Leapfrog, Tattoos, SCUBA, whatever next...

When I left you last, I believe I had just arrived, mud-sodden and knackered, on the Vespa from hell in Nungwi. After a quick break to freshen up (i.e. sluice off the mud) I went off and had a very pleasant dinner catching up with some of the others who'd missed out on How To Use A Vespa As A Dirtbike. After this, we adjourned to Bwana Willy's, aka "the swing bar" - not a reference to music or "dating preferences", but to the fact that there are swings all around the bar. As you can probably guess, much enjoyment was had gently bobbing back and forth whilst nursing the odd bottle of Kili (Kilimanjaro beer - one of the better ones from Tanzi, outdone only by the rather nice Serengeti; Safari is also pretty drinkable; all in all, Tanzi is definitely a better place for beer than Kenya, and also beats Malawi and Zambia). Though it was all rather less fun when Vicky decided to spin my swing up and then let it go. I do not enjoy being made to feel distinctly dizzy mid-beer....

The swing bar also did a nice line in cocktails, of which a few had to be sampled for the feel of things - you can't very well come to a tropical paradise and then just drink lager, can you? After catching back up with all the medics (who, in stark contrast to our adventures, had basically spent the whole day on the beach) for a while, the bar indicated it would be closing soon, so we adjourned further up the beach to The Ship. This is another interesting establishment, with a big thatched roof, a high wooden bar, no walls, various bits of boats sticking out of it, and a prime position overlooking a beautiful stretch of beach. However, having purchased our poisons of choice, we left the bar to its own devices and went down to the beach. There then ensued some daft dancing (especially by Valdy, wearing a sarong due to a laundry crisis), a reversion to childhood in the form of Heetan and a couple of the medics, who stuck their arms out and spun around until they fell over, a game of leapfrog, a few dunkings and a sand burial (the latter both involving Amy - hope the skirt recovered eventually!). Eventually, around 2am, enough was enough, and several of us headed back to the bungalows.

The next day dawned bright and sunny, but I didn't see it as I slept in until around midday. Sheer, utter bliss. Had curry for brunch (bliss!), then a couple of hours on the net, trying to make up for truly dreadful East African connections, before going for a swim and lounging around on the beach with the others. I'm not one for spending days on end doing nothing but lie on the beach, but it does have its odd moments. I then treated myself to a wonderful massage and a henna tattoo, before meeting up with people for a couple of drinks and then getting an early-ish night.

For the next day I was off SCUBA diving. Well, doing a couple of intro SCUBA dives - I don't actually have my PADI or anything, so was all supervised. The ride out was extraordinary, on a zodiac-type inflatable boat which must have been doing 20-something knots through choppy seas, bouncing along like an over-excited wallaby. I unfortunately had a bit of a panic attack when I first tried going back underwater - it had been 5 years since the last time I did an intro dive, and my phobias about being stuck underwater had had plenty of time to come back. This meant I effectively lost out on doing the first full dive, as I spent the whole time gettting used to being underwater again, and practising "the skills" (primarily replacing my regulator if it came out and clearing my mask) to the point where I could staisfy my instructor.

I was then okay to do the 2nd dive. Those familiar with SCUBA would probably be a bit surprised that this started down on the bottom at around 12m, considering the group contained myself, 2 other novices and our tour leader Paul (who had dived before and was not qualified), supervised by our instructor, Jaco. This would be because novices are not normally taken below 10m, given that 12m is as low as you can go and make an immediate emergency ascent. They would then probably be more surprised that we went deeper. I'm pretty certain that I was down to at least 18m or 19m, and Heetan apparently got down to about 24m (chasing fish) before Paul brought him back up. We didn't have any complications or anything, and saw some really cool fish (and some quite good coral), but it was certainly something to think about when I realised up on the surface what we'd been up to. The ride back in to shore was rather more sedate, as the guys who'd been snorkelling went in on the zodiac while we ambled back aboard the dive company's dhow.

And that is where I will have to leave you now. Until the next time...

Pat