I have experienced all three of the above in truckloads while here, and I think she is right. Let's start with the SEA.
Okay so I went snorkeling on Mafia. Mafia is an island off the east coast of Tanzania mainland. It takes about a half hour to fly from Dar es Salaam. What an amazing weekend! First off many of my friends here happen to be pilots. So we were lucky enough to have one of our friends flying our plane there and another one flying back. It is a fun perk that adds to a trip. (also, I have had the thrill to fly the plane a few time!!! It is so fun I can’t even explain, I become like a little kid with excitement in that seat combined with shear terror of the responsibility a pilot has)
So we took off on our adventure with my favorite driver Rajab in his car to the airport. We waited for our flight and our friend who was joining us to arrive. She is also a pilot and her last flight arrived back in Dar at 3:00 and our flight was to take off at 3:00. She told us to lay in front of the aircraft and not allow it to leave without her. It worked out perfectly because the aircraft assigned to our flight to Mafia was the aircraft she was flying. So it couldn’t leave until she got here. Sweet!
In the meantime we waited in the little airport that is designated for in-country flights. Even that was fun as I watched many of my pilot friends come and go with little visits here and there in between them racing off to their next flight. I have always found it to be fun to have a window into friends’ lives that you don’t normally get to see. So to see them at work and even be a part of it is oddly exciting to me. Not to mention that it passes the time and we look like we are very important with all the pilots chatting with us.
Next stop Mafia. We had a smooth flight with our friend Alberto making a smooth landing on a rough red dirt/gravel runway. I get so excited each time I fly with someone I know, I feel proud and impressed every time. (Incidentally, I am also proud when a friend I know back home is serving me at a restaurant, it is fun to see someone in their element, doing a good job at what they do, regardless of what the job is)
Okay so I went snorkeling on Mafia. Mafia is an island off the east coast of Tanzania mainland. It takes about a half hour to fly from Dar es Salaam. What an amazing weekend! First off many of my friends here happen to be pilots. So we were lucky enough to have one of our friends flying our plane there and another one flying back. It is a fun perk that adds to a trip. (also, I have had the thrill to fly the plane a few time!!! It is so fun I can’t even explain, I become like a little kid with excitement in that seat combined with shear terror of the responsibility a pilot has)
So we took off on our adventure with my favorite driver Rajab in his car to the airport. We waited for our flight and our friend who was joining us to arrive. She is also a pilot and her last flight arrived back in Dar at 3:00 and our flight was to take off at 3:00. She told us to lay in front of the aircraft and not allow it to leave without her. It worked out perfectly because the aircraft assigned to our flight to Mafia was the aircraft she was flying. So it couldn’t leave until she got here. Sweet!
In the meantime we waited in the little airport that is designated for in-country flights. Even that was fun as I watched many of my pilot friends come and go with little visits here and there in between them racing off to their next flight. I have always found it to be fun to have a window into friends’ lives that you don’t normally get to see. So to see them at work and even be a part of it is oddly exciting to me. Not to mention that it passes the time and we look like we are very important with all the pilots chatting with us.
Next stop Mafia. We had a smooth flight with our friend Alberto making a smooth landing on a rough red dirt/gravel runway. I get so excited each time I fly with someone I know, I feel proud and impressed every time. (Incidentally, I am also proud when a friend I know back home is serving me at a restaurant, it is fun to see someone in their element, doing a good job at what they do, regardless of what the job is)
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| Me hangin' with Denise, one of my other pilot friends. Yes, another female pilot! Makes her even more of a rockstar in my eyes, working in a very male centric industry. |
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| This is not me swimming topless. Since I don't have an underwater camera I took this from the google machine to give you an idea of the size, and I am not exaggerating when I say this is a small one. |
The reason for the trip was mainly to go snorkeling with whale sharks. Whale sharks only come around at certain times of the year and we are lucky to be here at the right time. From the air as we were approaching the island I was looking down and saw two of the gigantic sharks. They were enormous from up above and I squealed. I don’t think I really knew what I was on my way to swim with until that moment. Seeing it from the sky was already incredibly exciting.
I have heard that sometimes you only get a few minutes with them but we had one nice dude who let us swim with him for 2 hours. 2 HOURS with this magnificent creature! It was incredible. I cannot articulate how amazing it is to see something so big in the sea and not be fearful of it. They are filter feeders and don’t want to eat you so, although at first it was a bit frightening, quickly you realize that they are not interested in you. Also, because I had the privilege of seeing two other whale sharks who happened to be extremely fast and impossible to keep up with, I have the first hand experience that they can take off if they are annoyed with people following them around.
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| This is what it looks like from the front. I saw this view several times as the boat guides were very good at picking you up when you got behind and dropping you off right in front of their face. A bit freaky when their mouth is open and two of you could easily slip inside there. |
The next day we headed out on another snorkeling trip to the coral reefs in the marine reserve. This was equally fantastic. After waiting for the guys who were meant to take us out in their boat for over an hour (Ahhhh Tanzania you can be infuriating) we finally got out there and had one of the most amazing days ever and completely forgot how annoyed we had been waiting. Lesson learned, thank you Tanzania. I will probably forget though.
They took us to several different reefs and I was able to snorkel around and explore nooks and crannies that presented sea creatures I had never seen before as well as some familiar favorites. I spotted a sea turtle who let me gaze at him and yell at my friends and as they approached he swiftly exited like a speedy sea dinosaur.
Later the “guides” yelled at us “dolphins” so we swam back to the boat and followed a pod out into the waters.(the guys estimated about 50 dolphins) Here I have to say I was grateful with the way they handled the approach. They did not chase the dolphins but got close, stopped the engine and allowed the dolphins to dictate how close they got. We could see them cresting and it was overwhelming how many there were. My man and I were putting our fins and masks on as we approached. I yelled “can we go in” and got the go ahead. We jumped in and immediately I saw the sweet looking faces peering back at me. So many, so close. They swam ahead and turned back, curios little guys. We swam as fast as we could. Seriously, I don’t know that I have ever moved that fast! Mid paddle amongst the dolphins I lifted my head, pulled out my snorkel and yelled “this is the best day of my life!!!!” with childhood exuberance and then put my face back in the water and continued to follow them. What an experience! As quickly as they arrived, they were gone. I am so thankful that I had that experience. It was definitely a major life event, and it was entirely unplanned.
I wonder what’s next.....
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