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When our Boeing 747-400 slammed down onto the runway at Heathrow, we were roused from our semi sleep. Cisca and I now had to get to Birmingham with all of our kit for the Birmingham Dive Show. We had enjoyed the US, but now it was time to get back to work. We spent two days talking to potential Pemba Divers and old friends who dropped by to say hello and sample our beer.

When the show ended it was back on BA046 and yet another night flight to Dar es Salaam. BA were fine, but when we left terminal 5, we were sent to a gate with a bus. This was inspite of there being many aerobridge gates free. "Oh well, no fuss" I thought, I don't mind busses. We waited and waited in the bus. Surely it was going to leave? But no, British Airways had decided to only have two buses serve the 200 plus seat Boeing 767. A lady got on board with a young child and had to crouch in a luggage rack. This was not funny. In Dubai or Qatar or Delhi, the bus would have left every 10 minutes and come back. But the British Airways ground crew kept on calling for the last passengers and made us all wait. After standing in the bus for 45minutes we finally drove off. Under a tunnel and out to some chilly stand. I was furious. British Airways are Britain’s National Airline, they charge like Rhinos, and treat their passengers like Ryan Air. I surmised that both airlines had Irish Chairmen, so perhaps there was something in this.

The BA pursar was a kindly lady in her 50's who must have seen that her second batch of passengers were having collective sense of humour failure and treated us all with kid gloves. It occurs to me, that every BA flight is down to the hospitality of the staff on board. If you get a miserable ground crew, or pursar (CSD) then your flight will be miserable.

We taxied out, took off and climbed out towards the channel Islands and down towards the south of France. I had my pre ordered Curry from Bombay house (Just ask for a muslim meal and ex London its always delicious curry!) and tried to fall asleep. At 0300hrs GMT (0600 Local) We crunched safely down on the runway. After a night in Dar es Salaam it was back to Pemba on the Zanair hopper flight. A small Cessna 404 flew us over Zanzibar and down to Pemba.


And so one month after arriving, I finally get time to send a report from Al Khudra, the green Island, or Pemba as some will insist on calling her. We had a very slight shower in the night and the night before, so the Island is indeed green today. The sun, however makes his daily appearance and the water has been crystal clear blue almost every day. I had meant to blog much earlier, but we have had some staff changes and the Christmas/New year rush has been, well lets just say, busy. So anyway, here is the update from Pemba.

2008 was a monumental year for us. We had some major difficulties and misunderstandings with our host Government. Having been ignored by the Government during our build and opening phase, we were subject to some negative reports by officers who did not like us. This brought down the wrath of the state upon our heads and at one point, our entire project was at risk. We had to find out what the problem was as soon as possible, and found that apart from the occasional malicious report, we were subject to a massive misunderstanding. It took six months of communication, and submission of reports to iron out all of these issues. Eventually through vigorous communication we renewed our relationship with even more strength than before. We learned some valuable lessons.

This did not stop us from constantly striving to improve our services. We expanded the hotel by two rooms, refurbished and re engine our rib Shamoo, upgraded our two BAUER mariner compressors and bought a new BAUER K14 compressor. (which is being built up as I write). Now we speed to our dive sites, our air is pumped faster and we can have a few more guests at any one time. A new restaurant banda was built to cope with the effects of the increase. Our dive sites are between 4 and 12 minutes away.

Emma and Stuart, moved onto Mozambique after two years in Pemba. After all their hard work during the transition period between Chake Chake and Makangale, we were very sad to see them go. We have been Joined by Malcolm Paterson and we await the arrival of Laura Eady. Malcolm spent 7 years playing in the Coldsteam Guards Band. He also spent 7 years running a gourmet restaurant in London. After coming to do his dive master course, he decided that he’d like to run Swahili Divers. This has worked out nicely, as he brings culinary, musical, management and Military experience to the Kervan Saray. We are very pleased to have him, and have finally named the bar “the guardroom” in his honour. Malcolm never spent time in the cells, but probably should have.

Laura comes from a travel agent background in Australia. She claims to be a New Zealander, but sounds very Australian to us. Murray Hanon is coming over from Istanbul to replace Stuart lind, until that time, his job is being done by me and Beccy Mayol. Beccy came to do her dive master with us, and has continued to hand around with us for some time. We shall be very sorry to see her leave which will probably be at some stage in 2009.

The diving has been utterly spectacular as usual. The sun has shone down through the clear waters, and the big boys have come out to play. Mantas, eagle rays , massive barracudas and 9ft kingfish have been a regular part of our diving theme in the last quarter of 2008. We have been diving Swiss Reef and Shimba hills alot, which has been so unpredictable. We have had sightings of dolphins and hammerhead sharks underwater on Swiss. The macro scene has also been awesome. But you can see this for yourself

We started afternoon Kakak Diving. In the late afternoon we have some spectacular reef action right in front of the hotel. So we geared up some kayaks and paddled out over the reef, dropped in and dived. Unfortunately on dive number one, my heavily weighted kit went to the bottom in a slight current.

To say that I was not happy would have been an understatement. My kit may be old, but its mine. I had no choice but to look for it, and that meant a 20 minute solo underwater search with my buddy’s kit. In the current, this did not bring any clues.

The next day, I incorporated a 1 hour compass line search into a rescue diver course. Just when I was about to give up, I saw my breathing apparatus set right in front of Malcolm’s’ nose, he had not spotted it! The cylinder was full and air still in the pipes. Then we had the uncomfortable task of trying to paddle back with two scuba sets. A job well done, and proof that methodical searching does work.

New years eve was splendid. We were full, and yet we only had 23 guests. I thought that made us a fairly exclusive place. (even for a bush camp by the sea)We had cocktails while watching the sun set on 2008 and dinner in the garden. Having struggled to stay awake I managed to make it to the midnight bonfire. And then I fell asleep. Well it only remains to talk about what is coming up. 2009 looks like it might be difficult. The western world is in a financial crisis, people are really thinking about where to spend their money, so we have decided to apply for a bank loan, build another two bungalows and buy another RIB. (www.ribs.co.uk 8.6m XS). This application is still ongoing, but it is ongoing.

And now I must go to Turkey, for my uncle has died and its time to see my family if only for a few days. Cisca will be here minding the camp with Mac and Beccy. Merry Christmas from all of us, and a happy and peaceful 2009. Come visit if you fancy......

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