Diving, Swim Lessons & Sunburnt Feet

COUNTRY: Mozambique
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Marine Conservation and Care Work
WRITTEN BY: Adam Rasko

Hello All,

The past week has been filled with a combination of boat dives, volunteer work and sunburned feet.

Anthony and myself successfully completed our Open Water Diving Certificate, diving at Clownfish Reef and Salon’s Reef. The 60 fish we had to learn can be spotted all around the reef, flitting in between the branching corals and hollow caves that scatter the reef. Two octopi were spotted at Salon reef, changing colours as the group of divers came closer. Apparently they turn dark when fearing danger, resorting to their ability to blend into the surrounding reef to hide from predators.

We also saw two moray eels poking their gaping jaws from within the rocky reef surface. Note to all you readers out there, the lollipop rewards after you have finished a dive are to die for! The weather has been choppy the past week. Spots of rain have scattered the sandy roads outside our house, however the water remains crystal clear.

Each dive we have done so far starts off with a short briefing explaining where we are about to head out to. We make our way down the stairs of death and along the beach to where the boats are dragged onto the sand. Everyone slides, (or more like wrenches themselves) into their wetsuits and hops on either side of the boat. Girls hop on first followed by the guys. Most of the dive instructors have a boat license. The boats drive straight onto the beach, a rush any day of the week.

The time flies, already two weeks in and it feels as if we have been here for only a few days. Messias arrives every two days or so with a group of kids from the local orphanage or school. The swimming lessons run for a couple hours, however the small pool and large number of kids mean that most of the time is spent laughing and messing around with the kids. However basic skills such as floating, blowing bubbles and learning to familiarise themselves with the water are taught.

On Wednesday all four of us were driven to the local kindergarten where we built brick walls to make a new kitchen so that the children can have lunch each day. According to the boys my wall was liable to fall over any second but it's still standing! The roof was thatched out of palm tree leaves and held together through bands of string. A group of about 6 boys and girls were standing around the yard sweeping the sandy ground. Apparently they were being punished for trying to break into the kindergarten and steal a handful of toys.

The turtle walk were we supposed to do on Friday evening was cancelled due to the rain. No whale sharks have been sighted of yet but fingers crossed!

The markets provide us with fresh fruit and even a sneaky chocolate snack for the hungry patrons returning from their daily dive adventures. The local bread is only 10 Mets! Every Saturday has turned in BBQ night. The bus or local chappas take us to Inhambane and cash money to purchase meat from town. However this week, the meat shop was closed so we decided to have a seafood BBQ which involved freshly caught Spanish Mackerel and King fish. It was awesome!

Thats it for this week :)

Julia