TRAVELSPECIAL
of our resort . The beach was incredibly beautiful , its sands so white that I was squinting behind my shades . Anyone visiting this place without sunglasses would be blinded by the bright sun on the ivory sand .
The downside of using the jetty is that you need to contend with a daunting set of steps from the beach . Any feeling of self-pity quickly dissolved when I looked down to see Kirsty / Kirie making her way up the steps wearing the boat ’ s spare lead , bandolier-style , across her chest . I felt my shoulder muscles cramp in sympathy as I realised she must have been lugging at least 20kg in lead , plus a diving cylinder slung casually over her shoulder .
House of Glass
Evenings at Baraza resort are a tropical idyll . A whisper of warm wind through the palm trees , a searingly cold cocktail from the bar and the discrete murmur of fellow guests as you contemplate moonrise over the Indian Ocean . Its style is a fusion of Arabic , Swahili and Indian design , set against lush gardens and a shimmering pool .
The next day we sampled three sites : Ukwheli , Cuipis and then back to Shindano . At one point , Kirsty and I blundered into the ‘ displeasure ’ zone of Africa ’ s angriest triggerfish . Too slow to backtrack out of its conical ‘ zone of aggression ’, the trigger eyed me angrily before fizzing through the water like a little torpedo .
It took a chunk out of the heavy duty resin on one of my camera ’ s strobe arms , about four inches from my pallid fingers . An onlooker may have thought I took it all rather coolly , but in truth the triggerfish was so fast , there was no time to react . There was an angry blur , a muffled crunch and then the fish retreated in preparation for another attack . We departed .
A fast moving school of fusiliers
Our dives were otherwise serene , and there was always something to be found . Eventually , we arrived at that special something I had been looking for . Sitting on its own on a sandy expanse at the Shindano dive site was a big coral bommie pulsing with glassfish ; it was the biggest and best school of glassy sweepers I have ever seen . I called the dive to a complete halt as I settled down to watch and photograph the mass of fish , a living river of gold and silver .
Away day
Diving is embedded in Baraza ’ s management , and they enjoy indulging fellow enthusiasts . We were invited to join a mini-expedition to explore some dive sites to the south , which would entail a day at sea . Our voyage had to be timed
56