Day 3 The Elusive Whale Shark

Woke early to the most glorious morning. Feeling sad that Chris is not here to celebrate his birthday but my planned day is one he would love.

I was told to breakfast at 7.00 so was ready for the pickup at 8.00 to snorkel with whale sharks. It turns out that Mafia time = Island time and breakfast did not appear until 07.45. This was unfortunate as I took my Malaria tablet in the room at 07.00 believing food would be forthcoming. The longer I sat at the table the more nauseous I became and had to make a rapid dash to my room, which fortunately was close by. Anyway I then felt fine and lesson learned!

I was joined by 2 other couples. We all squeezed into a rather cramped and exceedingly hot vehicle for the 20 minute drive to the other side of the island to pick up our boat. It was very interesting to drive through the villages, but unfortunately the tight confines of the vehicle provided no photo opportunity.

The west of the island receives the prevailing winds so on escaping the vehicle there was an extremely welcome breeze. The first time I’ve felt a breath of wind since my arrival. We walked down a short path to arrive on a typical fisherman’s beach. We were given a briefing by our tour guide. He was incongruously attired in neat buttoned shirt, smart tousers and black shiny shoes. Needless to say, after a short briefing about whale sharks and pointing us in the direction of our boat, he departed.

I am not sure how to describe the boat – rustic, old, functional?? It was a catamaran, I think, but unlike anything I have seen before. It was fibreglass painted red and grey. It is possible that the fibreglass was masking something flimsier beneath! It was basic to be sure. There was nowhere to stow anything so all possessions were grabbed by the crew and put in the dry hold. This included t-shirts, sunglasses etc. Fortunately I had slapped on Factor 30 when I got up so miraculously I did not burn apart from the middle of my back. Quite hard to reach on your own and a definite downside to travelling solo!

The boat was anchored in the shallows so we climbed aboard and set off. It was very interesting to see the assorted size and range of boats. None of them looked particularly seaworthy, but to see the man in a 6ft rowing boat several miles from shore, with no sail or motor, was sobering. This is a very hard life for many of the locals.

It was lovely to be out on the sea and I felt close to Chris. He would have loved it and would have had that satisfied “I’m back on a boat” grin on his face.

We stopped for a brief dip at mid-day. What they don’t tell you when you happily leap off the deck into the ocean is that there is no ladder. Getting back on board is tricky – even for the men. For those of you in the know, it is much harder than getting back in the tender after a snorkelling trip. I shall just describe my entry as assisted and inelegant!

Despite our best efforts and bobbing around for 4 hours no whale sharks were spotted so I shall try again later in the week. Although it was an unsuccessful outing it was nevertheless a very enjoyable and interesting day out.