I Found Nemo!

On Friday I headed back to Tanga, spent a few hours there getting the last of my stuff together and visiting Sarah who has been really ill in hospital with malaria. Then I flew out to Pemba where I met up with Charlotte at Swahili Divers. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t even intend to go to Pemba, but I couldn’t get a flight to Zanzibar straight away so I thought I’d spend a couple of days on Pemba before heading onwards. It was a good choice however, Pemba is spectacular! The place I was staying, Swahili Divers, was really friendly, the staff were great, and because food is included in the price mealtimes are very sociable. Most evenings were spent in the pleasant company of the other guests, who despite being mzungus (white people) were very interesting because they were all from different countries.

So, on my first proper day there (Saturday) we got up early for breakfast, before being taken out on the boat to Misali Island. Misali is a protected area and there are rangers who live on the island enforcing the regulations and monitoring the wildlife. It is a wonderful place to go snorkelling, and that’s exactly what we did. It was magnificent, the best snorkelling I’ve ever done with plenty of corals and multicoloured fish just off the beach. We had lunch on the island, and the rangers brought out some of the baby green turtles that they look after. By keeping a few of the many turtles that are born on the island they improve the chances that they will survive, and release them when they are one year old. And they are so unbelievably cute (think of the little dudes in Finding Nemo and you’re close)!! Anyway after lunch we walked round the island discovering caves, forests, mangroves and dozens of small deserted white sand beaches teaming with hermit crabs and delicate shells.

That evening I was determined to go to bed early, but the powers that be prevented me! In other words people kept buying me drinks, and then a drinking game ensued involving a lot of tongue twisters (seven Sicilian seamen sailing the seven seas etc etc). It was a good night, but somewhere along the way I had agreed with Neil the instructor to do a try dive off Misali the next day! And so, after two hours sleep I found myself back on the boat in a rough sea wishing I had refused the first beer! That’ll learn me! Most of the day I spent sunbathing and talking to the rangers from the island (I’m still move comfortable talking to the locals than any of the other tourists who were mostly upper-class rich people from another hotel). Unfortunately my try dive did not go well, I think I was too tired and hung-over and the water was quite choppy, whatever the reason I was not happy under the water, and point blank refused to let water into my mask! The day was improved however by the appearance of a family of five humpback whales, followed by another family of four. They appeared far in the distance blowing water up into the air and flipping their tails. But as we watched them over an hour or two they got closer and closer until they were about 100m from the beach. They were spectacular!! They spouted water, jumped up with half of their bodies out of the water and then flipped their tails clearly showing the white makings of humpback whales. I have never seen whales in the wild before and it was so cool!

That evening I was sat talking with Neil (instructor dude) and somehow managed to get talked into staying and doing my PADI course (despite the disastrous nature of my try dive)! I was supposed to leave and meet Toby on Zanzibar the following morning, but I was having a good time and had always intended to do my PADI at a later date (plus I got a good deal!), and so I decided to stay on. The only problem was trying to let Toby know when I had no idea where he was staying!

Monday consisted of trying to take in a lot of information! I had an entire book to read and a DVD to watch, but me and my fellow diver Anna (number one!) did quite well, and understanding the theory helped me prepare for the skills I needed to do the next day. Tuesday was our first time in the water; we worked just off the beach at Misali and completed allsorts of skills like taking the reg (air supply) out of our mouths, taking off our masks underwater and being led by another diver without it. It was challenging, but it made me feel empowered to know I could do it. We had a small dive that day down to five metres, but I think I was concentrating on remembering everything instead of looking at the fish!

Wednesday was our first two open water dives. It was scary! I had problems equalising my ears, and I could not control my buoyancy properly, but it was still fantastic when we got down there. The array of corals and fish is mind blowing! So many colours, so much movement, it makes you feel privileged to know you are watching a whole other world. We saw clown fish (Nemo) and angel fish, and unicorn fish and groupers, and a stingray, and little multicoloured slug-like things called nudies. We saw a whole host of other stuff too, but I wouldn’t know what they were called! It was just beautiful though.

Thursday was our final two open water dives and I was feeling a lot more confident. We saw some clown fish guarding their nest, and the nest had some tiny little babies floating round it, they were literally as big as a finger nail (and I have small hands!!), very cute! We got to hold a sea cucumber and a nudie, as well as observing a vast array of other fish. The best part was the last dive, we got down to 18m and as the dive came to an end we got to a place known as Hogwarts Tree, which is a large towering tree-shaped coral. This coral was so alive with fish it looked like it was decorated with ball balls! I have never in my life seen so many fish, and so many colours, and so much movement; they appeared to just swirl around the ‘tree’. Added to this was the fact that I had now mastered my buoyancy control and was able to float in a stationary position with my legs and arms folded simply observing the fish for a good ten minutes. It was such a pleasing end to my diving experience and one sight that I will never forget!

If you are thinking of learning to dive then trust me, it is worth it, and if you are thinking of diving in Pemba, admittedly I have nothing to compare it to, but it is fantastic. Even some of the most experienced divers in the group thought it was well worth it. Oh, and Swahili Divers rock! They are very thorough and safety conscious, they are very good at teaching, and they know all the best dive spots.

On Friday I had the day to hang around town, and I visited the essential oil factory, which was pretty cool (unfortunately I bought oil from there which leaked in my bag on the way home and our whole house currently smells of sweet basil!). In the afternoon I flew to Zanzibar to meet Toby. We checked in at Jambo Inn (quite nice), and headed into Stone Town to explore. We went down a million little winding roads and suddenly emerged on the waterfront as the sun was thinking about setting. Sitting on the grass and catching up over the past couple of weeks events we watched the sun set over the water while the boats rocked gently in the waves. For dinner we went to a beautiful (but very western) bar right on the beach, and got a table overlooking the water. The food was excellent, there was live African music played (including a whole string quartet and a singer!). As it got darker a man went round digging holes in the sand and setting candles in them, adding to the relaxed atmosphere, and making us feel like we were on another planet!

We woke early on Saturday because I knew I only had one day in Stone Town and I wasn’t going to waste it!! We spent a lot of the day exploring and buying presents to take home. We stopped in the Zanzibar Coffee House for some coffee and muffins, which was expensive, but we were in need!! And then I started to get into all the haggling that goes on with the shop owners! It is so much fun, and it got to the point where I was arguing over 1000tsh (50p) just because of the principle of it! I think Toby got bored though, so we went for lunch in the Old Fort, which was a cool place in itself with a lot of history. Later on, laden with all my presents we boarded the ferry to Dar es Salaam. The crossing was quite rough and we had to sit on the floor most of the way, but I was trying to enjoy every last minute in Africa!

As we neared Dar the sun was setting, and I knew that of all the sunsets I had seen in Africa this would be the last. The sun was finally setting on my African adventure. It was time to go home.

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