“Look down! Look down!” The guide is shouting. We slid off the pontoon into open ocean with mask and snorkel on, and looking down there it is, directly below us. A Whale Shark. We are in the water with the largest fish in the sea. He is handsome; dark charcoal grey with dignified white spots and a big, big smile on his enormous face. Yes, I am anthropomorphizing here, but really, his mouth forms a smile. Like a pitbull dog smiles. It is just as charming. His spots are unique to him and are used for identification. His tail gracefully propels him through the green water; cleaning remora fish cling to him. He is magnificent.

Young male Whale Sharks inhabit this “whale shark alley” off the coast of Tofu Beach when plankton is rich. That such an stupendous creature lives off microscopic plankton is a wonder. Isn’t Earth just overflowing with such wonders? We don’t know the half of the ocean – how could humans possibly screw up such a huge and complicated eco-system? Little by little, is the answer to that. But here in the water with Mr. Handsome, pacing him as he slowly glides along, humans are gone and the ocean is safe. I never dreamed I would see such a sight as that creature. I am the very last person to climb out of the water. It is another place I didn’t want to leave.

Mozambique has the most coastline of any African country except Somalia – put that in your hookah, why don’t you. The snorkeling is superb in the Bazaruto Archipelago. The tour guides don’t tell us that to reach the main reef we must crash through a big wave break – and the seas were already high. It was worth being a bit scared. In the Bazaruto channels are giant Manta Rays, endangered Dugongs, endless schools of every kind of fish, towering sand dunes and one day, we even spotted tiny Seahorses in the great estuary of Tofo.

Today we are camped above Paindane Beach looking at the reef we snorkeled at 7am this morning. Lighthouse Reef sparkles with coral gardens reminiscent of succulents in full bloom at the Huntington Botanical Garden. The dunes above the beach here are fully lined with campsites and lodges, all of which are empty now. This is the off-season. For as far as we can see down the long beach, we are the only tourists. Michael and Joseph, cleaning fresh-caught lobster for us after they shucked 50 oysters (yes, we ate all of this and more), tell us the beach is packed at the holidays. Mozambique is open for business, from Gorongosa to Pemba to the sinfully beautiful Bazaruto Archipelago. If you come to Paindane (and you should!) be sure to ask for Michael and Joseph, they will treat you to the freshest seafood you’ll ever eat.