I met Siea for my brief dive
instruction and quick practice in the pool – probably 30 minutes total. Maybe Africa isn’t the best spot to SCUBA for
the first time (at lease if safety is a concern!). All went well though and I dove with Massimo
and his son Pietro from Italy. The waves
were super choppy and a good thing we had our shorty wetsuits on as we all got
completely drenched in the little wooden long boat powered by a 40hp outboard
motor. There were five women from
Denmark (who also just climbed Kilimanjaro) and five others (an Italian couple,
a father and daughter from Germany, and a Polish guy) on the boat. The dive was great and I got the hang of it
quickly – no problem with my ears which was my main concern. It did take me a bit to figure out the buoyancy. I either felt like I was sinking or rising
somewhat uncontrollably but finally got equalized properly. The water was a little cloudy due to the big
waves (probably 4-6 foot swells – as big as it gets here Siea said). The highlights were a couple turtles, some
colorful starfish and a lion fish! Mostly,
I just liked cruising around underwater for the first time.
I opted for a second tank and we explored the
reef a bit further down. The ssing back
to the main island was just as bumpy and I was glad I took some Dramamine as
three of the other passengers were green in the face and leaning over the side
most of the trip – definitely NOT having fun.
The Polish guy and I were having a blast on the rollercoaster ride home!
More drinks by the pool then napped
for a bit so I could make it to midnight – it is New Year’s Eve after all! A bit of a bummer to be alone on NYE but
after a few beers I started socializing at the beach party put on by the hotel. I met a group of twenty-somethings from
Newport Beach of all places and hung at their table for a bit, then moved on
and saw some of the Danes from the SCUBA trip.
They randomly had met another Danish family and we all hung from a few
rounds before I called in a night (or a morning?) at 3:30am!
2025-02-06