Ibo Island

The alarm went off at 3:10 am so we’d be ready when the taxi would arrive at 3:30.  We got our things together and opened the front door so we could see when it arrived.  Our assumption was it would arrive late and that it did.  He showed up at 4 am, but made up for it by letting us stop by the ATM on the way.

We arrived to the chapa stop, which was really just the sidewalk next to the main road.  When asked where we should stand, the response was a hand gesture that said somewhere over there.  Within 5 minutes an open chapa (a truck with a large bed) pulled up and we hopped in.  The police arrived moments after to verify the paper of the driver and car.  Our driver proceeded to argue with the officer until she took his license and walked away.  Frustrated, the driver took us through town to what looked like a random property.  While our driver went in to do his business, other chapas and transport showed up.  Once done with the errand, we drove back to where we’d been picked up.  Our driver showed the officer the paper he just received and the arguing began again.  Meanwhile, a different officer walks past the truck and says, “this truck won’t arrive in Quissanga.”

With that information, we grabbed our things and got in another chapa.  This was the first time we encountered another tourist in a chapa since arriving.  We did the same errand as the previous chapa and then drove around to get more people.  Once back at our starting point, 2 of the others that had been in our original chapa and didn’t jump ship with us climbed in.  And after 2.5 hours of driving around town, we headed towards our destination.

 

The road turned to dirt fairly quickly and it was slow moving from there.  Holes decorated the road and there was at least one pool of water.  We drove through village after village while we managed to get a little sleep.  Our seats were in the far back and positioned so that our knees jammed into the seat in front of us if sitting straight.  The van started empty for chapa standards, but as people got in and out that changed.  There were seats for 10 and at one point we had 16 along with bags upon bags of supplies.

 

After 4.5 hours, we reached Quissanga and where we’d get a boat across to Ibo Island.  This had been our most uncomfortable ride so far and we were glad to be out and able to move.  There was a group of people waiting under a tree so we joined them.  The tide was out so boys came to carry people’s goods out to the boat.  As we waited, we chatted with the French traveler from our chapa.  After a few hours, we decided to play cards.  And after 3.5 hours, we were told we could board the boat.

 

We walked out through the damp sand until we reached water.  The boat was several meters further so we waded in the above knee water until we unloaded our things and hopped in.  The next 2 hours were spent moving slowly through the water as our boat was quite heavy with supplies and people, including a group of Italians on vacation.

 

 

Once back on land, we asked the first place we saw about where we should stay.  He gave us a rundown of the options and we headed to Karibune to see what was available.  We had hoped for an en-suite hut, but as none were available we took a room with a shared bathroom.  As we later learned, the lodge next door charged 36 times as much for a room so we were glad we ended up where we did.  It was also nice that locals own and ran the hotel as most lodges are run by foreigners.

Sandbank

We thought we’d use our first day to wander around and make a plan for the following days.  There was commotion in the street and we walked out to see what was happening.  A parade had just passed in celebration of the armed forces and Tico started talking with a nearby local.  It turned out that he was a guide that was taking other guests from our hotel to the sandbank and snorkeling.  We decided to take him up on the offer and had the next couple hours to get ready.

Since we had time, we walked to the market to get a few snacks as well as figure out the lay of the island.  We made it back with plenty of time and suited up for the water.  The group walked down to the boat before heading towards the Northen tip of the island.  There is a group of dolphins that live nearby and we were trying to chase them down.  Once we got close enough, we jumped in with our masks and snorkels.  As we swam towards them, they would swim the other direction.  We did manage to see one swim beneath us, but it wasn’t the experience that we had pictured.

 

 

 

From the dolphin site, we headed to a shallow reef for snorkeling.  We swam around looking at the colorful fish and reef formations.  My mask continued to fill up with water and I fought quite a bit to clean it and get my hair untangled from the strap.  As I was swimming along, I realized that in one of my struggles I had lost my wedding ring.  Thankfully, we both brought rubber Qalo rings with us so it wasn’t the end of the world.  I tried to go back to find it, but there was no chance with the current and algae along the bottom.

 

Once we all had enough snorkeling, we loaded up and headed to the sandbank.  It was a random island of white sand that grew and shrank with the tides.  We had brought sandwiches with us so we had lunch under the sun while admiring the turquoise water around us.  There was another sandbank that was created as the tide was rising so I walked over to see if it would be possible to make it across with the camera.  The water came up to my chest and we decided it would be best to play it safe.  After an hour, we piled into the boat and headed back to Ibo.

 

 

Scuba Diving

We knew we wanted to scuba dive now that we were back near the ocean.  The dive shop in Pemba told us that he was the only one in the region, which included Ibo Island.  We saw a sign for a dive shop on the island and found out that we were given the wrong information.  The dive master had 2 people going out and said we could join.

On our way out to the dive site we passed the same group of dolphins from the day before.  After seeing how close they got to the boat, I asked if we could swim with them.  He said yes so we jumped in as softly and quietly as possible.  The experience was very different from the day before.  The dolphins weren’t shy and came within a few meters of us.  Multiple times as they came up for air it seemed like they’d nudge us although they never did.  There were around 25 and a couple had their young close to them.  It was an incredible and peaceful experience to have them swimming around us and them not seem to care that we were present.

 

From there, we headed closer to the lighthouse for our first dive.  We jumped in and slowly made our way down.  The visibility was amazing as we could see at least 15 meters (49 feet) around us.  There were colorful fish, mostly small ones, amongst the coral.  We managed to find a turtle swimming past us and several fish that blended in with the colors of the reef.  There were large schools of different types of fish that swam past us while others stayed close to the reef as we passed them.

 

For the second dive, we were given the option of going closer to Matemo Island.  The fish would the same, but there was a chance to see lobsters.  As it turned out, there were fewer fish.  The coral was full of color and beautiful so it made up for the lack of fish.  There were still small ones that would hide in the coral and some were swimming around, but nothing like the first dive site.  While the fish were not as impressive as some of our previous dives, the reef was the prettiest we have seen.

 

Now that we’d had a few days on Ibo, we were ready to visit some of the nearby islands.  The swimming with the dolphins was definitely a highlight, but overall the experiences so far had been great.  Now we were off to see islands that had miles of beaches and a small fisherman village.

Helpful tips:

• There is an ATM on Ibo, but it doesn’t always work even if it has money in it.
• Karibune was next door to Ibo Island Lodge and if you don’t stay there, at least try the food.  She’s an amazing cook!
• Expect an entire day for transport to Ibo from Pemba.