STUART: Will and I rose somewhere around 7:30 and joined everyone for breakfast on the rooftop of the hotel. The view there is magnificent, but this morning it was overcast and looked like it was going to rain. We were worried that we might not be able to dive. After receiving a quick run down about what everyone was doing for the day, I returned to my room and packed my backpack for our scuba dive. Then Scotty, Alex, Will, Dr. Whitney, and I walked a block down the street to One Ocean dive shop. Everyone else had already left to go snorkeling and see the giant tortoises on a nearby island. We signed our lives away and then geared up before walking with all of our stuff to the waiting boat on the beach. Yesterday, Scotty and I had an epiphany and thought we could beat the system by renting an underwater digital camera and taking our own pictures instead of paying 20 bucks a pop for the ones that they take. Well, they (the dive shop) were the only place we could rent an underwater camera and let’s just say they have gotten smarter. After we split the $45 cost, we looked over the camera and realized that it only had a 10Mb memory card and none of us had a cannon camera so we couldn’t use a bigger card. They hosed us because we could only take about 15 pictures. This just goes to show that you always have to be a step ahead of the competition. Our group of seven joined another group of 8 or so on a medium sized dhow and headed to our dive site. The water was rather rough but the boat ride only took about 25 minutes while our dive master was briefing us. The first location was a called Bawi South (I’m not sure what it means in Swahili). Due to the very strong current we did a drift dive. Visibility was limited but the water temperature was very warm. I am still amazed out how green the Indian Ocean is every time I look at it. It was the Nagao’s first dive since their certification and I give them props for having to do such a hard dive for their first open water experience.
We saw a variety of smaller tropical fish and many different coral species, but no big monsters. However, I was lucky enough to spy a few Blue-Spotted Rays hanging out on the bottom, but of course we left the camera on the boat for the first dive so we didn’t get any pictures. Isn’t it funny how life works sometimes? The first dive was shorter because everyone was so giddy being back in the water. Instead of relaxing and letting the drift take us everyone was going 100 miles per hour in every direction. At one point I kicked what felt like eternity against the current to go back about 10 feet to look at a loggerhead turtle the dive master had spotted. Once we surfaced, we took off our weight belts and fins and handed them to the crew before boarding the boat for lunch. Lunch looked interesting, but I did not have much of an appetite because my stomach was swaying with the waves. After an hour of surface time we were briefed on our second dive at Bawi North. We dove in and away we went. This dive was much better than the first one until we had a scare when we lost Dr. Nagao. He was having trouble regulating his BCD (Buoyancy Control Device), so he had unwillingly surfaced and been picked up by the boat. The dive master was in a panic but once he found out Dr. Nagao was OK we continued on with our dive. This time all of us did a much better job managing our air and taking our time. I got to see an eel (or at least his head) before he quickly darted back into his hiding place. Our bottom time was 57 minutes, which is my new personal best. After we surfaced and were boarding the boat, Scotty got a nice shot to the noggin from the dive master’s air tank as he was climbing up the ladder, but it’s alright as he was been mentally toughened from running 2 marathons. The boat ride back was pretty miserable because the water was very choppy. We got back to the dive shop at 3:00 and hit the showers.
I was surprised after I got out of the shower to find that the hotel had taken my laundry for cleaning even after they had just returned it the day before. I was once again left with no clean clothes. I talked to the front desk and made no progress, so I called on my ace-in-the-hole Mama Moshi. Needless to say just like Cipro, Mama Moshi’s intimidation factor works every time. My laundry was back before dinner. It just goes to show it’s not what you know but who you know. While I was waiting for my laundry to be returned I threw on some dirty clothes and wondered around the shops with Scotty. We went to a fabric vendor by the name of Mustaff who Dr. Dale had introduce me to the day before when he was earning his street cred searching for the best bargains. When I was walking down the street with him every vendor was shouting, “Ah teacher, teacher you are welcome in my shop.” Mustaff had given the best price on local Kikoys, which are used as wraps, shawls, and other things. We talked to Mustaff for about 30 minutes. He was very friendly and informative. He didn’t mind giving us the whole break down on the vendor and the pricing system which determines bargaining. He told us that high season is very easy pickings because tourists do not even try to argue the prices and just pay the first outrageous offer. After shopping around I bought some postcards and headed to the Internet café where everyone was checking for news from home. I did the same and then mailed my postcards. Dinner was an amazing experience. We ate at Mtoni Marine Restaurant. We were seated at a table on the beach where we could hear the waves crashing in. The menu consisted of either a vegetarian soup or a seafood salad. The entrees were either fresh baby shark in a white wine butter sauce or the grilled prawns, calamari and tuna served with potato wedges. The other options didn’t matter. I had the fresh baby shark and it was delicious. After a wonderful meal and good conversation we rode the bus home and exhausted I went straight to bed.
STUART: Will and I rose somewhere around 7:30 and joined everyone for breakfast on the rooftop of the hotel. The view there is magnificent, but this morning it was overcast and looked like it was going to rain. We were worried that we might not be able to dive. After receiving a quick run down about what everyone was doing for the day, I returned to my room and packed my backpack for our scuba dive. Then Scotty, Alex, Will, Dr. Whitney, and I walked a block down the street to One Ocean dive shop. Everyone else had already left to go snorkeling and see the giant tortoises on a nearby island. We signed our lives away and then geared up before walking with all of our stuff to the waiting boat on the beach. Yesterday, Scotty and I had an epiphany and thought we could beat the system by renting an underwater digital camera and taking our own pictures instead of paying 20 bucks a pop for the ones that they take. Well, they (the dive shop) were the only place we could rent an underwater camera and let’s just say they have gotten smarter. After we split the $45 cost, we looked over the camera and realized that it only had a 10Mb memory card and none of us had a cannon camera so we couldn’t use a bigger card. They hosed us because we could only take about 15 pictures. This just goes to show that you always have to be a step ahead of the competition. Our group of seven joined another group of 8 or so on a medium sized dhow and headed to our dive site. The water was rather rough but the boat ride only took about 25 minutes while our dive master was briefing us. The first location was a called Bawi South (I’m not sure what it means in Swahili). Due to the very strong current we did a drift dive. Visibility was limited but the water temperature was very warm. I am still amazed out how green the Indian Ocean is every time I look at it. It was the Nagao’s first dive since their certification and I give them props for having to do such a hard dive for their first open water experience. 
We saw a variety of smaller tropical fish and many different coral species, but no big monsters. However, I was lucky enough to spy a few Blue-Spotted Rays hanging out on the bottom, but of course we left the camera on the boat for the first dive so we didn’t get any pictures. Isn’t it funny how life works sometimes? The first dive was shorter because everyone was so giddy being back in the water. Instead of relaxing and letting the drift take us everyone was going 100 miles per hour in every direction. At one point I kicked what felt like eternity against the current to go back about 10 feet to look at a loggerhead turtle the dive master had spotted. Once we surfaced, we took off our weight belts and fins and handed them to the crew before boarding the boat for lunch. Lunch looked interesting, but I did not have much of an appetite because my stomach was swaying with the waves. After an hour of surface time we were briefed on our second dive at Bawi North. We dove in and away we went. This dive was much better than the first one until we had a scare when we lost Dr. Nagao. He was having trouble regulating his BCD (Buoyancy Control Device), so he had unwillingly surfaced and been picked up by the boat. The dive master was in a panic but once he found out Dr. Nagao was OK we continued on with our dive. This time all of us did a much better job managing our air and taking our time. I got to see an eel (or at least his head) before he quickly darted back into his hiding place. Our bottom time was 57 minutes, which is my new personal best. After we surfaced and were boarding the boat, Scotty got a nice shot to the noggin from the dive master’s air tank as he was climbing up the ladder, but it’s alright as he was been mentally toughened from running 2 marathons. The boat ride back was pretty miserable because the water was very choppy. We got back to the dive shop at 3:00 and hit the showers. 
I was surprised after I got out of the shower to find that the hotel had taken my laundry for cleaning even after they had just returned it the day before. I was once again left with no clean clothes. I talked to the front desk and made no progress, so I called on my ace-in-the-hole Mama Moshi. Needless to say just like Cipro, Mama Moshi’s intimidation factor works every time. My laundry was back before dinner. It just goes to show it’s not what you know but who you know. While I was waiting for my laundry to be returned I threw on some dirty clothes and wondered around the shops with Scotty. We went to a fabric vendor by the name of Mustaff who Dr. Dale had introduce me to the day before when he was earning his street cred searching for the best bargains. When I was walking down the street with him every vendor was shouting, “Ah teacher, teacher you are welcome in my shop.” Mustaff had given the best price on local Kikoys, which are used as wraps, shawls, and other things. We talked to Mustaff for about 30 minutes. He was very friendly and informative. He didn’t mind giving us the whole break down on the vendor and the pricing system which determines bargaining. He told us that high season is very easy pickings because tourists do not even try to argue the prices and just pay the first outrageous offer. After shopping around I bought some postcards and headed to the Internet café where everyone was checking for news from home. I did the same and then mailed my postcards. Dinner was an amazing experience. We ate at Mtoni Marine Restaurant. We were seated at a table on the beach where we could hear the waves crashing in. The menu consisted of either a vegetarian soup or a seafood salad. The entrees were either fresh baby shark in a white wine butter sauce or the grilled prawns, calamari and tuna served with potato wedges. The other options didn’t matter. I had the fresh baby shark and it was delicious. After a wonderful meal and good conversation we rode the bus home and exhausted I went straight to bed.
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