Whale watching morning arrived and with it rain, cloudy skies and very high humidity. We had no idea whether this would effect the whales, after all they are already wet, but it didn't seem the best weather to be going in. By the time the vehicle picked us up the skies had cleared and it looked pretty good. Better still, the sea didn't look too bad.
Having been given some safety instructions, which basically amounted to hold on, we headed out through the surf and into open water. I would love to put a nicer slant on the next three hours, but to sadly it was one of the most underwhelming experiences I have ever had. Debs bless her couldn't cope with the waves and the seasick feelings stopped her from being able to see much. Not that there was much to see. We followed a female humpback and her calf for quite some time, but it's difficult to get excited about seeing a black back and fin occasionally rising from the water. We had viewed as much from the beach in Mozambique.
With the whales a bit of a bust and Debs feeling ill, it didn't look good. Fortunately there had been mention of dolphins and sea turtles, neither of which we saw. Instead we stopped for a while looking at a wreck and then headed back to shore. The best bit was getting off the boat and the worst bit had to be the parting with the money.
We were aware that it was late in the season, but the staff had assured us that there were still lots of whales. Perhaps we were just unlucky, but compared to the whale watching tour that I took in New Zealand, this was a pretty amateurish affair. Surely using echo sounders to find whales, as in New Zealand, is better than sailing round the sea randomly looking for an occasional water spout. We are now officially ocean-going boat retired! It took quite some time to cheer up a disappointed and queasy feeling Debs.
Back at the camp-site we encountered another cycle tourist. Udo is from Germany and is travelling round South Africa for six weeks. A combination of less time and a lighter loaded bike, means that he is moving at a considerably faster rate than we are. He has been good company during our stay and a few beers have been shared.
Aside from the whale watching, we have been on a walk round the town, taking in one of the shorter hiking trails along the way.
At many places along the river it is possible to get quite close to the resident hippos and crocodile, assuming of course that you are that brave/stupid. There have been tragically at least two fatalities around the area, most recently in December 2000. We saw several hippos and a couple of crocodiles from the safety of a raised board walk. There was also plenty of bird life living in the riverside reeds.
It was a very nice walk, but the high humidity drove us back to the hostel after a couple of hours.
Last night just before we went to bed the weather broke and the heavens opened. Hopefully this will mean that we have a cooler day to be cycling in tomorrow.
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