Summary

Anne Bonfert shares her experience scuba diving in Mozambique, capturing the vibrant marine life through videos and photos, while anticipating a tropical storm.

Abstract

Anne Bonfert's travelogue entry for day 38 of her Southern Africa 2023 road trip is a vivid account of scuba diving in Mozambique's Indian Ocean. Despite the imminent threat of a tropical storm, she and her husband decide to stay and explore the underwater world further. The entry is rich with descriptions of colorful marine life, including blue coral, sea stars in a spectrum of colors, and various yellow fish species. She highlights her husband's keen eye for spotting camouflaged creatures and mentions an underwater cave swim-through that she chose to skip. The piece concludes with a preview of more underwater photos to come and a full video tour of their Mozambique adventure, inviting readers to follow their road trip journey through a list of stories.

Opinions

Anne expresses a sense of wonder and respect for the marine life, marveling at the colors and variety of species.
She conveys a thrill-seeking attitude by choosing to dive during rough ocean conditions and in anticipation of a cyclone.
The author seems to have a playful dynamic with her husband, David, as she credits him for his sharp eye in finding well-camouflaged sea creatures.
Anne's decision not to participate in the swim-through suggests a boundary between adventure and discomfort, indicating a personal limit despite not being claustrophobic.
There is an evident passion for underwater photography and exploration, as she promises more photos and invites readers to engage with their journey through various platforms.

SOUTHERN AFRICA 2023: DAY 38 — MOZAMBIQUE

Scuba Diving Among Colorful Marine Life in the Indian Ocean

Another day of enjoying nature down below

This is me, scuba diving in Mozambique. | All videos are taken by my husband. I created the screenshots. | Credit: Anne Bonfert

I’m lying in my hammock enjoying the wind blowing through the camp. Weavers are flying in and out of their nests in the trees above my head. Their homes are swinging far in the gusts and I wonder if they will withstand the approaching storm.

We’re expecting a tropical storm to hit the coast of Mozambique in the next few days and we might be crazy but we decided to wait out the cyclone as we’d love to do some more diving here.

Such a beautiful fish. | Credit: Anne Bonfert

In the meantime, I got some more underwater footage for you as we went on another dive today. The ocean was rough but once we were below the water’s surface we could relax. There was a bit of a current on the ground of the sea but we could paddle around without struggles.

And here is the beauty of what we saw. Some blue coral and sea stars. Yes, the marine life in the Indian Ocean is quite colorful.

Blue sea creatures such a coral and seastar. | Credit: Anne Bonfert

And you can find sea stars in the entire color spectrum.

My favorite ones are of course all the yellow fish down below. From angelfish to trumpetfish and everything in between.

The yellow marine life. | Credit: Anne Bonfert

But for those with more patience, you can find a whole world competing against each other in who's the best when it comes to camouflage. I'll soon bring out a series where you can look for those hidden sea creatures the way we had to search underwater to spot them.

Masters of camouflage. | Credit: Anne Bonfert

But none of those well-hidden sea creatures go unnoticed by David’s eyes. My husband looks under every rock and swims into cracks looking for those not wanted to be seen.

Like this Sting Ray below. Her eyes say it all. She's been found.

There was a cave in a rock formation where we were allowed to swim through but already on the surface when we got the briefing for it I knew I wouldn't be doing that.

The dive master swam over the rocks holding the line connected with a buoy on the surface pointing at the hole below. When she saw me following her she made the sign for a swim-through. I shook my head and she understood.

I don’t need that. I’m not claustrophobic. At least not above water but I have no desire to swim through a tiny cave underwater that is just big enough for me to fit through.

Therefore, David filmed someone else paddling through before he followed.

And I’m finishing off this dive with some lovely juvenile sea creatures. Fun fact, the youngest of a lot of fish species are the ones the most colorful. So while they are still very tiny, they are very pretty to look at.

Juvenile angelfish and boxfish. | Credit: Anne Bonfert

Did I bore you with all these underwater photos? I hope not, because I got some more to come...

This is part four of our roadtrip. Watch the full video of our tour through Mozambique down below:

We’re currently touring southern Africa and if you’d like to follow, go through this list of stories from our road trip:

Southern Africa Road Trip 2023

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