Whale sharks at Mafia Island

Dec. 4

There's nothing like sitting in a plane that's booking it down the runway, only to have it come to a screeching halt. That's not good. Especially when you have two connecting flights later that day.

Our flights on this trip have been a wreck from day 1. So much so that I will do a separate post on some of our unplanned adventures.

For now, long story short, about 40 hours later, we finally arrive on Mafia Island. At last, I can feel the sand between my toes.

The arduous ordeal of getting here was definitely worth it! We spent a fantastic afternoon snorkelling with the whale sharks, another check off my bucket list.

Whale sharks are definitely gentle giants of the sea, and they are neither whales nor sharks. They do not have real teeth, are social, calm and are not predators. They are the biggest recorded fish in the ocean. Swimming alongside the whale sharks is surreal. We have to stay three metres away from the tail and two from the head. They are so big that even at that distance, you can be knocked by their tail when they turn. They can reach adulthood at up to about 22 metres/72 feet long and, weigh around 20 tonnes to 34 tonnes, and can live up to 70 years.

I have some GoPro videos to share once I am home, I am having trouble with the app to upload them to my phone. For now, I have a couple of videos that Norm took from the boat with his phone. One video shows a whale shark coming towards me and swimming just under me. Wow!!

Later in the evening, Norm, myself, and the resort's dog Pablo went for a walk along the water. We passed locals busy around their homes or boats. We discovered Pablo and the local cats are not the best of friends. I have never seen cats arch their backs as well as these do.

Our next day on the island is wet and rainy, so our plan to scuba dive is cancelled. Later in the day, the rain eased, so Norm, Pablo, and I went for another walk in the opposite direction towards a sizeable working pier and local community. There were more people and no cats.

This morning, some of our group left for more whale shark snorkelling, and later today, some of us are going scuba diving. I hope the weather holds up.