine fish' but I call it 'dinosaur fish' because they just look like they come from the deep and have been around for a really long time...

Leopard spotted eel that was as big as me

So sinister

Much smaller zebra eel poking his head out

I am so funny...

This little fishy was amazing - looks like coral, but that purple guy is actually a 'paper fish'

This guy is pretty clever, too...the top orange piece is coral and the bottom is a fish!

Pretty coral

I am less into taking out my regulator on the ocean floor

Blue spotted sting ray

Brown spotted ray; he let me get so close!

School

Starfish

Hooray for sun, sand, and scuba!